Pelle the Conqueror

Theatrical Release Date: 1988 12 21 (USA)

UPC: 024543112624

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: Long but rewarding, the Danish-Swedish Pelle the Conqueror is based on the early passages of Martin Andersen Nexoe's four-volume novel. Pelle (Pelle Hvengaard) is the son of a 19th-century Swedish farmer (Max Von Sydow). Seeking escape from their poverty-stricken surroundings, father and son emigrate to Denmark. Upon arrival, however, they are treated like indentured servants, leading to a profound ideological turnaround for the impressionable Pelle. In the original novel, Pelle ended up embracing Communism. Nexo's political overtones are soft-pedalled in the film, which concentrates on the close, indestructable relationship between Pelle and his father. Adapted for the screen by Bille August, Pelle the Conqueror won the 1988 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Foreign Language Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Foreign Language Film – null Best Actor – European Film Academy Best Young Actor – European Film Academy Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Foreign Language Film – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Palme d'Or – Cannes Film Festival Special Mention – Cannes Film Festival Best Foreign Film – National Board of Review Best Foreign Language Film – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: ccWidescreen presentation
Scene selection
Digitally mastered
Audio: English 5.1 (Dolby Digital), English 2.0, Swedish
Trailer
Subtitles: English
English closed captioning
Interactive menus

Pelle the Conqueror

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 06/01/2004

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 150 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Main Title/To Denmark [9:42]
2. Cream and Punishment [12:55]
3. Gifts of Love [7:31]
4. Conquering America [8:28]
5. Book Learning [4:19]
6. Cold Comfort [12:14]
7. Beaten [10:05]
8. A Good Listener [2:53]
9. Innocence Lost [7:52]
10. The Peasant Revolt [1:28]
11. A Widow's Kiss? [10:16]
12. Great Prophets [8:54]
13. Strange Relations [2:35]
14. Reunion at the Fair [3:33]
15. A Sudden Decision [3:42]
16. The Dutiful Wife [5:32]
17. Pelle the Cuckoo [3:35]
18. Broken Home [8:20]
19. A New Life [11:12]
20. End Credits [12:29]

Tom Wiener

Pelle the Conqueror is that rare instance of a film winning the approval of the oft-times demanding jury at Cannes (where it won the Palm d'Or) and the generally conservative members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who honored it with an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It is, in short, a serious work of art that is also accessible and universal in its appeal. Pelle (Pelle Hvenegaard) and his father, Lasse (Max Von Sydow), are a co-dependent pair. Lasse, an older widower with few employable skills, is forced to work under degrading conditions in his new home on a Denmark farm, and while the young Pelle watches his father's humiliations, he comes to understand his own need to for independence. It's a coming-of-age story with a bitter difference; Pelle must grow up before he even reaches puberty or else he'll be mired in the same meager existence as his Pappa. Writer/director Bille August doesn't rush this story, allowing occasional rays of hope to beckon Lasse and Pelle to a better life. Lasse courts a local woman until her husband, presumably lost at sea, shows up, while Pelle is taken in by the farm owner's kindly wife until she stabs her husband in a jealous rage and decides to care for him instead. The film has the feel of the classic Italian postwar neorealist dramas, honestly presenting the everyday lives of downtrodden people without apology or excuse for their miserable conditions. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Karen Wegener  Actor 
Morten Jorgensen  Actor 
Bille August  Director 
Bille August  Screenwriter 
Per Holst  Producer 
Lars Kolvig  Producer 
Stefan Nilsson  Composer (Music Score) 
Max von Sydow  Actor 
Pelle Hvenegaard  Actor 
Erik Paaske  Actor 
Bjorn Granath  Actor 
Axel Ströbye  Actor 
Astrid Villaume  Actor 
Troels Asmussen  Actor 
John Wittig  Actor 
Anna Lise Hirsch Bjerrum  Actor 
Sofie Gråbøl  Actor 
Lena-Pia Bernhardsson  Actor 
Kristina Tornqvist  Actor 
Buster Larsen  Actor 
Lars Simonsen  Actor 
Nis Bank-Mikkelsen  Actor 

Country: Denmark,Sweden