Mads Mikkelsen fights for his land of opportunity.
“The Promised Land” is a near powerful Danish film about determination overshadowing what starts off as cynicism and becomes malice. The original title is “Bastarden,” which translates to “The Basterd,” and it makes sense it would be called either “The Basterd” or “The Promised Land.” And it also has the right leading man: Mads Mikkelsen, who was last seen, unfortunately, in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” And he’s obviously given a better role here.
The time is Copenhagen 1755. Mikkelsen plays Captain Ludwig Kahlen, a Danish officer retiring from the German army, who plans to build a property on the uninhabited moors. The Royal Danish Court refuses to fund his preparations, but he intends to use his pension, which isn’t enough when it comes to food, supplies, employees, and livestock. He lives under the rule of the king, not Hald Manor’s bratty and evil magistrate Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), who often bribes him to build his land somewhere else.
The conditions and circumstances become very complicated for Kahlen. He collaborates with de Schinkel’s runaway servants Johannes Eriksen (Morten Hee Andersen) and his wife Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin), and hires a pack of illegal brigades to help build his land, but they run away after de Schinkel murders Johannes. Only Ann Barbara and a Romani girl named Anmai Mus (Melina Hagberg) stay behind to help him, and face more obstacles like harsh winters and more of de Schinkel’s malice.
Based on the book “The Captain and Ann Barbara,” “The Promised Land” almost plays like an old fashioned epic with an unexpected romance, a child who transitions from a troublemaker to a worthy character, and a villain with no redemption whatsoever. It’s also a history film that has us interested in the story and what was going on during the 18th century on this side of the world. I don’t know everything that went on back then, but that doesn’t mean I can’t adjust and learn about them.
It was directed by Nikolaj Arcel, who previously guided Mikkelsen in “A Royal Affair,” and both these films are complex with an ambiance regarding human nature. And even if he was guided by a different director, Mikkelsen is an actor who plays various kinds of characters in the international and domestic circuit. I know, because I have seen him excel in movies like “Adam’s Apples” or “Another Round.” And he even did a better job than Johnny Depp did as the evil Gellert Grindlewald in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”
And he doesn’t steal the show, because Collin is excellent as Ann Barbara whose connection with Kahlen transitions over time, while Bennebjerg has the expressions and tone to make him convincing as an antagonist. And they both have a scene together that really sets things in motion.
There are times when certain behaviors get little over the top, but there are moments that draws us to hating the villain, and how the movie’s hero can thrive on his cunning. As I mentioned, it’s naturally about how determination can overshadow cynicism, and, given the time period and the power of nature, setting up new land is not as easy as it sounds. And that is completely understandable, especially when we know our history.
“The Promised Land” is more than meets the eye, and I didn’t even see the trailer for it. Just a few posters and emails.