*** SPOILER NEAR END OF REVIEW ***
Whenever I see a film starring Max Von Sydow, I can expect the very best in quality acting from him, regardless of whether the actual film is lousy or not.
Sydow isn't perhaps all that internationally well known, although he's appeared in a number of high profile Hollywood films such as The Exorcist and Three Days of the Condor.
But he really shines in his native Scandinavian homeland especially under aspiring & inspiring directors such as Bergman & August. The great thing about Sydow is his quality & depth to play any character a director requires; to me he is on a par with Olivier.
In this Bille August adapted screenplay we witness the plight of a father (Sydow) and young son (Pelle Hvenegaard) looking for work in Denmark having sailed from their native home of Sweden at the turn of the 20th Century.
Pelle initially idolises his father seeing him as his guardian where his life will be all play, play & play. But the bitter reality is so different - they end up as cowhands for a wealthy country baron. Life is hard even for young boys, and Pelle finds it doubly hard because he is picked on at school because he is a poor immigrant.
Sydow is old & widowed, a man who has had to work all his life, yet his faith in God is undeterred even though he knows he can no longer live up to the young boy's eager expectations. For in spite of all his grandiose words to the boy about whipping those who beat him, when he actually comes face to face with his superiors he crumbles & cowers; all witnessed by a disbelieving Pelle.
By the end of the film Pelle wants to leave this tortured existence and look for a new life in America; yet his disillusioned father no longer has the strength or the will to follow his son's dreams.
A quite remarkable film both in content & style. Everything is so underplayed yet so dynamic; August doesn't have to try too hard to give his actors enough scope to understand their characters and neither does he have to underscore the grim & brutal realities of seeing immigrants ill treated.
There are various examples where he could have gone into explicit detail in order to move us & shock us, but he doesn't. Instead he pulls away from the edge and lets us imagine what may have happened.
In addition the photography by Jörgen Persson is breathtaking; especially the winter scenes of the farm and the nearby coast covered in ice. Persson also does a lot of fixed portrait shots of the leads, spending 20 or 30 seconds framing a face while letting the music & other background noise fade so that there is nothing to distract us as we look into the eyes of the character on view.
But the real honours have to go to the two male leads; Sydow gives his usual sterling performance as the down-trodden man who still tries to be his son's hero. One of most moving scenes is near the end where a blossoming romance with a middle-aged woman comes to a dramatic conclusion and he turns to the demon drink and finally turns his back on God, while his son looks on - pure genius & gut wrenching stuff!
However, even Sydow is placed in the shadows by the young boy, Pelle Hvenegaard. It's as if the part was specially made for this talented youth, especially with his facial looks & big eyes. The film doesn't overpower Hvenegaard, he is not intimidated by the presence of the great Sydow or any of his elders. Instead he plays his own part with a great deal of innocent charm & maturity.
**** SPOILER *****
Perhaps the most emotional scene of all is right at the end of the film, where the boy finally realises that his father is not his saviour after all, just a broken old man with a baggage of broken dreams. The boy has to move on and follow his own dreams in spite of Sydow begging him to stay. The last scene where they stand out in the snow covered field, they shake hands before the boy leaves his father for a better future, is truly gut-wrenching & so moving!
**** SPOILER END ****
The film is not wildly available on tape of DVD, but I urge you to see it if you can. You will be moved in so many different ways.
*****/*****
Whenever I see a film starring Max Von Sydow, I can expect the very best in quality acting from him, regardless of whether the actual film is lousy or not.
Sydow isn't perhaps all that internationally well known, although he's appeared in a number of high profile Hollywood films such as The Exorcist and Three Days of the Condor.
But he really shines in his native Scandinavian homeland especially under aspiring & inspiring directors such as Bergman & August. The great thing about Sydow is his quality & depth to play any character a director requires; to me he is on a par with Olivier.
In this Bille August adapted screenplay we witness the plight of a father (Sydow) and young son (Pelle Hvenegaard) looking for work in Denmark having sailed from their native home of Sweden at the turn of the 20th Century.
Pelle initially idolises his father seeing him as his guardian where his life will be all play, play & play. But the bitter reality is so different - they end up as cowhands for a wealthy country baron. Life is hard even for young boys, and Pelle finds it doubly hard because he is picked on at school because he is a poor immigrant.
Sydow is old & widowed, a man who has had to work all his life, yet his faith in God is undeterred even though he knows he can no longer live up to the young boy's eager expectations. For in spite of all his grandiose words to the boy about whipping those who beat him, when he actually comes face to face with his superiors he crumbles & cowers; all witnessed by a disbelieving Pelle.
By the end of the film Pelle wants to leave this tortured existence and look for a new life in America; yet his disillusioned father no longer has the strength or the will to follow his son's dreams.
A quite remarkable film both in content & style. Everything is so underplayed yet so dynamic; August doesn't have to try too hard to give his actors enough scope to understand their characters and neither does he have to underscore the grim & brutal realities of seeing immigrants ill treated.
There are various examples where he could have gone into explicit detail in order to move us & shock us, but he doesn't. Instead he pulls away from the edge and lets us imagine what may have happened.
In addition the photography by Jörgen Persson is breathtaking; especially the winter scenes of the farm and the nearby coast covered in ice. Persson also does a lot of fixed portrait shots of the leads, spending 20 or 30 seconds framing a face while letting the music & other background noise fade so that there is nothing to distract us as we look into the eyes of the character on view.
But the real honours have to go to the two male leads; Sydow gives his usual sterling performance as the down-trodden man who still tries to be his son's hero. One of most moving scenes is near the end where a blossoming romance with a middle-aged woman comes to a dramatic conclusion and he turns to the demon drink and finally turns his back on God, while his son looks on - pure genius & gut wrenching stuff!
However, even Sydow is placed in the shadows by the young boy, Pelle Hvenegaard. It's as if the part was specially made for this talented youth, especially with his facial looks & big eyes. The film doesn't overpower Hvenegaard, he is not intimidated by the presence of the great Sydow or any of his elders. Instead he plays his own part with a great deal of innocent charm & maturity.
**** SPOILER *****
Perhaps the most emotional scene of all is right at the end of the film, where the boy finally realises that his father is not his saviour after all, just a broken old man with a baggage of broken dreams. The boy has to move on and follow his own dreams in spite of Sydow begging him to stay. The last scene where they stand out in the snow covered field, they shake hands before the boy leaves his father for a better future, is truly gut-wrenching & so moving!
**** SPOILER END ****
The film is not wildly available on tape of DVD, but I urge you to see it if you can. You will be moved in so many different ways.
*****/*****