Clockwise from top left: Eileen (Neon), Sympathy For The Devil (Rlje Films), The Promised Land (Magnolia Pictures), Ferrari (Neon)Image: The A.V. Club
As the summer movie season gets ready to kick off in theaters, Hulu highlights some A-list stars in indie films for its May calendar. In Eileen, Anne Hathaway...
As the summer movie season gets ready to kick off in theaters, Hulu highlights some A-list stars in indie films for its May calendar. In Eileen, Anne Hathaway...
- 5/2/2024
- by Robert DeSalvo
- avclub.com
Plot: In 18th century Denmark, Captain Ludvig Kahlen – a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero — sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land on which seemingly nothing can grow. He seeks to start farming crops, build a colony in the name of the King, and gain a noble title for himself. This beautiful but forbidding area also happens to be under the rule of the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power.
Review: You have heard the cliche “they don’t make them like they used to” countless times, but it fits perfectly when reviewing The Promised Land. An epic melodrama that combines elements of survival thrillers, westerns, period melodramas, and historical drama, The Promised Land is a stunning and stark look at one man’s quest to tame the harsh wilderness of the barren northern territory of Denmark while also...
Review: You have heard the cliche “they don’t make them like they used to” countless times, but it fits perfectly when reviewing The Promised Land. An epic melodrama that combines elements of survival thrillers, westerns, period melodramas, and historical drama, The Promised Land is a stunning and stark look at one man’s quest to tame the harsh wilderness of the barren northern territory of Denmark while also...
- 2/17/2024
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
Inspired by a true story about a retired 18th-century army captain turned farmer, Nikolaj Arcel’s brash drama is entertaining, if a little preposterous
There’s old-fashioned entertainment value in this tough, if faintly preposterous Nordic western, a muscular, brash and well photographed piece of work from Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen. It’s adapted from the 2020 bestseller The Captain and Ann Barbara by Ida Jessen, which is itself loosely inspired by a true story from Denmark’s history about the retired 18th-century army captain turned farmer Ludwig von Kahlen.
Kahlen got royal permission to cultivate the lawless and desolate Jutland heath, a theoretically lucrative adventure which would reward only the hardiest and most fanatically committed. Mads Mikkelsen plays Kahlen with granite-faced imperturbability and the kind of silent strength that makes him a Euro Gary Cooper. This movie dreams up romantic and dramatic subplots for this...
There’s old-fashioned entertainment value in this tough, if faintly preposterous Nordic western, a muscular, brash and well photographed piece of work from Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen. It’s adapted from the 2020 bestseller The Captain and Ann Barbara by Ida Jessen, which is itself loosely inspired by a true story from Denmark’s history about the retired 18th-century army captain turned farmer Ludwig von Kahlen.
Kahlen got royal permission to cultivate the lawless and desolate Jutland heath, a theoretically lucrative adventure which would reward only the hardiest and most fanatically committed. Mads Mikkelsen plays Kahlen with granite-faced imperturbability and the kind of silent strength that makes him a Euro Gary Cooper. This movie dreams up romantic and dramatic subplots for this...
- 2/14/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
"The Promised Land", based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen, is a new historical drama feature, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper and Felix Kramer, opening February 2, 2024 in theaters:
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
- 2/1/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Nikolaj Arcel‘s The Promised Land is set in 18th-century Denmark, where Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen), a proud and ambitious war hero of humble birth, has retired from the German Army after an illustrious 25 years of service. Despite his impoverished state, he persuades the Royal Danish Court to allow him to cultivate on a barren property of Jutland moorland, relying solely on his meager pension. In exchange for this ambitious undertaking, he seeks the coveted privilege of a noble title accompanied by a grand manor. Embarking on this daring venture, he faces the challenge of not only an inhospitable territory but also a county judge residing in the formidable Hald Manor, Frederik De Schinkel, known for his merciless rule and land ownership. Undeterred by the harsh elements and local brigands, Ludvig forms an unlikely alliance with a couple, Johannes Eriksen and his wife Ann Barbara, who have escaped the...
- 1/19/2024
- by Dipankar Sarkar
- Talking Films
"The Promised Land", based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen, is a new historical drama feature, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper and Felix Kramer, releasing February 2, 2024 in theaters:
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
- 1/15/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"The Promised Land", based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen, is a new historical drama feature, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper and Felix Kramer, releasing February 2, 2024 in theaters:
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
- 12/20/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"The Promised Land", based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen, is a new historical drama feature, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper and Felix Kramer, releasing February 2, 2024 in theaters:
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"We're not dying for your damn heath project." Magnolia Pictures has debuted the main US trailer for The Promised Land, now set for February 2024 after being submitted by Denmark to the Oscars for 2023. The latest feature from Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel premiered in the Main Competition at this year's 2023 Venice Film Festival. The film is set in the late 1700s and is a tale of royalty and servants. It tells the story of Ludvig Kahlen who pursued his lifelong dream: To make the heath bring him wealth & honor. Mads Mikkelsen stars, along with Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, and Gustav Lindh. Arcel's intro: "Aided by Ida Jessen's brilliant novel, Anders Thomas Jensen and I wanted to tell a grand, epic tale about how our ambitions and desires will inevitably fail if they are all we have. Life is chaos; painful and unpleasant, beautiful and extraordinary, and we often cannot control it.
