"Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a beautiful princess, named Goldenhair. One Christmas, while decorating the tree, Goldenhair asked her mother if they could place the Christmas Star at the top of the tree. The Queen explained that the Christmar Star shone in the sky for everyone on Earth. And that it would always be there for you, if you give your heart. The Queen gave her a golden heart, so that she would always remember. But the King's cousin, the Count, also wanted to be king. For that to happen, the King and Queen had to die childless. He sought help from the evil Witch. In return, she was to receive half the kingdom. The Count told Goldenhair that she could have the Christmas Star if she gave it the golden heart her mother had given her. The Princess snuck out into the dark forest to find the Christmas Star. The evil Witch was waiting in the forest. She cast a spell in Goldenhair, who then vanished. The King searched the kingdom for his beloved daughter, but she was nowhere to be found. The Queen's heart was broken, and she died of grief. The King cursed the Christmas Star blaming it for all his misfortune. The Star disappeared, and a cold darkness descended upon the kingdom. But an ancient sage prophesized that if the King could find the Star before ten years had passed, Princess Goldenhair would return. Those ten years are about to run out. Today is Christmas Eve. It's the King's last chance to find the Star so that his beloved daughter will return. "
When the story begins, the King is desperate to find the Christmas Star and with it, his way back to his only daughter, but there doesn't seem to be much hope. He looks for help in all the wrong places, asking the count, of all people, to find him an astronomer capable of search the skies for the missing Star. The King believes the man wholeheartedly by the buffoon brought by his cousin to the palace is obviously a con artist.
It's actually in the middle of that audience with the astronomer that the King meets Sonja.
The King tells his guards to let go of the girl and takes her to a private room, where they talk for a while. Sonja overheard his conversation with the astronomer and, feeling for the old monarch, tells him she's going to find the Christmas Star for him. The King smiles at her with benevolence, explaining that he's been searching for nine long years, without success, trying to make her understand what an impossible task finding this star actually is. Sonja, however, answers him with simplicity:
"Have you tried giving it your heart?"
"My heart?"
"I was told that you have to give it your heart."
"Nobody would want my heart. It became ugly and black when I cursed the Christmas Star."
"But do you think it might want mine?"
"I do."
"Then I will give it my heart."
The journey is marvellous. The staff at the palace gives Sonja a beautiful light blue cape and she sets out on a path that takes into the house of tiny gnomes, travelling in the back of a big bear with a fondness for blueberry pies all the way up a mountain where she meets the North Wind and asks him to take her North, to meet Santa Claus.
Santa Claus' factory is as chaotic as one would imagine, with elves running up and down since it's Christmas Eve and all, but Santa still finds time to talk to Sonya, dressed in a beautiful red cape (a very Nordic Santa indeed). He takes her into a forest and explains to her that every person in the word has a Christmas tree in his forest. When the person is good, the tree flourishes. When it's bad, the branches wither and die and that's how he knows who has been good and who hasn't. It is i that forest that Sonja's journey comes to a critical point and we learn whether she will be able to find the Christmas Star or not, and all the while, the Count and the evil Witch are chasing her to stop her from giving back to the King that which they took from him.
I enjoyed this movie enormously. It's such a classic fairy tale, and it was a joy to watch, after this ocean of Hallmark Christmas stories I've been seeing, which, however fun, can feel a little repetitive after a while. Journey to the Christmas Star was something else entirely, and I really wish I knew of more movies like this to watch around Christmas time.
Risen til julestjernen | Norway | 2012 | Direction: Nils Gaup | Screenplay: Kamilla Krogsveen | Cast: Vilde Zeiner, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Agnes Kittelsen
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