The Promised Land
Historical epic starring Mads Mikkelsen as a captain who attempts to build a colony in arid Jutland in eighteenth-century Denmark, facing opposition from a ruthless enemy. Winner of three European Film Awards.
Also screening with English subtitles.
1755 – retired army captain Ludvig Kahlen responds to the Danish king's call to establish an agricultural settlement on Jutland. Born the bastard son of a nobleman and a maid, Kahlen has only one condition: if he succeeds, he claims a title of nobility. Since all his predecessors failed miserably, the government smugly agrees to this demand. Kahlen thinks he can conquer the barren, Jutland heath with a crop imported from Germany: the potato.
Once on Jutland, Kahlen encounters local nobleman Frederik de Schinkel, who claims that Kahlen’s piece of land is his personal property. De Schinkel decides to thwart Kahlen in every possible way, not shying away from any form of violence.
In this Danish western, director Nikolaj Arcel and actor Mads Mikkelsen, who previously worked together on A ROYAL AFFAIR, join forces again. THE PROMISED LAND won three European Film Awards: for best actor (Mikkelsen), best cinematography, and best costume design. (rs)