Review: 'The Promised Land' is a gritty tale of perseverance, against the elements and cruel nobles, in 18th century Denmark
As historical dramas go, “The Promised Land” is as austere and hard as the rough Jutland heath where it takes place — a story of perseverance, determination and class warfare that cuts deep.
The story starts in 1755, as a penniless Danish army captain, Ludvig Kahlen (played by the great Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen), seeks permission from the king for his plan to tame the harsh heath of Jutland and make it fit for settlers. The king has long desired settlements in Jutland, but his advisers know it’s impossible — the land is too barren, all sand and heather, to sustain crops and homesteads. But if letting Kahlen make a fool of himself will keep the king happy, the advisers will let him try.
Kahlen gets out to the windy, cold heath, with some lumber to build a house, some tools for planting, and boxes of something he keeps hidden from prying eyes. When the local minister, Anton (Gustav Lindh), brings a couple, Johannes (Morten Her Andersen) and Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), who are runaway tenant farmers, Kahlen defies the law and harbors them in his farm house, in exchange for labor. And when Kahlen can’t get the locals to work for him, he goes to the camp where the nomadic outlaws live and makes a bargain with them.
All of Kahlen’s effort gets the attention of the local nobleman, Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), an arrogant cad who rules over his tenant farmers like a petty dictator. De Schinkel — the “De” is an affectation he added to the family name, to appear more high-born than he is — makes Kahlen an offer of cash in exchange for signing over the rights to the heath, which De Schinkel claims are his already. De Schinkel is also the landowner from whom Johannes and Ann Barbara escaped, so Kahlen has no great interest in cooperating with him. Also, he’s rather sweet on De Schinkel’s cousin, Edel Helene (Kristine Kujath Thorp), who’s resisting all requests to marry De Schinkel, and is finding this determined farmer more desirable.
Director Nikolaj Arcel, reuniting with Mikkelsen after their 2012 costume drama “A Royal Affair,” and his co-writer, Anders Thomas Jensen (“After the Wedding,” “In a Better World”), find plenty of melodrama in adapting Ida Jessen’s historical novel. There’s Kahlen’s struggle against the land, his battle with De Schinkel, some romance, and the inclusion of a nomad girl (Laura Bilgrau Eskild-Jensen) who tests the limits of what Kahlen will do to make his plan a reality.
Mikkelsen carries “The Promised Land” on his rugged shoulders and through his craggy, resolute face. He embodies the grit needed to tame the heath, the integrity to stand up to rich jerk like De Schinkel, and the tenderness to adapt to what becomes a makeshift farm family. It’s a performance perfectly suited to the land around him, both tenacious and steadfast.
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‘The Promised Land’
★★★1/2
Opens Friday, February 2, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas. Rated R for bloody violence, language, some sexuality and brief nudity. Running time: 128 minutes; in Danish, with subtitles.