Kautokeinoupproret (The Kautokeino Rebellion)

This is a film about the conflicts between different groups of people in the northern parts of Norway, in the little village of Kautokeino, a Sami village existing in reality.
The year is 1852.
The reindeer keepers work hard with their herds of reindeers in order being able to live of the land and gain some money on the products made from these animals.

On the same time a tradesman - Ruth (Mikael Persbrandt) - having monopoly on everything they need for themselves and their animals, make their life hard. Not least as Ruth cooperates with the local priest and policeman helping him becoming richer on behalf of the Samis.

One of the Samis - Mathis (Aslat Mahtte Gaup) - is to keen on liquour and he ends up being debted to Ruth who have no mercy on him.

When Mathis refuses to pay the conflicts starts and one thing leads to another.

One of the women - Ellen (Anni-Kristiina Juuso) - meets one of the most famous preachers in the Nordic countries at the time - Lars Levi Laestadius (Mikael Nyqvist) - and becomes inspried by his sermons.

She decides to start preaching herself, all according to the content in the teaching of Laestadius who often said that the most important thing was not the Church or the churches and their priests but the laymen, preaching the Word of God.

Ellen tries to 'save' the Samis from the liquor and the bad influence of the tradesman and his 'accomplices'.
This her initiative calls for action and another famous priest is called to Kautokeino in order to 'convert' the 'misled' Sami population.

This is built on a real story and the director and some of the actors are samis, from a famous sami family, Gaup.
It's not an extremely violent film but both the dispair and hope is visible and made explicit in this oeuvre, making the viewers 'oscillate' between the same emotions.
The film also depicts the different characters not in 'black and white'/'good and evil' but as people being responsible for their actions, not being destined for this or that but having to take the consequences of their choices, whether it's the tradesman, the police, the priests or the sami population.
The photo is often very beautiful and the less known actors (less known to us I should say) are the ones creating the best individual portraits.

Director: Nils Gaup.

(Photo Mikael Persbrandt taken from: http://noheroine.blogg.se/images/2010/mikaelpersbrandt_22384862_106612825.jpg)
(Photo Aslat Mahtte Gaupt taken from: http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00006/_kautokeino_jpg_6392d.jpg)
(Photo Anni-Kristiina Juuso taken from: http://is11.snstatic.fi/kuvat/Anni-Kristiina%20Juuso%20palkittiin%20Norjassa/img-1288333190977.jpg)
(Photo Mikael Nyqvist taken from: http://svt.se/content/1/c6/94/51/36/nykvist_narbild_385.jpg)
(Photo Nils Gaup taken from: http://www.filmweb.no/bilder/multimedia/archive/00090/Regiss_r_Nils_Gaup_f_90037a.jpg)