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Pelle the Conqueror details the plight of the immigrant using fine, empathetic strokes, brought to life through the efforts of an outstanding cast led by Max von Sydow.
All Critics (23) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (3) | DVD (2)
Pelle itself, rather surprisingly, is a natural, organic epic, and one that opens a window on a meticulously detailed bygone world that, by film's end, you might feel as though you've visited. Feb 27, 2017 | Full Review…
Pelle itself, rather surprisingly, is a natural, organic epic, and one that opens a window on a meticulously detailed bygone world that, by film's end, you might feel as though you've visited.
Michael Atkinson
The film is a towering achievement, grueling in its portrayal of a harsh existence yet ultimately an exhilarating experience unlikely to be forgotten. Feb 27, 2017 | Full Review…
The film is a towering achievement, grueling in its portrayal of a harsh existence yet ultimately an exhilarating experience unlikely to be forgotten.
Kevin Thomas
Beneath the transparent, by-the-numbers schema there are potent elements at play in this work, but unfortunately they go unexplored. Feb 27, 2017 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…
Beneath the transparent, by-the-numbers schema there are potent elements at play in this work, but unfortunately they go unexplored.
Kurt Jacobsen
The chilly, oppressive Danish film Pelle the Conqueror has only one artistic aim: to wrench as much pity as possible from its audience. Feb 27, 2017 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
The chilly, oppressive Danish film Pelle the Conqueror has only one artistic aim: to wrench as much pity as possible from its audience.
Dave Kehr
Written and directed by Bille August, Pelle the Conqueror is peopled with the sort of vivid minor characters that lodge in your consciousness. Feb 27, 2017 | Full Review…
Written and directed by Bille August, Pelle the Conqueror is peopled with the sort of vivid minor characters that lodge in your consciousness.
Jay Boyar
Pelle the Conqueror is a feature film of epic proportions and a relentlessly unsentimental look at life among the haves and, primarily, the have-nots on a big turn-of-the-century farm. Mar 26, 2009 | Full Review…
Pelle the Conqueror is a feature film of epic proportions and a relentlessly unsentimental look at life among the haves and, primarily, the have-nots on a big turn-of-the-century farm.
Variety Staff
As Lasse, Max von Sydow brings his supremely accomplished acting to the role. Aug 29, 2017 | Full Review…
As Lasse, Max von Sydow brings his supremely accomplished acting to the role.
Diane Carson
Director Bille August and ace Scandinavian cameraman Per Holst make the film a visual treat. Feb 27, 2017 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Director Bille August and ace Scandinavian cameraman Per Holst make the film a visual treat.
Kim Newman
Director Bille August's adaptation of the first part of Nobel Prize winner Martin Andersen Nexo's four-volume novel is genuine life-affirming drama. Feb 27, 2017 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Director Bille August's adaptation of the first part of Nobel Prize winner Martin Andersen Nexo's four-volume novel is genuine life-affirming drama.
Tom Hutchinson
The movie -- ravishingly photographed by Jorgen (Elvira Madigan) Persson -- dazzles with incident but fails to find the human focus to validate a lasting claim on the heart. Feb 27, 2017 | Full Review…
The movie -- ravishingly photographed by Jorgen (Elvira Madigan) Persson -- dazzles with incident but fails to find the human focus to validate a lasting claim on the heart.
Peter Travers
Without Max Von Sydow's central performance this would be a commendable, if not particularly subtle piece of filmmaking. With it, it's something very special. Feb 27, 2017 | Full Review…
Without Max Von Sydow's central performance this would be a commendable, if not particularly subtle piece of filmmaking. With it, it's something very special.
Sam Jordison
This is an often brutal tale which is boosted by a powerful performance from Von Sydow. Feb 27, 2017 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
This is an often brutal tale which is boosted by a powerful performance from Von Sydow.
A father and son move to a Denmark village where they try to make ends meet amid poverty and few opportunities for advancement. Heart-breaking and stark, Pelle the Conquerer is a strong coming-of-age film featuring an incredible performance by the legendary Max von Sydow. Von Sydow captures his character's desperate search for hope and a future in his most vulnerable performance to date. The film is able to get its audience to believe in these characters' chances despite the fact that the film simultaneously creates a world in which hope seems ridiculous. The murder of peasants, the anti-Swede prejudice, and the domineering overseers all combine to add to cold, desolate milieu. Overall, Max von Sydow and the atmosphere of this film make this film a remarkably compelling story.
Super Reviewer
I remember Max Von Sydow at the Oscars as the afterthought as I'm sure most of the Academy had not taken in Pelle the Conquerer. It is an epic to sit through but it is fully deserving of recognition of the one of the better films to come out of the eighties.
Pelle The Conqueror was another good movie I have seen during this week. Eventough it was 2.30 hours long it was a beautiful journey of a father Lasse played by Max Von Sydow, and his son, Pelle,after they moved from Sweden to have a better life in Denmark.But what they have found was a brutal and hard life.Working on a farm Pelle and his father struggled to survive. The movie was more than just their life on this farm. It was about the dreams of this young boy and his ambition to see America.The end was a little confusing for me, when Pelle needed to move on from his father to discover more from life. Amazing movie.
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