“The Promised Land” by Nikolaj Arcel has an apt title. Adapted from the 2020 novel “The Captain and Ann Barbara” by Ida Jessen, the land itself (the untamed wasteland of Jutland, the peninsula that forms mainland Denmark) proves to be both setting and character: so fickle and Tormented. and stained with blood like anyone else in this story.
In 1755, the wasteland is empty, save for groups of outlaws and low foliage, until a retired army captain, Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) leaves the poorhouse with a secret shipment from Germany and a plan. He convinces the Royal Treasury to allow him to cultivate the territory at his expense, appeasing the whims of King Frederick V and earning himself a noble title in return.
Ultimately, Ludvig's is a farmer's story, and Arcel treats it with the iconography and grandeur of a classic Western Scandinavian style. The film is a tapestry of misty vistas pierced only by flashlight light as Ludvig battles the unforgiving earth in all conditions, day and night, with shots of Mikkelsen's distinctive face against the sky.
If only the ground were its only antagonist. Ludvig has planted his settlement on a tract of land that a nearby landowner and local judge, Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), considers his. The only workers Ludvig manages to keep are a pair of runaway tenant farmers, Johannes (Morten Hee Andersen) and Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), whom Frederik also considers his own. And Frederik is a jealous, controlling and vengeful megalomaniac, who sets out to destroy Ludvig's dreams at any cost, simply because of his location on the map.
Melina Hagberg and Mads Mikkelsen in the movie “The Promised Land.”
(Henrik Ohsten / Zentropa)
After a foray into Hollywood with the 2017 Stephen King adaptation “The Dark Tower,” writer-director Arcel is back at his helm of Danish historical dramas, reuniting with Mikkelsen, who starred in his 2012 film “A Royal Affair.” ”, and with his co-writer Anders Thomas Jensen, with whom he wrote “Riders of Justice”. Arcel's films do not revise Danish history but expand it, changing previously held assumptions and examining the corruption of powerful men, with a socially progressive and even feminist bent.
Arcel makes this type of large-scale period cinema look effortless, these detailed dramas of serious emotions and socio-political issues intertwined with humor, romance and sensuality. He approaches the aristocracy with a certain level of absurdity, showing the men in power as ridiculous and pathetic. Bennebjerg adapts well to this, playing the sadistic psychopathic Frederik in an almost comical vein.
We laugh at him, especially when he continually corrects everyone to include the “de” in their last name, added as a vanity to appear more aristocratic. But we also see Frederik's enormous cruelty, as he lashes out with murderous fury whenever he feels helpless or frustrated, taking it out on innocents. Frederik is a very bad man, and witnessing what awaits him is deeply satisfying: the lines between good and evil are clearly drawn, as is often the case in this type of retrospective narrative.
“The Promised Land” is also the story of an unlikely family, a slowly developing theme that is revealed throughout the film's running time. It is a found family, made up of Ludvig, the strong-willed Ann Barbara and a young Romani woman, Anmai Mus (Melina Hagberg), whose mischief and humor bring lightness to the remote house on the moor. However, she is the focus of racism and discrimination from the German settlers who arrive there, and Ludvig almost loses the women who, although not part of his plan, complete his life.
This is the best work of Arcel's collaboration with veteran cinematographer Rasmus Videbæk. They create this Nordic western epic with haunting beauty and with an eye toward the kind of surprising violence that can erupt unexpectedly in lawless frontiers. The blood flows darkly and the scenes are lit by flames: a raging fire in the countryside as Ludvig and his outlaw workers burn the heather, lit candelabras illuminating an intimidating stately dinner, the faint light of a lamp pushing back the misty night while Ludvig fights the earth with his bare hands. . Aerial shots capture the texture and topography of the landscape.
Mikkelsen attracts attention with his characteristic stoicism in the center. His Ludvig is orbited by the flamboyant and evil Frederik, the wounded but powerful Ann Barbara and the charming and open-mouthed Anmai Mus. But Mikkelsen has a surprising ability to express deep emotions with just his eyes; Much is communicated in meaningful looks and glances. Without a single word, he makes his final decision about his land and his fate in it, although his feelings couldn't be clearer.
“The Promised Land” is the kind of sweeping epic that will make you say, “They don't make them like that anymore.” Thank goodness Nikolaj Arcel still does it.
Katie Walsh is a film critic for the Tribune News Service.
'The promised land'
In Danish, Swedish, German and Norwegian, with English subtitles.
Classification: R, for bloody violence, language, some sexuality and brief nudity.
Execution time: 2 hours, 7 minutes
Playing: In limited release on Friday, February 2.
