Easily the best Danish film in years and a Career Top for Mads Mikkelsen.
Bastarden in original Danish, Promised Land in English, and Bastardul now in Romanian theaters.
It was proposed by Danmark for the Oscars but The Zone of Interest happened...
It opened in Venice last fall in the competition but won only a SIGNUS award.
Nikolaj Arcel's return to filmmaking in his own home after the disastruous Dark Tower (why?..). His previous films in his homeland and Scandinavia were all very good (Royal Affair, Kongsgame and the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
Based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen. And loosely on a true story. In 1780 and so. In Jutland, the windy wasteland of the Danish kingdom. Captain Ludwig Kahlen is on a mission, to colonize and fertilize the empty fields of Jutland.
It plays like a classic western, epic drama, but done with a very felt naturalism.
Something that got to do with potatos. cartofeln ("decât cartofi" ;). Fistful of potatos. With a cold shiver of Danske cinema realism.
Great atmospheric score by Dan Romer.
Brilliant and exquisite widescreen cinematography by Rasmus Videbaek (Arcel's aquired DOP).
Strong performances all over, esp. by Amanda Collin ('Mother' in Raised by Wolves) as Ann Barbara.
About Mikkelsen, I know him (as an actor) from his first film Pusher (in which he was Tony-he was also in Pusher 2), which I saw in Prague in 2000 from the Terminal Bar Video Collection. Saw him in Refn's follow-up Bleeder,Bleeder, in Valhalla Rising, in the cannibal comedy The Green Butchers, in TIFF in Flame and Citron, in B-EST in The Hunt, showed at Cinemateca Patria A Royal Affair (his 1st film with Arcel), enjoyed at home during the "pandemic" Another Round / Druk. He was impeccable in all his American/Hollywood fares, from King Arthur on to the Hannibal series, in Casino Royale-a brilliant Le Chiffre, SW-Rogue One, up to his latest baddie, in Indiana Jones V.
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