- 12/14/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"The Promised Land", based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen, is a new historical drama feature, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Amanda Collin ("Raised by Wolves"), Mads Mikkelsen, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper and Felix Kramer, with a wide release Tba:
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
- 10/11/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"The Promised Land", based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen, is a new historical drama feature, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen, Magnus Krepper and Felix Kramer, with a wide release Tba:
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
"....poor soldier, 'Ludvig Kahlen', arrives in 1755 on the barren 'Jutland' heath with a single goal: to follow the king's call to cultivate the land and thereby achieve wealth and honor himself.
"But Kahlen quickly makes an enemy. The merciless landowner, 'Frederik De Schinkel', who is sole ruler of the area, believes that the heath belongs to him and not the king.
"When De Schinkel's serf runs away with his wife 'Ann Barbara' and seeks refuge with Kahlen, the landowner does everything to drive Kahlen away and at the same time exact a cruel revenge.
"Kahlen does not bow,...
- 9/25/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Icon Film Distribution has picked up The Promised Land, the Danish period drama starring Mads Mikkelsen for the U.K.
The Nordic Western sees Mikkelsen reteam with Nikolaj Arcel, the director of 2012’s A Royal Affair, a steamy period piece that scored an Oscar nomination for best international feature and launched the career of co-star Alicia Vikander.
Mikkelsen stars as Captain Kahlen, an 18th-century soldier who struggled, against all odds, to cultivate the barren Jutland heath and start a settlement there. But a local landowner, Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) is determined to stop him, fearing the arrival of settlers will weaken his position as lord of the realm. The Promised Land is based on Ida Jessen’s Danish best-seller The Captain and Ann Barbara and was inspired by real events, though the book and film are fiction. Amanda Collin and Gustav Lindh co-star.
The Promised Land premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
The Nordic Western sees Mikkelsen reteam with Nikolaj Arcel, the director of 2012’s A Royal Affair, a steamy period piece that scored an Oscar nomination for best international feature and launched the career of co-star Alicia Vikander.
Mikkelsen stars as Captain Kahlen, an 18th-century soldier who struggled, against all odds, to cultivate the barren Jutland heath and start a settlement there. But a local landowner, Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) is determined to stop him, fearing the arrival of settlers will weaken his position as lord of the realm. The Promised Land is based on Ida Jessen’s Danish best-seller The Captain and Ann Barbara and was inspired by real events, though the book and film are fiction. Amanda Collin and Gustav Lindh co-star.
The Promised Land premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
- 9/19/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“The Promised Land” deserves a sexier title than “The Promised Land”: It’s hard to hear those well-worn words and not expect something as beige and starchy as the spuds grown on its titular terrain. It has one, in fact. The native Danish title for Nikolaj Arcel’s film translates as “The Bastard” — which has the advantage of applying, in different senses, to both its male principals, and rather better captures the spirit of this lavishly upholstered historical romp, which may pose nobly at points, but gradually reveals a heart of pure boys’-own hokum. Notionally rooted in historical fact, but embellished with storybook romance and flouncing cartoon villainy, this roundly enjoyable Venice competition entry finally owes all its residual gravitas (and at least half its considerable handsomeness) to the expressive woodcut visage of one Mads Mikkelsen.
Funny thing about that face, with its razored planes and coolly sloping...
Funny thing about that face, with its razored planes and coolly sloping...
- 9/1/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
It’s been 11 years since Mads Mikkelsen starred in Nikolaj Arcel’s Danish period drama A Royal Affair, one of 2012’s most raved about international films which also went on to an Oscar nomination.
Now, the countrymen are back together again with Venice competition title The Promised Land (Bastarden) which Magnolia acquired for U.S. distribution at script stage and which is already on the shortlist to be Denmark’s Oscar submission this year.
Mikkelsen plays impoverished captain Ludvig Kahlen who in 1755 sets out to conquer the harsh, uninhabitable heath of Jutland with a seemingly impossible goal: to build a colony in the name of the King. But the merciless Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) does everything in his power to drive the captain away. Kahlen will not be intimidated and engages in an unequal battle — risking not only his life, but also that of the family of outsiders that has formed around him.
Now, the countrymen are back together again with Venice competition title The Promised Land (Bastarden) which Magnolia acquired for U.S. distribution at script stage and which is already on the shortlist to be Denmark’s Oscar submission this year.
