Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
cinemajesty
Film Review: "Pelle The Conqueror" (1987)Based on the Danish novel "Pelle Erobreren" from 1910 written by Martin Andersen Nexo (1869-1954) and adapted by Writer/Director Bille August in tedious work unfolding the story of a father, portrayed by heartbreaking fragile actor Max von Sydow as the character of Lasse, and his son Pelle, performed by career-sacrificing actor Pelle Hvenegaard born in 1975, given the title-given character a face to strive through a film that balances the lives of master and slave, poverty and riches on a farming entity at the end of 19th century Danemark, where father & son get lured to in order to survive in a life full of beatings, constant fighting and a few kisses along the way by finding happiness in the tiny little moments where life makes sense.Director Bille August skillfully turns a bible-like script with all its beats, blocking movements and vocal lines already prepared for the indulging cast, led by Swedish actor Max von Sydow born in 1929, who strips his soul in this picture to the raw of an shattered existence of a slowly dying man, who despite alcoholism and constant states of insolvency keeping his head high to lead his son to an existence of an higher society under the banner of embarrassment, bullying torture and ongoing hard-working hands. It is quiet moments in "Pelle The Conqueror" that lifts the film to an accomplished literature adaptation, enduring the test of time of now 30 years after principal photography by Jörgen Persson, who captures the essence of a streetlife before the Industrilization of the early 20th century in earthy brownish color and connecting camera movements in order to fulfill a string of eventful moments, keeping the suspension arc at an attention-demanding level for the audience to follow the evolution of the main characters, who experience life a follow-up of lessons until death with chances to settle down along the way. So become the strongest scenes in the picture, when the character of Lasse has been invited by Madame Olson to get served with a decent meal after weeks of sleeping in the barn accompanied with a grateful cup of high-quality liquor in order to conclude the visitation with kiss toward a relationship that never fulfills itself and Lasse remains a man broken by life, yet with the relentless drive to present his son Pelle with a better life, which eventually happens for the teenage boy in getting promoted on the farm to a foreworker of employees, who deal with pigs, cows and hens that his dream of immigrating to America burns like a flame in his heart that for the spectator becomes the eternal struggle of survival evident; the impossibilities of being too old as the character of Lasse or too young as in the case of Pelle to confront such a life-changing, root-annihilating endeavor."Pelle The Conqueror" initially premiered in Sweden on December 25th 1987 before conquering the Cannes Film Festival 1988 in its 41st edition under jury president director Etorre Scola (1931-2016), which led to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Feature on March 29 1989, building the counterpart to the fairy-tale like Best Picture Winner "Rain Man" (1988) directed by Barry Levinson, establishing a controversy with international spectator in which world one likes to dive into by reflecting two pictures as mirror for a generation born in the 1980s, where all fundamental conflicts in life result out of the constant complaint of a current situation as between the characters of Raymond & Charlie in "Rain Man", portrayed respectively by actors Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, and the close to mutiny raging foreworkers led by actor Björn Granath (1946-2017) in the role of Erik on the farming estate in "Pelle The Conqueror", which shares further dark secrets of fetus river burials, planting wild strawberries from Sweden on a plain for taste, Cognac-drinking estate owners to kill the pain of a meaningless existence and an extreme bullying attack of whipping nature to stripped child skin, leaving the picture in a mesmerizing state to prevail time itself.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)
chaswe-28402
No relief in this one. No let up. The conqueror escapes to nothing, nowhere; a wintry, frozen and empty sea-shore. Max can act, no question. So can Pelle the boy. The direction consummates the never-ending grimness and daily grind of the emigrant labourer, paid 100 kronor a year, about £10. It's virtual slavery, though the bodies are not sold. These slaves are especially abused and exploited because they are foreign. Life continues, a living death.Undeniably effective, but who would want to watch this twice ? Joylessness squared. Unpunished rape, unwanted child-murder, bullying, crippling poverty, death and decay. An existential inferno, where hope is eventually abandoned. What benefit is to be gained from seeing this relentless, unrelieved misery ? I give it eight stars, because it's a powerful movie, but recommend no-one to watch it. One flaw: the boy's dubbed American accent was annoying. It was out-of-place. The only man capable of bringing a little lightness to the company, with his musical squeeze-box, gets bludgeoned into mindless inanity.
drystyx
This is a difficult film to review, because it is pretty much all of its ingredients, so the best description of it would either be fifteen pages or fifteen words."The grass is greener" describes the motif pretty well.The usual description leads one to think it is totally about "Pelee", but that isn't the case. Many characters and many plots are in this film.I watched it with some expectations. Max von Sydow is one of the most respected names in acting, and even when he appears in high action apocalyptic films, there is some bit of "thinking" involved.We usually expect Sydow to be involved in works that are "mystical puzzles", such as "The Seventh Seal" and "The Reward".But sometimes, like this film, the film is about "reactions". In fact, two things that I was always conscious of while watching this were the title and the "reactions".Why was it called "Pele the Conqueror"? We come to that at the end.As for the "reactions", that too is a omen of the ending. The characters don't "think things through". They simply react.And that does give a very realistic view of the times and the people. It is a story of the hopes of people on a Scandinavian stone farm in the late 1800s. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a dull "slice of life" film, though.I am not the most patient viewer, maybe a bit "attention deficit", but this film kept me interested throughout.I could say more, but then I wouldn't know where to stop. Hopefully, this review gives an idea of what to expect. It has good scenery, and is well made. I feel comfortable in saying that nearly everyone will be pleased by it, and most will be more than pleased.
ralphdl
I saw this film in the theater when it was released and it has always stayed with me.From the first scene that opens like a Danish or Dutch oil painting to the last scene when the father says goodbye to his son in the depths of winter knowing he will never see him again….this film is indeed a masterpiece.Every scene is a painting and Max Von Sydow and Pelle Hyenegaard are perfect. The character actors, if in fact they were actors, were sometimes disturbingly authentic.The story is simple. A father searching for a new wife to take care of himself and especially his son while at the same time struggling to survive in very difficult times made even more difficult by the relentless weather. This is not an upbeat film by any means. It is, however, a triumph of spirit and the love of a father for his son and the son's realization that he has to leave and his father cannot come with him. A new life for the worn out father is not possible in the new world. He accepts that only his young son can have the chance that they cannot have in Denmark…he turns and walks away.You will never forget this film.
