‘The Promised Land’ review: A classic Western thriller

“The Promised Land” by Nicolai Arcel is an apt title. The film is based on Ida Jessen’s 2020 novel Captain and Anne Barbara, and is a story about the pristine wilderness of Jutland, a peninsula that makes up the continental part of Denmark. proves to be both a setting and a character full of suffering. And as bloody as anyone in this story.

In 1755, the wilderness is empty except for a band of outlaws and low foliage until retired army captain Ludwig Karlen (Mads Mikkelsen) leaves his poor home with a secret package and plans from Germany. He persuaded the king’s treasury to let him cultivate the territory at his own expense, placating the whims of Frederick V and receiving a noble title in exchange.

Ludwig’s story is, after all, a homesteader’s story, and Arcel treats it with the iconography and grandeur of a classic Western, Scandinavian style. The film follows Ludwig as he battles the unforgiving earth in all sorts of conditions, day and night, and Mikkelsen’s signature-faced plane is set against the sky, a misty landscape pierced only by the light of a lantern. It’s a tapestry.

I wish earth was his only adversary. Ludwig plants his settlement on a stretch of land that his neighboring landowner and local judge, Frédéric de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), considers his own. The only workers Ludwig manages to employ are a fugitive peasant couple, Johannes (Morten Hee-Andersen) and Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), whom Frederick also considers his own. And Frederick is a jealous, controlling, vengeful megalomaniac who is willing to destroy Ludwig’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 Austen/Zentropa)

After breaking into Hollywood with 2017’s Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, writer-director Arcel returns to the Danish historical drama, reuniting him with Mikkelsen, who starred in the 2012 film Royal Affair. did. Co-screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen co-wrote Riders of Justice. Arcel’s film expands on Danish history rather than revising it, overturning conventional assumptions and examining the corruption of those in power with a socially progressive, even feminist, bent. .

Arcel makes this kind of large-scale period filmmaking look easy, crafting a detailed drama that interweaves serious emotions and sociopolitical issues with humor, romance, and sensuality. He approaches aristocracy with a level of absurdity, portraying those in power as ridiculous and pathetic. Bennebjörk takes this to heart, playing the psychopathic sadist Frederic with an almost comedic touch.

We make fun of him. Especially when he keeps amending his last name to include a “de”, which was added as a vanity to appear more aristocratic. But we also see the tremendous brutality of Frederick, as he unleashes his murderous rage and commits violence against innocent people whenever he feels powerless or frustrated. Frederick is a very bad guy, and it’s very satisfying to see him come to him, and the line between good and evil is clearly drawn, as is often the case in these kinds of folktale stories. I am.

“The Promised Land” is also the story of an unlikely family, with slowly developing themes that are gradually revealed over the course of the film’s running time. A found family consisting of Ludwig, the steely Ann Barbara, and the Romani girl Ammai Muth (Melina Hagberg), whose pranks and humor bring light to their secluded house on the heath. is bringing about. However, she became the focus of racism and discrimination by the German settlers who arrived there, and Ludwig realized that the woman who had made his life perfect, even though it was not in his plans. I feel like I’m about to lose my family.

This is the culmination of Arcel’s collaboration with longtime cinematographer Rasmus Widebeck. They crafted this Scandinavian Western epic with an eye for eerie beauty and the kind of startling violence that can unexpectedly erupt on the lawless frontier. The blood runs dark and the scene is lit by flames. A roaring fire burns in the fields as Ludwig and the outlaws burn the heather. The flames of a menorah illuminate the dinner in an intimidating mansion. The weak light of a lamp beats back against the foggy night as Ludovic fights the earth with his bare hands. Aerial photography captures the texture and topography of a landscape.

Mikkelsen quietly attracts attention, mainly due to his characteristic stoicism. His Ludwig is orbited by the flamboyantly evil Frederick, the scarred but powerful Ann Barbara, and the charming potty-mouthed Anne-Mai Mus. But Mikkelsen has an uncanny ability to express deep wells of emotion with just his eyes. He can convey a lot with just one look and a meaningful look on his face. Without saying a word, he makes the final decision about his land and his fate in it, but his feelings could not be clearer.

“The Promised Land” is a blockbuster hit on the big screen that will make you say, “We’ll never make something like this again.” Thankfully, Nikolai Arcel still does.

Katie Walsh is a film critic for Tribune News Service.