Pelle the Conqueror (1987)

The end of the 19th century. A boat filled with Swedish emigrants comes to the Danish island of Bornholm. Among them are Lasse and his son Pelle who move to Denmark to find work. They find ... See full summary »

Director:

Bille August

Writers:

Martin Andersen Nexø (novel), Bille August (screenplay)

Stars:

Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow, Erik Paaske

Won 1 Oscar. Another 21 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pelle Hvenegaard	...	Pelle
Max von Sydow	...	Lassefar
Erik Paaske	...	Forvalter / Foreman
Björn Granath	...	Erik (as Bjørn Granath)
Astrid Villaume	...	Fru Kongstrup / Mrs. Kongstrup
Axel Strøbye	...	Kongstrup
Troels Asmussen	...	Rud
Kristina Törnqvist	...	Anna
Karen Wegener	...	Madam Olsen / Mrs. Olsen
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Jomfru Sine / Miss Sine
Lars Simonsen	...	Niels Køller
Buster Larsen	...	Ole Køller
John Wittig	...	Skolelærer / School teacher
Troels Munk	...	Læge / Doctor
Nis Bank-Mikkelsen	...	Præst / Clergyman

Storyline

The end of the 19th century. A boat filled with Swedish emigrants comes to the Danish island of Bornholm. Among them are Lasse and his son Pelle who move to Denmark to find work. They find employment at a large farm, but are treated as the lowest form of life. Pelle starts to speak Danish but is still harassed as a foreigner. But none of them wants to give up their dream of finding a better life than the life they left in Sweden.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | father son relationship | spanking | farm worker | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

De trodde att världen skulle bli deras

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Denmark Sweden

Language:

Scanian Danish Swedish Finnish

Release Date:

21 December 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pelle the Conqueror

Filming Locations:

Bregnegården, Tappernøje, Sjælland, Denmark

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,985, 25 December 1988, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,053,931

Company Credits

Production Co:

Per Holst Filmproduktion, Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Swedish director Ingmar Bergman told August he saw the film seven times, choosing August to direct the film The Best Intentions (1992).

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Goofs

Although set on the island of Bornholm, the characters speak standard Danish instead of the Bornholmsk dialect, and do not have Bornholm accents either.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pelle: Father?
Lassefar: Everything's gonna be fine.
Pelle: Tell it again.
Lassefar: This new country we're going to is very different.
Pelle: Talk more about it.
Lassefar: They put raisins in the pork roast and butter on the bread. They put a lot of butter on the bread. Brandy is cheap as water and it is so strong that it knocks you off. But your father can take it, Pelle, because he's strong.
Pelle: And children are free all day.
Lassefar: Yes, Pelle, yes.
Pelle: Tell it again.
[...]

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Connections

Edited into Eventyret om dansk film 18: Nye perspektiver - 1970-1987 (1996)

User Reviews

An exceptionally well made film that is bound to depress you...

I can see why "Pelle the Conqueror" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It's exceptionally well made. However, I am warning you that although it's worth seeing, it's not a particularly pleasant film--as it's grim from start to finish...VERY, VERY grim.

The film is set in late 19th century Denmark. It begins with an older man (Max Von Sydow) and his young son, Pelle, arriving there from Sweden. According to the dad, Denmark is a land of many opportunities and there life will be so much better than it had been back home. However, soon they learn that life is dreadfully oppressive here in their new home. They are hired on as indentured servants of sorts--and even the young boy must toil very hard on this farm. In some ways, they are like slaves as the food is terrible, the hours long and there is almost no let up to the bleakness of their lives. Many awful things happen through the course of the film--murdered babies, people getting pounded in the head by a large stone, rapes, and Pelle ultimately learns that through all this, his father is a spineless wimp.

This movie does seem to illustrate just how tough life was and does a great job of showing the lives of illiterate workers, but it's also a real chore to stick with it. Lovers of art films will probably be able to stick around for the almost three hour running time--most of the rest will not. In many ways it reminds me of other Oscar-winners like "The Last Emperor" and "The English Patient"--very grim and miserable films. However, at least with "Pelle" you actually care about the characters--which makes it worth seeing IF you are very, very patient. However, if you are depressed at all, do NOT watch the film--it might just push you over the edge.