Pelle the Conqueror

Pelle the Conqueror (1987)

Pelle Erobreren

They thought the world would be theirs.

In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.

Date of release
1987-12-21
TMDB
7.3 / 10 (172)
Runtime
2h 37m
Genres
Drama
Director
Bille August

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Pelle the Conqueror
  • Awards: 12 · Nominations: 8. Including: Academy Award for Best International Feature Film; Palme d'Or; European Film Award for Best Actor; European Film Award for Best Young Actor or Actress

Pelle the Conqueror is a 1987 epic film co-written and directed by Bille August, based upon the 1906 novel of the same name by Danish writer Martin Andersen Nexø. The film tells the story of two Swedish immigrants to Denmark, a father and son, who try to build a new life for themselves. It stars Pelle Hvenegaard as the young Pelle, with Max von Sydow as his father, and also features Axel Strøbye and Astrid Villaume.

Production

The film, based on the 1906 novel of the same name by Martin Andersen Nexø, was a co-production by Danish and Swedish companies. As the story had both Danish and Swedish elements, cooperation between producers in both countries had practical benefit.

The screenplay, by director Bille August, Per Olov Enquist, Max Lundgren, and Bjarne Reuter, adapted only the first Boyhood part of Nexø's four-volume work. August decided to film the novel, considered essential reading in Denmark, and he wanted to make an epic film. August wrote a screenplay based on the second part Apprenticeship but had no immediate plans to film it.

For the title role, Pelle Hvenegaard, who was 11, was cast after August and the crew auditioned 3,000 children. August decided on Hvenegaard, who he said demonstrated concentration, patience and self-control. The boy was coincidentally named after the character in Nexø's book, as are many boys in Denmark, given the decades-long popularity of the book.

The film marked the first collaboration between production designer Anna Asp, who had previously worked on Offret (1986), and August, who had attended a Stockholm school of photography with her. Asp said that in designing the house seen in Pelle the Conqueror, she wanted to evoke a prison, and thus built the walls and painted them black and white.

Filming took place for nearly six months over a one year period, with a long break to wait for winter. Its budget of $4.5 million, secured from the Danish and Swedish film institutes, made it one of the most costly films made in the Scandinavian countries.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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