Pelle erobreren (1987)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Bille August

Writers:

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

Release Date:

21 December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

De trodde att världen skulle bli deras

Plot:

The end of the 19th century. A boat filled with Swedish emigrants comes to the Danish island of Bornholm...

Plot Keywords:

Denmark | Bornholm | Father Son Relationship | Whisky | Boy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 20 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Pelle erövraren (Sweden)
Pelle the Conqueror (USA)

Runtime:

157 min

Country:

Denmark | Sweden

Language:

Scanian | Danish | Swedish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Denmark:11 | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bornholm, Denmark

Company:

Per Holst Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Only the second Danish film to scoop the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Babette's Feast (1987) having done it the year before.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bille & Pelle (1988) (TV)

Beautiful Rendering of a Difficult Life

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.