The northern tales of Kalevala.
Tale of a smith...
...who built a source of happiness.
A machine called the Sampo.
The oldest legends of China.
Tale of the last son of the Nocktress.
A demon that seized
a machine called the Sampo.
Between the ancient Chinese
and Finnish tales lies a link.
This link was left out of
the writings of the Kalevala.
The son of the smith.
The grave in East-Karelia where we
found him dates to the Bronze Age.
An artifact buried with him
shows a level of metal craftsmanship...
...unknown in human history.
One might suspect it was left behind
by extra-terrestrial intelligence...
...a time-capsule of some sort.
...but the writing on it was Chinese,
from before the first known dynasties.
The writing states that the chest
belonged to the son of the smith...
...but he could only open it in
a moment of his greatest despair.
Only when all hope is lost.
There.
It's ruined.
Kai, this is not the beginning.
This is the end.
East Karelia - Finland 2000 B.C.
Back away.
Don't touch that animal.
I only wounded it.
We'll let it live.
My love...
Let's stay here.
And I will guard the chest with you...
...forever.
JADE WARRIOR
In the Kalevala,
the mother of young Lemminkinen...
...collects her son's bones
from the black River of Death...
...and tries to make them come
back to life and tell their story.
We are now facing a similar task.
But the voice we give to the past,
we must listen to it carefully.
It's a Chinese chung. A cart bell.
- Have you been here long?
- Eight years.
How come I haven't noticed this
place before?
Olavi Berg.
Kalevala researcher.
Sangfu is a Tibetan word.
The Mongols pronounced it Sampo.
According to legend it was built as
a proposal gift, but finally it broke.
Pieces of it are everywhere.
- It's a good name for an antique shop.
- Actually it scares the customers away.
Maria is my colleague.
Lady of Iron.
I found them in my attic.
They were my boyfriend's.
Kai would have loved this place.
That's Kai's hair and nails.
Organic powder.
Smiths use it for tempering.
Carbon keeps iron from rusting.
You're a smith's bride?
You can have those, I'm leaving town.
Fear, Pain, Madness, Ugliness...
...Lust, Hate, Greed and Blindness.
We know the eight sons
of the Nocktress by name.
The last son of the Nocktress
has no name.
It is said that the Nameless One
wants to bring hell on earth.
The son of the smith was promised
a release from incarnation...
...if he succeeded in killing
the last son of the Nocktress.
The storytellers have assumed that
the son of the smith slew the demon...
...and was released from
earthly joys and sorrows...
...forever.
Hello.
Howdy.
- Those are mine.
- That's why I propose a deal.
I will give you these
in return for your hair and nails.
Come again?
- She's beautiful.
- Who?
Your girlfriend.
Tall and slender.
She reminds me of a woman
I once had a crush on.
- How is Ronja doing?
- Said she was about to leave town.
- Where to?
- Where do people usually move to?
I don't know. Away.
- Are you a smith?
- Yes.
- That's quite rare.
- Yes.
- Did you learn it from your father?
- No, my father ran a gas station.
- Interesting.
- No, it wasn't.
What do you know about the Sampo?
The Sampo from the Kalevala?
It was a mythological horn of plenty
forged by Seppo the Smith.
It was destroyed.
Only pieces were left in the world.
Kai, I'm sorry.
I'm leaving you.
- I must go. I have work to do.
- Sit please and let's chat.
- I must go now.
- But it's unfinished.
Let's shave it all off with a machine.
No, it's really nice. Thank you.
Wait, my dear friend...
(Vasopressin hormone in brain =
sense of belonging together)
Son of the smith...
Sintai...
Did you come to shave my legs?
Kai, it's possible that the Sampo
isn't just a myth...
...but a real historical machine...
...with the purpose of producing
happiness and welfare for people...
...out of nothing.
The man who made this chest
claims to have also forged the Sampo.
- It reacts to you.
- What's inside it?
Unlimited wealth and energy, maybe?
It dates back before the first dynasty.
According to its writings, its contents
will help the one who opens it.
But it can only be opened by
the son of the smith.
And only then when all hope is lost.
I have devoted my whole life to this.
Whatever's inside it,
I have nothing to lose.
Sintai.
Sintai Seng-Pu.
Son of the smith. I've found you.
- Master, you should be resting.
- I can't sleep, my friend.
