The White Reindeer

In the snowy Finnish landscape, a woman named Maarita gives birth to a child, whom she calls Pirita. Shortly after her birth, it is prophesized that she will become a part of the traditional joik. Years later, the now adult Pirita takes part in the annual reindeer competitions. In them, he competes with a young reindeer herder, Aslak. The two quickly fall in love and are married shortly afterward. Aslak must spend time away for work, leaving his new bride lonely.

In an effort to alleviate her loneliness and ignite marital passion, Pirita goes to ask for help from the local shaman Tsalkku-Nilla, who prepares a potion and recites a spell. The shaman instructs Pirita to sacrifice the first creature she encounters to the Great Seita, a sacred reindeer graveyard, which will make any man fall in love with her. Unfortunately, the first creature she encounters is a white reindeer that Aslak has set free. Although she sacrifices the reindeer, the ritual goes awry. While she is able to attract any man, during each full moon she gains supernatural powers and transforms into a murderous white reindeer.

One night, the reindeer herders notice a mysterious white reindeer roaming the wilderness. While one of the herders, Niilan, manages to catch it while he is alone, it reverts back into Pirita, who promptly kills him. Nights pass and another herder dies in the same manner, sending the village into a panic, believing witchcraft is responsible for the deaths. Word travels and a forester soon arrives from southern Finland, brushing off the local's superstition. He later encounters the creature and is about to shoot at it, but his rifle goes off on its own. The reindeer then transforms into Pirita before the man's eyes, who runs away in terror. In the reindeer camp, he claims that Pirita is a witch.

Later, during the wedding of one of the villagers, Pirita appears to the bride and groom as the white reindeer. The groom, entranced by the creature, follows it into the wilderness and is never seen again. The incident convinces the entire village that Pirita is a witch, who arm themselves with iron spears and form a mob to hunt her down. Realizing she has been discovered, Pirita flees from the village while alternating between her human and reindeer form. She attempts to seek help from the shaman, only to find that he has been killed, forcing her to flee. Arriving at the place of sacrifice, Pirita begs for mercy from Seida to no avail, transforming back into the white reindeer once more. Before she can escape, Aslak, the first to catch up to her, plunges his spear into her. Mortally wounded, Pirita reverts into her human form, dying just as the other villagers arrive.

• Mirjami Kuosmanen as Pirita and as Maarita, Pirita's mother
• Kalervo Nissilä as Aslak
• Åke Lindman as forest ranger
• Arvo Lehesmaa as Tsalkku-Nilla, shaman
• Jouni Tapiola as reindeer herder
• Tyyne Haarla as older woman (uncredited)
• Pentti Irjala as the speaker (uncredited)
• Edvin Kajanne as reindeer herder (uncredited)
• Kauko Laurikainen as man in Laplander's hut (uncredited)
• Heimo Lepistö as wealthy man (uncredited)
• Osmo Osva as reindeer herder (uncredited)
• Aarne Tarkas as the groom (uncredited)
• Inke Tarkas as the bride (uncredited)
• Evald Terho as Pirita’s father (uncredited)
• Kaarlo Wilska as reindeer herder (uncredited)

• The White Reindeer (1952) at AllMovie
• The White Reindeer at IMDb
• White Reindeer (1952) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Valkoinen peura (The White Reindeer) at Elonet