Mikkelsen plays impoverished captain Ludvig Kahlen who in 1755 sets out to conquer the harsh, uninhabitable heath of Jutland with a seemingly impossible goal: to build a colony in the name of the King. But the merciless Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) does everything in his power to drive the captain away. Kahlen will not be intimidated and engages in an unequal battle — risking not only his life, but also that of the family of outsiders that has formed around him.
- 9/1/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
The Promised Land, the new film from Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, is a story of ambition.
Set in 1755 it follows Captain Ludvig Kahlen, a bankrupt former soldier determined to secure the royal title denied him by birth — the film’s Danish title, Bastarden, is a reference to Kahlen’s origins as the illegitimate son of a rich landowner and his housemaid — by building a colony for the Danish king in the hinterlands of the Danish heath, at the time a lawless and untamed wilderness. In addition to the unforgiving climate and hardscrabble, crop-resistance soil, Kahlen has to battle with Frederik de Schinkel, a brutal and arrogant land baron determined to claim Kahlen’s land for his own.
The premise has the makings of a classic Western: The story of one man taming the frontier. But Arcel, who co-wrote the film with his frequent collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen (Riders of Justice...
Set in 1755 it follows Captain Ludvig Kahlen, a bankrupt former soldier determined to secure the royal title denied him by birth — the film’s Danish title, Bastarden, is a reference to Kahlen’s origins as the illegitimate son of a rich landowner and his housemaid — by building a colony for the Danish king in the hinterlands of the Danish heath, at the time a lawless and untamed wilderness. In addition to the unforgiving climate and hardscrabble, crop-resistance soil, Kahlen has to battle with Frederik de Schinkel, a brutal and arrogant land baron determined to claim Kahlen’s land for his own.
The premise has the makings of a classic Western: The story of one man taming the frontier. But Arcel, who co-wrote the film with his frequent collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen (Riders of Justice...
- 9/1/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel, who was behind “The Dark Tower” with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey – is bringing back the historical epic with “The Promised Land,” which world premieres in Venice Film Festival competition section.
Set in 1755 and based on a true story, it sees captain Ludvig Kahlen (played by Mads Mikkelsen) deciding to finally conquer the Danish heathland and build a colony there. But its ruler, Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), doesn’t want to share the inhospitable land. Or anything else, for that matter.
“Today, it’s more about action and superheroes, but I’m very interested in taking that genre, one that has gotten a bit lost, and modernizing it,” he says.
“It has this western quality because it’s about pioneers in a new land, trying to build something, but I was more interested in looking at old epics like ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ I think it’s a genre we need.
Set in 1755 and based on a true story, it sees captain Ludvig Kahlen (played by Mads Mikkelsen) deciding to finally conquer the Danish heathland and build a colony there. But its ruler, Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), doesn’t want to share the inhospitable land. Or anything else, for that matter.
“Today, it’s more about action and superheroes, but I’m very interested in taking that genre, one that has gotten a bit lost, and modernizing it,” he says.
“It has this western quality because it’s about pioneers in a new land, trying to build something, but I was more interested in looking at old epics like ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ I think it’s a genre we need.
- 8/31/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
"Stay off the heath." Zentropa in Denmark has revealed the first trailer for a film called The Promised Land, which will be premiering at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The latest feature from Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel is playing in the Main Competition - kicking off next week. The film is set in the late 1700s and is a tale of royalty and servants. It tells the story of Ludvig Kahlen who pursued his lifelong dream: To make the heath bring him wealth & honor. The heath they refer to is a wild & dry land, created by Stone Age farmers who unknowingly exhausted the Danish farm lands (more info here). Mads Mikkelsen stars as Kahlen, with Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, and Gustav Lindh. Arcel introduces the film: "Aided by Ida Jessen’s brilliant novel, Anders Thomas Jensen and I wanted to tell a grand, epic tale about how our...
- 8/23/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Dark, violent historical epics have a special place in my heart, and the upcoming Mads Mikkelsen film "The Bastard" looks like it will be period-piece perfection. The film, which stars Mikkelsen as a 17th-century soldier charged with taking over a large swath of land for the king of Denmark, looks like the kind of movie that belongs alongside "The Northman" or "Valhalla Rising," which also starred Mikkelsen. The upcoming Danish-language film is still in production, so there aren't many marketing materials to share just yet. Thankfully, there are at least some great behind-the-scenes stills shared by the production company behind "The Bastard," Zentropa.
While it's still early, there are some interesting details available about the film, including the premise, possible release window, and more about the cast and crew. Here's everything we know so far about this moody-looking cinematic slice of Scandinavian history.
When And Where To Watch The Bastard
According to Zentropa's press release,...
While it's still early, there are some interesting details available about the film, including the premise, possible release window, and more about the cast and crew. Here's everything we know so far about this moody-looking cinematic slice of Scandinavian history.
When And Where To Watch The Bastard
According to Zentropa's press release,...
- 9/22/2022
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
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