"The Promised Land" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Film At Lincoln Center, I attended a special screening of the historical drama, “The Promised Land” starring Mads Mikkelsen.  It is Denmark's Oscar® Entry for Best International Feature Film. 

Synopsis

When a Danish army veteran is granted land on which to farm, will he be able to succeed despite a vengeful nobleman who sees him as an interloper?

Story

In 1755, Ludvig von Kahlen (Mikkelsen), a retired Captain from the Danish military, finds himself living in a poorhouse when he devises a plan:  he will propose to a team of The King’s noblemen they grant him a parcel of land on an island The King owns so he can turn it into productive farmland.  In return, if successful, he asks to be made a nobleman and awarded his own servants.  The group initially doesn’t want to give him the land because The King has owned it for decades and none of the settlers have been successful farmers.  They wind up granting him the land because he isn’t asking for money – but they remain skeptical of his chances. 

Once there, von Kahlen has trouble finding arable land and soon becomes frustrated.  Complicating matters further are the obstacles set before him by Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a cruel nobleman who oversees the land.  De Schinkel informs von Kahlen that he must seek permission from him because it is his land; when von Kahlen reminds him that it is The King’s land, their conflicts begin.  Von Kahlen further infuriates De Schinkel when he hires a husband and wife to help with the work – they are former servants of De Schinkel who have managed to escape his brutality (for the time being, at least). 

Von Kahlen figures out that despite the poor soil quality, he would still be able to grow potatoes.  His crop flourishes, much to the surprise of The King and to the consternation of De Schinkel.  Inhabiting the land is Anmai Mus (Melina Hagberg), an orphaned little girl who must resort to stealing in order to survive.  Eventually, Von Kahlen takes pity on the child and adopts her, but also teaches her farming skills.  When The King provides Von Kahlen with more resources to support his efforts, this further infuriates De Schinkel, who has him captured and tortured.  But can Von Kahlen manage to escape and return to his farming?

Review

“The Promised Land” is quite impressive overall and upon viewing, it’s understandable why Denmark wants it entered in the awards consideration.  This, despite the fact that there are some moments that require the viewer to suspend disbelief; you’re so invested in the story that you either don’t notice it or are willing to overlook those incidents or they jump out at you because they are so glaring, possibly to the point that it takes you out of the movie momentarily.  Having said that, there’s just so much more that’s worthy of recommendation that picking apart the scenes where you question the how/where/why of it all may come across as somewhat niggling. 

Perhaps the best points about “The Promised Land” include Mikkelsen’s performance, the story itself and the cinematography – those alone are reasons that make it worth seeing.  Mikkelsen can hold the entire movie by not even having that much dialog; just his countenance alone speaks volumes in the context of almost any given scene as “the strong silent type”.  As far as the story is concerned, it is heartbreaking, but with a satisfying ending that resolves everything.  The cinematography is at its best in both the farming scenes and the battle scenes.  In fact, the vast open land is captured beautifully, despite that it’s supposed to be barren. 

If you get a chance to see “The Promised Land” either in a theater or via some streaming service, by all means, please do so; you won’t be disappointed.  It is ultimately a story about the discipline, determination and resilience of the species in the face of brutality, natural hardships and various other obstacles.  Think of it less as an historical drama or “Danish Western”, but instead about humanity at its core and how that humanity tries to be ripped away in the face of evil.  Its lesson ultimately appears to be that in spite of whatever ugliness we face in life, we are still all human beings.