Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Pelle Hvenegaard | ... | Pelle | |
Max von Sydow | ... | Lassefar | |
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Erik Paaske | ... | Forvalter / Foreman |
Björn Granath | ... | Erik (as Bjørn Granath) | |
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Astrid Villaume | ... | Fru Kongstrup / Mrs. Kongstrup |
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Axel Strøbye | ... | Kongstrup |
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Troels Asmussen | ... | Rud |
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Kristina Törnqvist | ... | Anna |
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Karen Wegener | ... | Madam Olsen / Mrs. Olsen |
Sofie Gråbøl | ... | Jomfru Sine / Miss Sine | |
Lars Simonsen | ... | Niels Køller | |
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Buster Larsen | ... | Ole Køller |
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John Wittig | ... | Skolelærer / School teacher |
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Troels Munk | ... | Læge / Doctor |
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Nis Bank-Mikkelsen | ... | Præst / Clergyman |
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. Written by Mattias Thuresson
Max Von Sydow gives a stirring performance as an immigrant father with an enduring dream of conquering the world. Realizing his failure, he instills the dream in his son. Together, they seek a better life in the new land, but are confronted with harsh conditions and a bleak economic system, systemic of poverty and prejudice. The film locations and the fine acting enhance this Danish import. It should be noted that Von Sydow' character is a man possessed with inner strength and is unafraid of the punishing work and low pay, yet in several parts of the story, the father which his son has come to admire, retreats from the simple promises he has given his son. consequentially, the boy learns to accept his father as just an ordinary man with an enduring dream. Don't we all? ***