How did the movie make you feel? *Spoilers*
I just went to see this movie. It was by far probably the best European movie I've seen and no doubt awoke different kind of emotions in different people. The theater I went in was full of middle-aged people who obviously took it differently than me (being young of age).
As the movie was sad and dealt with the bureaucracy and cruelty of modern life pushing into the Samish villages, I didn't find it that shocking. The way the new pastor and the store owner treated the villagers was merely "normal" and expected at that time. Is it fair in any sort of society - no, of course not, but expected and happens everywhere.
Mathis, Aslak and Mons assaulted the pastor by knocking him towards the store shelves and eventually even burning down the store. Granted, they deserved their punishment. As for Elen for interrupting the sermon and calling the pastor a devil-worshiper is a difficult form of blasphemy. I'm not a religious person, but I find this sort of behaviour punishable - especially in the 19th century.
What the Samish people were supposed to do is to hold their own with manners and dignity - not with violence or arrogance. Sure there was some abnormal behaviour from the behalf of the pastor and the store owner too, but what are the villagers to stand against authority?
In general I wasn't that shocked by the ending or the way the Sami were treated. This was just a marvelous story of untold events in a small, hidden land and a great movie with exceptional acting and directing.
I ask of you: What do you think of the events? Did the Samish people deserve the punishments, or were they illegally and cruelly maltreated?