- Are you afraid?
- No.
- Do you know that place?
- It's my village.
Do you miss it?
Everyone I loved there died years ago.
When I left for the Holy Mountain
of Anshun to become a monk...
...I swore never to return.
Cho, in a few days I will meet my
destiny at the swamps of Barun Urta.
The Demon awaits me.
I may not survive.
You aren't just my armor-bearer,
you're my friend.
That is why I dare to ask this of you.
Let me visit your home village.
They'd never let you go,
you know that!
The temple is unguarded because
all the monks are here...
...to protect you, and your purity.
I've never shown you this.
My only inheritance, my only memory.
My father told me to open this
only when all hope is lost.
But...
- Master.
- Let me live one happy day...
...one ordinary night.
Like an ordinary man.
The army marches slowly.
I will catch up before
you reach the swamps.
Silence!
We need to send an expedition
into the swamps.
No.
At the dawn of time...
...the Nocktress,
the Eldest of Hell's daughters...
...lay down to rest
in the middle of the road.
The Nocktress thrust nine eggs
from her womb...
out of which eight sons
were born into this world:
Fear, Pain, Madness, Ugliness...
...Lust, Hate, Greed and Blindness.
But the last of the eggs
remained unhatched.
It waited for its time to come.
Waited for the man from the prophecy.
It waited for...
The smith.
And for the machine that would help it
bring hell to this earth.
Old wives' tales.
The smith has a son.
He will rise against
the last son of the Nocktress.
Will he defeat the demon?
That the prophecy doesn't tell.
So being, I ask your permission
to fulfill the prophecy.
Stranger, you have no right
to speak here!
Let me live one day like an ordinary
man, then I will ride to the swamps.
So that you won't have to.
You're a Mongol spy.
I have the knowledge and skills
of two nations.
And a sword with which I shall brand
the Nameless One with its true name.
That name is Death.
You have a sword?
I suggest that you use it...
...or leave.
You have been born again.
Please speak Finnish.
You have been born again,
Master Sintai Seng-Pu.
You don't believe me?
The chest got me safely to this time.
What a pity this person
couldn't take it.
He is dead.
Please Master.
Attack.
Very well then.
Defend yourself.
This body is so weak.
Like you are just a fragile echo
of what you ought to be.
Like the best part of you
didn't show up.
- Stop.
- Ask me properly.
You feel like you've lost something.
Something you can't have back
until you have fulfilled your mission.
Stop it!
Here. For the tempering water
your father used.
Nectar from six flowers
and seven grasses.
Welcome back, my dear friend.
Who are you?
- I got that open.
- The force inside you got it open.
- You're the son of Seng-Pu the Smith.
- What do I need to do?
Forge me the Sampo.
It is the secret source
of all happiness.
I'm not a good smith.
Actually I suck.
Somewhere deep in your mind
lies a force.
The same one your father had.
And he got his loved one.
A force? What force...
- Did you just put a sword in
my stomach? -Yep yep.
Listen.
I think I'll die now.
Iron wanted to be with Fire,
but Fire burned it...
...and Iron escaped to the swamps.
Iron hid long in the swamps.
So long it forgot why it was born.
Until a wolf ran across the swamp and
the earth was moved in its tracks.
Up to those tracks Iron rose
and your father found it.
Now you know the birth of Iron
but it knows nothing about you.
- Tell Iron who you are.
- I'm Kai. Kai Pelkonen.
- How were you born? - Like everyone
else. In a hospital. My mother...
How did you become a smith?
I met Ronja. She needed a lock.
I lied I was a locksmith.
The lock came out lousy,
but then I learned.
I learned and learned,
until I didn't need to lie anymore.
Turned out Ronja knew all along
I wasn't a real smith.
- Ronja made me the smith I am now.
- And the smith you are yet to become.
Iron trusts you now.
You are not going to die.
You have been born again.
I imagined this forge in my head.
All the time, everywhere.
I knew that you would come.
Who are you?
I'm your Hope.
Forge me the Sampo...
...and I promise you'll get
your loved one back.
(Neon light: Pieces of Sampo)
Are you still open?
- Did you come to get
your boyfriend's things back? -No.
I came by accident.
I don't want to live surrounded
by remains of our story.
- That is sad.
- It is wise, rather.
Of all the national epics I have
studied, that is the saddest one.
The same story, over and over again.
