Pelle the Conqueror

Directed by Bille August
Film Movement Classics
1987
150 Minutes
Denmark, Sweden
Danish, Swedish
Drama, Classics
Coming of Age, European Studies, Human Rights, Immigration, Poverty
PG-13
DVD $34.95
Buy DVD
PPR $200.00
Buy PPR+DVD
DRL $499.00
Buy DRL+DVD
PPR+DRL $599.00
Buy PPR+DRL+DVD
Blu-ray $39.95
Buy Blu-ray
PPR $200.00
Buy PPR+Blu-ray
DRL $499.00
Buy DRL+Blu-ray
PPR+DRL $599.00
Buy PPR+DRL+Blu-ray
Educational streaming also available via:
In-home viewers shop here.
Shop Home Video

To submit an order, request a preview screener, or ask a question contact Erin Farrell

Lasse, an elderly and widowed farmer, and his young son Pelle, join a boat-load of immigrants to escape from impoverished rural Sweden to Denmark's Baltic island of Bornholm. They are employed at a large farm in Denmark, where they are treated as the lowest of the low. It is ultimately their loving relationship which sustains them through a difficult year.

"They don't get any better than this 1987 Foreign Film Academy Award-winning masterpiece, written and directed by Bille August. Featuring heart-wrenching performances from both Sydow and Hvenegaard, who, through the worst, manage to keep their hopes and love alive, and a flawless mastering by Anchor Bay, which captures every nuance of Jörgen Persson's extraordinary lensing, this one gets our highest recommendation. EDITOR'S CHOICE." - Video Librarian

Cast

  • Pelle Hvenegaard
  • Max von Sydow
  • Björn Granath
DVD Features

Commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie.
New Essay by Terrence Rafferty

Sound: Stereo 2.0

Discs: 1

Blu-ray Features

Commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie.
New Essay by Terrence Rafferty

Sound: Stereo 2.0

Discs: 1

  • Highest Rating
    "In Bille August's "Pelle the Conqueror," Max von Sydow is so astoundingly evocative that he makes your bones ache."
    Hal Hinson, The Washington Post
  • Highest Rating
    "CRITIC"S PICK. The von Sydow performance is in a category by itself. It is another highlight in an already extraordinary career, and quite unlike anything that American audiences have seen him do to date."
    Vincent Canby, The New York Times
  • Highest Rating
    "[T]he film is a towering achievement, grueling in its portrayal of a harsh existence yet ultimately an exhilarating experience unlikely to be forgotten."
    Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Gallery

Awards & Recognition

You May Also Like...