Photo from imdb.com.

MANILA – "Christmas Story", Finland’s entry to the recently concluded Cine Europa Film Festival held at Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong City, is a fitting and timely tribute to that "jolly old fellow" we call Santa Claus.

No doubt, movies about Santa Claus are common. That is why it is a breath of fresh air for the Finnish film to touch on another aspect of him that has never been thoroughly explored before - his childhood.

The story opens with a tragedy.

In a remote fishing village in Lapland - in a time when gift-giving was not yet a norm - the young Santa, then called Nikolas, is orphaned on Christmas day when his parents and youngest sibling drown in a river.

With the death of Nikolas’s parents, the villagers are faced with a dilemma.

Their conscience dictates that they cannot leave Nikolas alone to fend for himself. All of them, however, cannot afford to have another mouth to feed.

After a long deliberation, it is decided that the villagers would take turns looking after the young orphan.

Christmas day

A system is set up where Nikolas would stay with one family for a year and then move to the next house starting Christmas day.

Thus, every Christmas, Nikolas would leave one family to go to the next. And every Christmas, a grateful Nikolas would secretly carve toys for the children of his adopted parents and leave them outside their homes unnoticed.

This cycle continues and the system seems to work until hard times hit the village.

“As if the sea had gone empty,” the fishermen unable to catch fish for several months. As a result, the families can no longer take care of Nikolas.

Nobody can afford to take him in, except for a feared carpenter and hermit named Iisakki.

Iisaki teaches Nikolas how to become a good carpenter, but he forbids the young child to make and distribute toys to the villagers.

The looming question is, will he give in to his guardian’s wishes or defy him and continue his habit of giving toys to the children every Christmas day?

Blockbuster

"Christmas Story" was one of the blockbuster films in Finland in 2007.

It was so successful that the film distributor brought it to Sweden, Spain, Canada, Estonia, Serbia and Greece.

In the story, audiences see how an orphaned boy remains appreciative of life despite losing his whole family and the absence of a permanent home.

His indefatigable optimism will undoubtedly inspire anybody. We also see a man obsessed with selfless giving.

Can you imagine spending a year just making toys to be distributed on Christmas day? And after Christmas, doing the same thing?

To some, that might just be too over the top, but I guess that’s exactly what Santa Claus teaches us – the true meaning of selflessness.

Despite some loose ends, by going back to Santa Claus’ childhood, director Juha Wuolijoki made Santa more “human.”

Whether you believe in Santa or not, this feel-good movie reminds us about three important things - that there is goodness in humanity, that there hope after a loss, and that there is fulfillment in selfless giving. Report by Trina Lagura, abs-cbnNEWS.com.