Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

You need to see that 'jewel' before you die! Outstanding!

I wanted to really like this. I really did. Luscious scenery, amazing long shots, admirable mise en scène, lovely cinematography. Excellent acting from the two main actors. First, the well known Max von Sydow as a frustratingly timid father that we somehow hate while loving. Through Sydow's skilled performance, we can see how much he loves his son, yet not enough to overcome his cowardliness. Then we have young Pelle, played by Pelle Hvenegaard. No, not a complete coincidence. The actor was actually named after the character he is playing; the film is based on Martin Andersen Nexø's 1906 novel by the same name, Volume 1/4. Maybe this motivated the actor to give such an impressive debut performance. Aside from all this, however, the sum is less than its parts. This coming of age story has very little humor and even less moments to truly smile during. One terrible thing after another, the only predictable thing being that something else bad or worse is sure to come next. I have never been one to demand or even ask for fairy tale endings. Indeed, I actually appreciate the more realistic examinations of life. Unfortunately, there is a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this, and somehow "Pelle the Conquerer" fell short. During the course of the film, young Pelle is tormented by his schoolmates and humiliated by the apprentice overseer; a girl gives birth to her employer's son's bastard child and is dragged off to prison for murdering it; the son, who really killed the baby, sacrifices himself while trying to rescue a ship in a storm; some new emigrants turn up frozen to death in a boat, the local mutant halfwit lets Pelle whip him with stinging nettles for half a crown; the only rebellious farmhand gets bashed in with a rock and turned into a shuffling retard; the landowner's miserable wife lobs her husband's penis (Yes, you read correctly); Lasse thinks he will have a cushy berth married to a comfortable widow but her husband comes back alive; the halfwit runs away to the sideshow; the schoolmaster drops dead in class and Pelle finally decides enough is enough and leaves through the snowy wastes to an indefinite future chronicled in three more books and presumably future films. Except there are no other films; only the books.The result is a film that was not paced well, with many what the ? moments and a whole lot of depressing ones. The good did not outweigh the bad in this film that could have been far better.

At the end of the 19th century, Lasse and Pelle, father and son, cross the sea separating Sweden from Denmark in pursuit of prosperity and happiness. Lasse, a middle-aged widower, promises his son that in the new country there's work with high wages and 'kids are free all day.' It's the illusions of a hopeful emigrant. In reality they land in Denmark to work almost as slaves at a farm, bound to the owner by a poorly-paid contract that doesn't allow them to leave until they've fulfilled its term.Bille August's Pelle The Conqueror is harsh. It's a movie about crushed illusions, xenophobia, class differences, power, economic submission, and the cost of freedom. It's not an easy, uplifting movie.There are two character studies at the center of the film. We've all met Lasse in our life. We all know someone who is cowardly but prone to boasting, who complains about his boss but never stands up to him, who drinks when life doesn't suit him, who makes plans but never does anything to fulfill them. Max Von Sydow gives a great performance as Lasse; he has that rare ability to subtly change his facial expressions from moment to moment, which fits Lasse's mood swings, and he speaks volumes just with his eyes. To play Lasse, a frail middle-aged man, the actor adopts a stooped frame with slow movements, accentuating his weakness. This is one of those rare performances when an actor loses himself in the role he's playing. Max Von Sydow alone is reason enough to watch this movie.Pelle Hvenegaard, who was 13 at the time, also gives an excellent performance. Pelle is the main character and Hvenegaard holds his ground when he shares a scene with the veteran actor. Pelle is his father's opposite: introspective and a sharp observer. In the farm a lively man called Erik (Björn Granath), fills Pelle's head with new dreams about America and convinces him to save his money so the two can go together. It may turn out to be another disappointment, but it's what keeps Pelle going. Unlike his father, he hasn't lost hope.This is the conflict at the heart of the film. The scene the two actors share when Pelle asks his father to leave with him is an amazing example of acting, contrasting the two personalities perfectly, Lasse's fear of the unknown against Pelle's determination to change his life.Besides portraying this conflict, the movie also captures the hardships and cruelty of the farm and community they live in. Right from the start they're discriminated for being Swedes, whom the Danish forearm considers a dumb people fit only for manual work. The foreman dictates the terms, he decides who can rest and when, he threatens rebels like Erik with the police. Pelle's life is even worse because he can't get along with his schoolmates. His only friend is Rut, the bastard son of farm owner and a local peasant. The movie is very critical of the ruling class too, showing its indifference and aloofness. A quick subplot neatly demonstrates the consequences of a farm girl and the son of a landowner falling in love.Ironically, the film is beautiful to look at, especially when the camera lingers over endless ice-covered fields. There's an atmosphere of stillness and peacefulness. Bille Auguste captures all the beauty of the landscape around the farm, even if it's a deadly landscape, where men can freeze to death during winter. Even when the movie is beautiful its ultimate message seems to be: life is difficult.Pelle The Conqueror fascinates me because it's not a distant reality it depicts. Who doesn't know what it is to have dreams crushed because of circumstances beyond our control? To be afraid of taking a chance? To submit to and confront authority? To accept life's unexpected pleasures as they come to us? Lasse and Pelle, two opposite approaches to life – resignation or hope – are always with us. This movie is harsh but not harsher than ordinary life.

PELLE THE CONQUEROR may now be twenty-three years old as a film but the power and beauty of this epic masterpiece from Denmark still retain the brilliance of its original 1987 theatrical release. Based on a four volume novel by Martin Andersen Nexø the screenplay by writer/director Bille August, Per Olov Enquist, and Bjarne Reuter granted takes only a small portion of the original story and that explains why so much of what happens in this 2 1/2 hour film is only vaguely explained, but the end result is a marvelous drama of the relationship of a father (Lassefar, brilliantly realized by the venerable Max von Sydow), who has pride but has not the courage of his convictions, and a son (Pelle, a masterpiece of young acting by Pelle Hvenegaard) who dreams of finding a life better than the bitterly poor existence he shares with the father he loves. The film takes place in Denmark near the turn of the 19th century over the course of a year and during that time the Pelle encounters peer prejudice from being a Swedish immigrant who has traveled to Denmark for the good life, class distinction between the wealthy landowners and the poverty stricken workers, the double standard of morals of the learned 'role models', death, physical abuse, young love between two lovely people who out of fear drown their infant at birth, the harsh realities of gathering sustenance from laboring the land and the sea, the bonds of true friendship with a bastard child of the land owner, and the disappointment of losing hope of conquering the world by means of accompanying a friend who must remain a vassal for two years who becomes brain damaged in an alteration with the foreman. Yet through all of these lessons Pelle learns about the survival of the fittest and despite all odds being against him, strikes out toward the frozen sea to await his ship of fortune. This is a film about dreams and realities, about surviving physical and mental stresses, about adapting to the seasons and the struggles of indentured life. The stench of the farm and the grace of the snowfields are captured with amazing perfection by cinematographer Jörgen Persson and the mood of this film's story is accompanied by the music of Stefan Nilsson. The cast is huge and uniformly excellent, much due to the sensitive direction by Bille August. This is a classic film, one that is enjoyed more with repeated viewings. This is definitely one for the home library. Breathtaking. Grady Harp