Veiviseren

Pathfinder is based on an old Sami legend about the boy Aigin, who saves an entire tribe from the murderous warrior people, the Tchudes. The black-clad Tchudes have killed Aigin's family, but Aigin escapes to a friendly settlement, although he is wounded. Aigin has thus led the Tchudes onto the trail of the settlement, so everyone flees to the coast except Aigin and a few other men, who stay behind to fight off the enemy. They don't stand a chance. Once again Aigin is the only survivor, and he agrees to lead the Tchudes to the settlement by the sea. Aigin has not become a traitor, however. He is merely trying to lure the Tchudes into a trap in the rocky mountains.

The plot of Pathfinder is, in other words, not very different from that of so many other thrillers. What is special about the film is that it was shot in northern Finland in the Sami language. Sami culture and nature are therefore reflected in the film. Besides being a thriller, the film also tells of a rite of passage, Aigin's development from boy to man. It is refreshing to see a film which may resemble the Hollywood films in its plot, but which is set in an entirely different culture, the Nordic one.