O Bastardo

Anchored by an emotionally arresting performance from the ever-reliable Mads Mikkelsen, The Promised Land (Bastarden) employs the expansive canvas of an epic to narrate its small-scale, intimate human drama and expertly balances the heartwarming with the harrowing to deliver a consistently engaging Jutland western. The story at its core is about family & togetherness yet brewing beneath the surface is an escalating tension that often unleashes scattered scenes of violence when the ambition of a nobody collides with the greed of a madman, thus making this steadily paced & brilliantly crafted Danish historical drama one of the better surprises of 2023.

In 1755, retired soldier Ludwig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) decides to attempt the impossible - to cultivate the Danish Heath. This is a bleak and infertile wilderness which produces nothing but gorse and heather (though there are forests nearby, for some reason). He hopes to win honour and renown thereby.

Kahlen builds his house, and collects a motley crew of workers, including a priest, a pair of runaway serfs, and some lawless folk akin to gypsies. He sort-of adopts a gypsy girl. With much labour, he clears some land, then unveils his secret weapon - the potato.

Unfortunately, he runs foul of a sadistic local landowner (a wonderfully sinister performance by Simon Bennebjerg), who considers himself above the law and has no problem with violence.

The film follows Kahlen through one growing season, at the end of which his feud with the landowner reaches a bloody climax.

The epitaph on screen seems to suggest that this is based on a true story, but I don't know if that's the case.

The performances are excellent throughout; the landscape is compelling, and the cinematography superb.

This was a surprisingly good movie. I've been disappointed by quite a few period drama pieces from the last years, so my expectations going in were not very high, especially given the description of it being "Western set in 18th century Denmark". But going out of the theatre I had to admit that I had a near perfect cinema experience. The movie was beautifully filmed with nearly each frame being a work of art. The acting was superb and the characters were interesting and well-developed. Mads Mikkelsen was stellar in his role, and I loved Ann Barbara, Anmai Mus and the priest. Simon Bennebjerg was great as the unhinged, but charismatic Frederik de Schinkel. The plot wasn't particularly original, but it kept you invested in the story, and was logical and well-rounded and the ending left no loose threads. The love story was compelling without being overly dramatic - because most love stories aren't! Another reviewer commented that it felt unnatural to him but to me on contrary it felt very realistic that these characters would seek out each other's warmth and comfort in the circumstances they were placed in. Other parts were well-balanced too - it had just enough blood and fighting and torture scenes to get the story across, but none just for drama's sake. The movie borrowed a lot of elements from the Western genre, but it felt authentic and in no way like a Hollywood clone. All in all, it was fantastic, well rounded film and a great cinematic experience.

The Promised Land takes place in 1700's Denmark and tells the story of a retired military officer who wants to settle and farm in an inhospitable area where no one else has been able to survive. He has visions of making a great success, and being greatly rewarded by the King and other noble people. That is just the vaguest outline of the story but the film goes deep into the characters involved and becomes unexpectedly dark, much darker than I had imagined. I will not say more so as not to spoil it, but this is a truly great movie. The main character is played to perfection by Mads Mickelson. The associated actors Amanda Collin, Kristine Thorp, and the young child actor Melina Hagberg are very much up to the task of making their characters come alive. A great film that I could not recommend more.

Possibly one of the most engaging and powerful European movies of the year. Great storytelling, acting, directing, cinematography, art direction, costumes, make up.

This film uses all the tools of the western genre. Wide landscapes, settlers developing harsh lands, the fight against greed, injustice, cruelty and impunity of the ruling class, a stubborn loner who learns to follow his heart and old vs. New technologies, in this case agricultural, settlers fighting rich landowners, racial prejudices and of course a showdown with a powerful obligatory scene.

For the longest time I have been waiting for a period piece set in Europe with the look and feel of epic westerns. There have been a few efforts so far and they all failed on me in one part or another. This one could be leading the pack. Do yourself a favor and go see it on a very, very big screen.