Pelle the Conqueror won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film when it was originally released. Although I did not see it then, it is certainly easy to see why it received that answer. It is an unsparing tale of the life of a Swedish immigrant father and son (Max von Sydow and Pelle Hvenegaard) who have come to Denmark following the death of wife and mother and found work as laborers on a farm in a desolate seaside landscape. It is, to avoid giving details, a terrible life. I'm told that this is a very thin slice from a four-volume novel. So despite the film's 2-1/2 hour length, what we're shown is a tiny piece of a much larger canvas. Max von Sydow, a famous actor in his day, is superb as the elderly father of young Pelle but the child's role is also very well acted, and the direction by Bille August who also wrote the screenplay is unobtrusive but sure-handed. Since it is set in the 19th Century, there is nothing dated about this film. It is a masterwork.

 

 

 

Pelle the Conquerer is an excellent film for its genre. This, a classic coming of age film, is told in a sincere, brutally honest way. There is a sense of realism here, without a sugar coated happy ending. A child, learning the harsh lessons of life, yet undeterred in his thirst for 'conquering' his own, emerging world. The DVD version is 150 minutes long, this, sadly cut down from the film's original release of 160 minutes. What a shame, in the interest of time, to take away from the directors vision. Max von Sydow turns in another fine performance, but the movie belongs to it's young star. His only film, I am sorry to say. Excellent, inspired....

 

 

 

If any film ever deserves a sequel, "Pelle the Conqueror" is it. In the admirable winner of both the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film, Max von Sydow (in his only Oscar nominated performance) is Lasse, a Swedish middle- aged widower who takes his young son Pelle from impoverished ninetieth century Sweden to Denmark in search and hope of finding a better life. Because of his age and lack of any specific job skills, Lasse is forced to become a laborer on a farm, with Pelle helping him out. You know, when my family and I first came to America in 1991, one of our new friends, himself a "new American" told us one thing that I always remember, "No matter what, every immigrant is going to eat a lot of dirt, some - more, some- less.

Lasse and Pelle of Billie August's superb drama had been served plenty of that meal – they had to sleep in a former chicken coop, they are poor, Pelle is bullied by kids at the local school. Lasse meets a nice local woman whose husband has been lost at sea and wants to marry her but the husband returns…Lasse and his son will go through many of cruelties and indignities together but they always remain devoted to each other. Their relationship is not only of a son and his father but also of two loyal friends. In the end, Pelle has realized that the farm is no place for him, and I want to know what happens to him and to his father next – but there is no sequel for this involving, moving, and simply magnificent movie yet. 9.5/10