No one gets the one they love.
My Kalevala will be different.
A love story.
I really don't care for those things.
We fall in love with the most primal
part of our brain, the reptile brain.
Our serotonin level drops to
that of neurosis.
This should normally create
depression but with a person in love...
...the result is worship
of the object of their love.
And it works like a drug.
But when the drug wears off...
...the body can no longer imagine
itself without the other person.
And they gave a name to this
dependency: Love.
You can put that into your Kalevala.
It will be a love story of all times
when love stories still existed.
We don't get to experience
anything like that anymore.
What are you doing?
Iron has now been forced into its
form, but it has to accept it itself.
It mustn't heat up too much
too fast, or it's ruined.
My name is Sintai Seng-Pu.
I am the one who shall kill
the son of the Nocktress.
Grandfather. You're drunk.
You will all talk to
my grandfather later.
What is your name?
Pin Yu.
Granddaughter of the Village Elder.
Who are you really?
I am Sintai.
The only son of Seng-Pu the Smith.
You don't look like
the son of Seng-Pu.
My mother came from a faraway
northern land.
My parents are dead.
I am alone.
Is there something more
you wish to say?
I don't know how to say it.
Thus I wonder, poor, poor boy...
How to be and how to live...
Should I make my home in fire?
Should I lock my gates in silence?
A secret weapon?
- Songs from my mother's old country.
- Beautiful. So beautiful.
When are you planning to
set out to the swamps?
You were supposed to leave yesterday.
People have begun to flee
from the village.
I am waiting for a sign.
Is that the real reason
for your delay?
No.
Before I saw you, I feared nothing.
Not even death.
But now I have begun to fear.
I fear that I shall defeat the demon...
...and be rewarded with
what the prophecy has promised me.
And will not be born again.
I do not wish to leave the earthly
joys and sorrows behind before...
...I have savored them with you.
I don't know you,
but I'm supposed to become yours...
...because only you can save us.
- I ask of you...
If you asked me to ride with you
to kill the demon, I would say yes.
You don't understand.
Haven't you ever been in love?
I ask of you for a reason
to return from battle.
I'm leaving.
We might never see each other again.
I know.
Do you still love me?
I do.
Has it always been me?
I promise to give you my answer soon,
Master Sintai.
Who are you talking to?
To myself.
It is nice.
But it's not the Sampo.
Did you send him to me?
Has faith bound us together?
- How did you get in here?
- Who is that?
The son of Seppo the Smith.
The saddest hero of the Kalevala.
Your answer is no.
You have obviously spent
too much time with the monks.
You don't understand women.
You are one of the finest men
I have ever known.
You are willing to defend us.
I shall wait for you to return.
I'll take you away from here,
far away.
To my mother's homeland.
My love.
- It looks like it was hugging someone.
- Or something. It was holding a chest.
The chest kept the body
from floating up.
Buried with him was
a wolf's skull and a woman.
Both were badly decomposed.
- They were together? Lovers?
- There's no way to prove it.
Cho!
- What happened?
- Master, why didn't you come?
We reached the swamp. We cannot
keep up this charade any longer.
I protected this...
...so that I could bring it back to you.
Master Sintai.
Shouldn't the wedding be postponed?
Whose wedding?
Cho, this is my fiance.
This is my armor-bearer
and best friend.
The battle has begun.
Master Sintai...
I'll return to you.
I'll be the happiest man on earth.
Wait.
My grandmother gave this to me.
She said it would make my wishes
come true.
I hope it will protect you from evil.
You let Iron hurt you again.
No more stages, Master.
Iron no longer trusts me.
I have a feeling this doesn't end well.
Something very bad has happened.
I know what it's like to live alone.
There are many fates
worse than death.
The worst is to lose your purpose,
and to be left living without it.
Does he look familiar?
What?
You didn't come here by accident.
Do you believe in incarnation?
Whatever you say to it, be honest.
Listen to me.
Please.
Help me.
I don't know who I am. I don't know
what is happening anymore.
Hope is all I have.
All that keeps me alive.
I am stuck in this one lonely moment.
It feels like death.
I have nobody.
Only one thought in my head.
I don't want to be alone anymore.
- It's beautiful.
- The secret source of all happiness.
- What do you think it'll do?
- You forged it.
You alone know
what will make you happy.
Sintai...
Kai...
