Mikkel Gaup

Anni-Kristiina Juuso

Aslat Mahtte Gaup

Nils Peder Gaup

Mikael Persbrandt

Bjørn Sundquist

Sverre Porsanger

Peter Andersson

Michael Nyqvist

Jørgen Langhelle

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Stig Henrik Hoff

Ola Otnes

Eirik Junge Eliassen

Göran Forsmark

Sven Henriksen

Silje Holtet

John Sigurd Kristensen

Frank Krog

Knut Walle

Ánne Mággá Wigelius

Nils Gaup

Reidar Jönsson

Jeanette Sundby

Anne Hamre

Patrik Säfström

Dick Ying

Jan-Olof Svarvar

Karl Júlíusson

Philip Øgaard

Tove Kløvvik

Erik Aavatsmark

Thomas Täng

Celine Engebrigtsen

Geir Eriksen

Erik Disch

Aslaug Konradsdottir

Jørgen Storm Rosenberg

Nils Isak Eira

Þór Vigfússon

Hans Erik Lindbom

Even Birkeland

Pelone Wahl

Christer Melén

Ludde Widegren

Agneta Krigh-Tennemo

Per Boström

Staffan Linder

Knut Haraldsen

Arttu Kontkanen

Stefan Ljungberg

Linda Öhlund

Claes Dietmann

Haukur Karlsson

Veslemøy Fosse Ree

Dan Widegren

Patrick Boullenger

Cameron Scott

Janak Thakker

Drama

History

Kautokeino-opprøret

Rubicon Film AS

Borealis Production

Filmlance International

Metronome Productions

Denmark

Norway

Sweden

In 1852, Sami reindeer herders in the Arctic region of Norway were fed up with the Norwegian liquor industry exploiting their tendency to alcoholism, local government officials seizing parts of their herds, and a corrupt state church ignoring it all. They rioted, beating the local priest and killing a merchant and government official. The two men considered ringleaders, Aslak Haetta and Mons Somby, were tried and executed. This incidence is little-known in most of Europe, but in the history of the Sami people it is one of the few tales of resistence to pressure from their southern neighbors and has gained a sort of epic status. Nils Gaups' 2008 film <i>The Kautokeino Rebellion</i> depicts this event. The main character of the film is Ellen Aslaksdatter Skum, who with her husband Mathis Haetta, was sentenced to long imprisonment. Ellen is played by Anni-Kristiina Juuso, a Sami actress best known for her role in Aleksandr Rogozhkin's 2001 film <i>The Cuckoo</i>. The film is multilingual, with the Sami speaking their own language, Swedish used as a lingua franca, and Norwegian heard from a few outsiders. Mid-19th century Norway is depicted in absorbing detail, and watching the film I felt to some degree that I was sharing the challenges of the characters in the frozen north.

The film takes a few liberties with history (the whipping of the priest isn't portrayed, and the rioters are stopped by what seem to be Norwegians instead of their own other Sami neighbors. Still, it's generally factual and really inspires the viewer to go out and learn more about the event. What I really admire about the film is that it doesn't try to portray the murderers as bold defenders of national consciousness: their uprising was something of an act of blind rage and they were betraying their own Christian ideals. Other depictions of the riots, such as Launis' godawful opera "Aslak Hetta", give in to hyperbolic National Romantic feelings, but Gaups' film keeps it on the level.

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svenska

The Kautokeino Rebellion