A kingdom falls under an evil spell following the mysterious disappearance of young princess Golden Hair. Some years later, Sonja (Vilde Zeiner), a poor but courageous orphan girl escapes captivity at the hands of a cruel band of thieves and sneaks inside the royal palace where she befriends the troubled King (Anders Baasmo Christiansen). Inspired by his plight, Sonja sets out to find the one thing that can save the kingdom: the Christmas Star. A scheming Count and his resourceful ally, a wicked witch try their utmost to ensure Sonja fails in her quest but along her journey she happens to rescue a little gnome child called Mose (Eilif Hellum Noraker). Mose uses his magic to help Sonja persuade the slumbering Big Bear to carry her to the North Pole to seek the wisdom of Father Christmas.
This engaging Norwegian fantasy spins a more imaginative and evocative Christmas story than much of the more mainstream seasonal fare of late. For those of a certain age, Journey to the Christmas Star shares much in common with the many eccentric European fairytale films that were once a staple of children's television. Upholding another tradition associated with the genre the region two DVD only includes an English dubbed soundtrack. It is a shame a subtitled option was withheld from the disc for while the dub is more accomplished than, say, an old kung fu movie, it still serves to distance the viewer from the story and in some instances undermines the delicately pitched performances. Nonetheless this is a handsome production with marvellous fairytale feel to its sets and costumes. Spectacular natural landscapes are merged seamlessly with accomplished special effects that include a subtle and poetic use of computer graphics (the sequence where the North Wind flies Sonja over a snowcapped mountain range with the evil Count in pursuit is especially striking) and a remarkably lifelike, wholly charming animatronic bear.
Director Nils Gaup made his name with the outstanding Oscar nominated adventure Pathfinder (1987), later remade (poorly) by Marcus Nispel some twenty years later. He flirted briefly with Hollywood with films like the Disney family film Shipwrecked (1990) and North Star (1996), an overlooked western starring James Caan and Christopher Lambert but has latterly confined himself to Norwegian cinema. Gaup styles Journey to the Christmas Star much like a Disney animated cartoon. Opening with a storybook prologue the plot paints in broad strokes with a fairytale simplicity that proves poetic and heartfelt though undeniably slight. There is no clear moral to the tale beyond the value of self-belief. One could argue that a fairytale film does not necessarily require a particularly nuanced or ambitious plot. There is something appealingly childlike about the film's directness and naivety.
What the film lacks in substance it makes up for with charm. Gaup's vivid set-pieces evoke the unique spirit of Norse mythology while he counterbalances the more saccharine aspects with a dose of sardonic humour evident in the strained relationship between the ineptly villainous Count and his ever-exasperated Witch. Especially engaging is a sequence where Father Christmas shows Sonja that every human being has a Christmas tree reflecting their lives. While bad people have trees that are threadbare, the good people have trees that are verdant and leafy. Poetic little touches like these keep the film watchable. Also the likeable cast inhabit their roles with winning sincerity with young actress Vilde Zeiner an appealingly spirited lead.
