Kari’s Kiwi Christmas
Finnish actor Kari Vaananen had to come to grips with some very different Christmas traditions when he played Santa in a Kiwi film, writes Jack van Beynen.
It’s snowing when Kari Vaananen picks up the phone at his home in Finland’s Lapland region. The white powder is already 30cm deep on the ground, and he expects another 25cm overnight. When he looks out his window on Christmas Day, he’ll be presented with a picture-postcard winter wonderland.
Vaananen’s view is very different from what most New Zealanders will see this December.
But the Finnish actor got a taste of our summer Christmas earlier this year when he came to film the kids’ movie Kiwi Christmas with an otherwise New Zealand-based cast, including Xavier Horan and Sia Trokenheim.
In the film, Santa Claus flees the North Pole because he’s fed up with the commercialisation of Christmas. He crash lands at a New Zealand beach, where he’s adopted by a Kiwi family on their camping holiday.
Vaananen’s journey around the globe to be in the film closely resembles that of the his onscreen character. He flew from Lapland – where, according to some stories, Santa Claus really lives – to New Zealand.
Director Tony Simpson called ‘‘out of the blue’’ to offer him the part. ‘‘I didn’t know anything about the film, I didn’t know anything about New Zealand. I knew there was a lovely country called New Zealand somewhere down on the other side of the planet.
‘‘I thought, ‘What the hell, is this a joke? Is somebody joking?’ I had no idea about it. Then [producer] Tim Sanders called me and said ‘It’s true. We want you to play Santa in our film’.’’
Acting veteran Vaananen, 64, is well known to Finnish audiences for, among other things, his work in famed director Aki Kaurisma¨ki’s films Drifting Clouds and Leningrad Cowboys Go America.
And he’s no stranger to playing Santa. In 2007’s A Christmas Story he played a kind of mentor to a young St Nicholas. He also played Santa for a live TV audience of 100 million in 2007, when Finland hosted the Eurovision song contest and he was part of the stage show.
He had to turn down a role in a Mexican production to do Kiwi Christmas, but it’s a decision he doesn’t regret.
‘‘I had been to Mexico and Latin America, but I never was Down Under, and it was a memorable trip. I like your country, I like your people, I like the way you do things.’’
Vaananen spent most of his time filming on beaches north of Auckland, so he didn’t get to see much of the country. But he says the people made the experience special.
‘‘I like Kiwi people very much. It’s the same kind of mentality as in Finland. They suit each other very well,’’ he says.
‘‘You are more old-fashioned than we are. Your manners are sometimes very old-fashioned. I think it comes from England, from the English culture. Maybe we are a little more liberal here in Finland.‘‘
One of his favourite encounters was when a group of children who saw him in costume thought he was the real Father Christmas.
‘‘They were amazed because Santa was alive. I started crying because they were so sincere. They said, ‘Finally, I meet you, alive. Oh Santa, can you hold my hand.’ I was so touched by it.’’
He also learned that New Zealand has different cultural traditions around Santa Claus than Finland.
‘‘There, Santa Claus comes into your house on Christmas Eve and we dance and sing for him. He leaves the presents, talks with us and asks how has it been and chats to the children. And then he goes. But in your country you don’t see Santa at Christmas. He sneaks in and leaves the presents and then hides away.’’
Vaananen’s role was a physical one, involving plenty of slapstick gags, which was a bit of a problem for him – just over a month before coming to New Zealand he’d had a back operation.
‘‘My legs were sore and my back too, but I didn’t tell Tony and Tim because I wanted to do the part. Luckily, everything went very well. You can see how clumsy this Santa is – the clumsiness is real ... I took the style of running and walking because of my back and my leg, so he looks old and moves like it’s a little difficult for him.’’
The physical activity combined with the furs of his Santa costume caused Vaananen to lose weight while he was filming. ‘‘I lost my weight over five, six weeks. Five kilos – because I have to run and drive a bicycle – it was a lot of moving.’’
Kiwi Christmas has a clear message, encouraging viewers to consider what’s really important about Christmas. Vaananen hopes the film causes parents to think a little, but that kids just enjoy it.
‘‘We want it all and we want it now, and it’s impossible. That’s why maybe the parents [who see the film] could think a little. But I hope the children say, ‘That Santa was a crazy man.’ That would be nice.’’ ● Kiwi Christmas is in cinemas across the country on November 30.