Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Pelle the Conqueror Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 23, 2018

Mention “the immigrant experience” to many Americans, and they will no doubt almost automatically think of their own ancestors who traveled from some distant land to take up residence in the United States. But of course there are all sorts of other “immigrant experiences”, and a shorter journey from one Scandinavian country to another provides a foundational element to Pelle the Conqueror, the immensely beautiful and moving 1987 film from Bille August that won that year’s Palme d’Or and Cannes and, a bit later, the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Pelle the Conqueror is a rather long film, clocking in at around two and a half hours, but that perhaps undue length is not a real detriment and in fact helps to establish the slow turn of seasons that is part and parcel of farm life. That is where elderly Swedish father Lasse Karlsson (Max Von Sydow, also Academy Award nominated for this performance) and his young son Pelle (Pelle Hevenegaard, who should have been nominated for an Academy Award for this performance) end up, after traveling by ship from Sweden to the Danish island of Bornholm. Lasse almost instantly seems like a wounded soul, something that underlines what is soon revealed to be his hopes to find more secure employment in the pair's new location. The two are still struggling with the death of Lasse’s wife and Pelle’s mother, and there’s almost instantly a “you and me against the world” feeling from the pair, even before they disembark from the crowded ship to a town square where no prospective employers are exactly jumping to hire an old man with a young son.

Pelle the Conqueror is culled from an early 20th century novel by noted Danish author Martin Andersen Nexø which commentator Peter Cowie describes as “required reading” in Denmark, something that may have helped to spark August’s interest in the story. Interestingly, at least for a Danish set and (originally) Danish written piece, the Danes themselves don’t always come off as shining examples of humanity at its best, and in fact there are several troubling vignettes scattered throughout the film documenting the harassment the Swedish Karlssons suffer at the hands of their new “hosts”. After being rejected by a slew of potential employers, Pelle is seen by a farm owner while Lasse is busy securing some hooch at a nearby vendor (Lasse’s drinking is a recurring motif in the tale). Perhaps more initially interested in Pelle’s ability to work more than Lasse’s, the owner, a martinet named Kongstrup (Axel Strøbye) hires them as a pair for a paltry sum, with Lasse being tasked with taking care of the cattle (and with both Lasse and Pelle assigned a little “stall” in the cow barn where they’re supposed to live).

The film documents the slow, at times painful, matriculation of Lasse and Pelle into this new environment, one that is fraught with the class distinctions of the day. Socioeconomic differences are made overt in such plot points as Lasse being illiterate, something that makes him unable to stand up to a staff bully who is much younger and who harasses Pelle, but who does know how to read, and therefore can identify which cow goes in which stall. It’s an almost appalling situation, but one which August details without any hyperbolic histrionics, making Pelle’s sense of betrayal by his father (who promised retribution against the bully) all the more devastating.

Pelle is befriended by both a boy his own age named Rud (Troels Asmussen), a kid who turns out to be one of many illegitimate children fathered by Kongstrup, and, later, an older farmhand named Erik (Björn Granath), who confides in Pelle that he dreams of escaping the harrowing environment of the Kongstrup farm to get to America. Along the way, Pelle ends up going to school, but is fairly regularly teased by the Danish boys. Lasse starts a halting relationship with an older woman who’s part of the staff and who is assumed to be a widow since her husband disappeared on a sea voyage ages ago, something that leads to even more passing melodrama.

There’s also a subplot involving Kongstrup and his long suffering wife (Astrid Villaume), whom the farm workers consider to be a witch in league with the Devil. Pelle gets sucked into some marital discord when Mrs. Kongstrup asks him to get her some alcohol, something Kongstrup intercepts. Later, Mrs. Kongstrup exacts a horrifying revenge on her dalliance prone husband by presaging a certain “technique” (or something close to it, anyway) made famous by Lorena Bobbitt.

There’s a palpable feeling of melancholy that suffuses Pelle the Conqueror, despite what is after all a story of resilience in the face of incredible odds. Von Sydow’s weathered face and sad, haunted eyes really bring Lasse fully to life, as does his kind of shuffling, defeated gait. Young Hvenegaard is also superb in a difficult role that requires both maturity and vulnerability in equal measure. August provides some stunningly beautiful vistas of the Danish countryside, even as he quite clearly shows how hardscrabble the lives of the less fortunate were in those days.

Pelle the Conqueror Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pelle the Conqueror is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.87:1. This is a somewhat variable looking transfer, generally appearing nicely organic and with a lot of the more brightly lit outdoor material popping with some authenticity and good detail levels, but several other (mostly interior scenes) looking a bit rough at times, especially in terms of grain resolution (see screenshots 15 through 19 for a few examples of what I consider to be some of the less pleasing looking moments). This is touted as a 30th Anniversary restoration, but there's no indication as to what elements were sourced for the transfer. While much of the bountiful outdoor material looks nicely suffused and often even warm, there's a slightly blanched look to select scenes that I personally found to be a bit on the cool side, where flesh tones can look wan or even slightly purplish, and blacks can appear just slightly milky. Still, in decent lighting conditions fine detail is admirable on elements like what look like rough woolen outfits worn by several farmhands, or even the gorgeous outdoor acreage beyond the Kongstrup compound.

Pelle the Conqueror Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pelle the Conqueror features an LPCM 2.0 track that is listed as being in both Swedish and Danish. The film is graced by a rather haunting, elegiac score by Stefan Nilsson which sounds full bodied and clear throughout the presentation. Dialogue and the many ambient environmental sounds of the farm are also rendered cleanly and clearly, and there are no age related signs of wear and tear.

Pelle the Conqueror Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Peter Cowie


• Pelle the Conqueror Trailer (1080p; 1:41)

There are a number of other Film Movement trailers available as well, all of which (kind of annoyingly) play at disc boot up, and which are authored in a variety of resolutions, which means some of them take a while to load. Film Movement has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet with an essay by Terence Rafferty and a few stills.

Pelle the Conqueror Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pelle the Conqueror features a wealth of finely wrought performances set against some of the most stunning if occasionally dreary Danish backdrops imaginable. Some of the subplots here are arguably a bit tangential, but the overall feeling here is one of authenticity and fine attention to authentic, heartfelt emotion in the sometimes rocky relationship between Lasse and Pelle. Video here encounters occasional hurdles, but audio is fine. The commentary by Peter Cowie is also detailed and interesting. Recommended.