I have waited for you a hundred years.
I won't let you wait in vain.
You can imagine my disappointment
after...
I had stolen this machine from humans
and finished all the preparations.
When I realized your father
had forged it so that...
...only his son can set
the Sampo in motion.
I shall never start the Sampo.
Not for you.
We were left in this world together.
We were destined to meet.
No one, not in these times,
can compare to us.
We have to stand by each other,
not fight.
Fate has bound you to me,
and no one else.
If you kill me,
you will become enlightened...
...and your soul
will leave this world forever.
Not until after this one,
solitary life of mine.
Wait, my friend.
Calm down.
- Where are we?
- In the Sang-Fu.
Come.
We're the only ones
who aren't affected by this.
- Looks like a burnt ham.
- It's thousands of years old.
I don't know what you've done.
I don't even want to know.
I was leaving town, but something
kept bringing me back here.
I need to go back there, so that
I'll know what is wrong with me.
Yes, I know.
You have to.
I somehow feel
I should give this to you.
I'll return to you.
I'll be the happiest man on earth.
What does it mean?
Fate will inevitably catch up
with those who run away from it.
Everything starts from the beginning.
Speak!
Say something!
Speak!
Master, I have waited thousands
of years for us to meet as equals.
The last son of the Nocktress.
There is nothing more I need from you.
You have opened the Sampo.
- You've made it your own.
- But most of the credit goes to you.
This is your creation.
A world where no one has to live
alone with their pain for long.
I just helped you release it.
From inside your head.
Hell.
Is it fair that only you should suffer.
You are not the one she waits for.
You will live this one, solitary life
of yours alone!
Pin Yu's soul will be reborn here
again and again.
In every one of her lives to come,
that slut will love somebody...
...and not one of them
will ever be you.
Fear... Pain...
Madness... Ugliness...
Lust... Greed...
Blindness... Hate...
...and...
Very well, Master. Attack.
I can't wait for you to see the world
the Sampo spits out of its bowels.
I know you're not dead yet.
I was starting to think those stupid
monks hadn't taught you a thing.
You planted a seed in my heart,
a bad seed.
A seed of doubt.
I have to give you your rightful name.
I bet you're asking yourself why.
Why you didn't kill me
when you had the chance.
For as long as I am, you are too.
My beloved friend.
Here I am!
The one with whom you belong.
A band of shepherds rescued me.
They took me to their winter camp.
- I almost died.
- They told us no one had survived.
- Still I waited a year for you.
- I returned as soon as I could travel.
But it was too late.
Everyone believed
you had taken your own life.
I traveled to the Holy Mountain of
Anshun, to get away from everything.
Now I regret that I didn't kill
myself. -Don't say that.
I waited for you the whole time.
Until Master Sintai arrived.
He warded The Strike
of Concealed Happiness...
...the one you and I invented together.
Nobody should be able to do that.
I taught it to him.
Is faith teasing me?
But I didn't tell him
where it will lead...
...two lovers.
The Strike of Concealed Happiness.
- You have the power to change the
prophecy, and the right... -Be quiet.
My father told me to open this
when all hope is lost.
What's in there?
It's empty...
The deceit of your loved ones
has already sent you to Hell.
Is it fair that you should
suffer there all alone?
We shall open the Sampo.
You and I, forever united.
I want another chance with Pin Yu.
For that, I am willing to sacrifice
my honor and reward.
I can't let you die.
Fear...
...Pain... Madness...
...Ugliness... Lust...
...Greed... Blindness...
...Hate...
...and...
...Hope.
This wasn't in any of the prophecies!
Let me go!
That kind of oath should not have been
sworn alone. It becomes a curse.
What are you talking about?
You are my mistake.
But I am going to give you
your rightful name.
You two will never have each other.
You will not be born again.
I know.
I'm sorry.
I'm leaving you.
Don't... leave me...
I name you Goodbye.
I name you... The Past.
I name you...
My friend...
Take this so far North
that no man can live there.
No man must ever find this.
Least of all, me.
Pin Yu, I swear, if my love is true...
...I will find you beyond time.
Ronja, this is not the end.
This is the beginning.
It was your wolf.
It carried the chest of your father.
If you need it back somewhere,
sometime, I'll bring it to you.
I will hunt that wolf
to the end of the earth if I have to.
And I will guard that chest with you
forever.