February 1, 2024
FILM: THE PROMISED LAND
DIRECTED BY: NIKOLAJ ARCEL
STARRING: MADS MIKKELSEN, GUSTAV LINDH, AMANDA COLLIN
RATING: 2 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Historical dramas have been produced for the big screen since the dawn of cinema. Filmmakers around the world keep churning them out because there always seems to be so many stories still untold that shed new light into a fascinating part of history. Unfortunately, The Promised Land is not one of those films. Directed by Danish filmmaker Nicholaj Arcel, who previously created the entertaining and Oscar-nominated A Royal Affair, centers this one on Ludvig Kahlen who fought for the German army and in 1755 was given land by the King of Denmark to develop and make his own. The story may resonate with those passionate about Denmark’s history but it will likely bore most everyone else. It’s just not very interesting.
Mads Mikkelson (Another Round, Hannibal, The Hunt, Doctor Strange) stars as Kahlen, in a performance which is for the most part played very straight and stern possessing little emotion to connect with until the film’s later scenes. He spends most of the time stoically dealing with wealthy landowner Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) who insists the land belongs to him. Schinkel is the kind of villain we’ve seen repeatedly in these period films. He has very little depth and only exists to flaunt his power and money. He has a cousin who is attracted to Kahlen and is therefore sympathetic but her part of the storyline is mostly underdeveloped. There’s very little passion or romance to entice viewers to remain with the overall slow-moving narrative. Instead the power struggle escalates and lots of blood is shed which is of course also very typical of this genre.
It’s not to say that the film is poorly made in any way. The production is well-designed with period costumes and settings that capture the era. The atmosphere is predictably dreary and cloudy which may be appropriate but doesn’t lend itself much visual interest. There’s a music score which attempts to anticipate some of the drama we know is coming but again, this just feels expected as part of the genre.
Essentially the plot follows a familiar trajectory and stays true to the drama of the story. Having seen so much more similar but entertaining work such as Downton Abbey and The Great this just feels like a cliché narrative with a number of one dimensional and stereotypic characters. The exception is one of Khalen’s men who regularly complains about his hemorrhoids. His is the only light in the film and I would love to see a story set around his angst!
Denmark submitted The Promised Land for the Best International Film Oscar this year. Unlike 2021’s winning Another Round, this one just didn’t have the goods or originality to make it all the way into the final five contenders.
The Promised Land screened at the Chicago International Film Festival. It is opening this week in limited release including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago
FILM: THE PROMISED LAND
DIRECTED BY: NIKOLAJ ARCEL
STARRING: MADS MIKKELSEN, GUSTAV LINDH, AMANDA COLLIN
RATING: 2 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Historical dramas have been produced for the big screen since the dawn of cinema. Filmmakers around the world keep churning them out because there always seems to be so many stories still untold that shed new light into a fascinating part of history. Unfortunately, The Promised Land is not one of those films. Directed by Danish filmmaker Nicholaj Arcel, who previously created the entertaining and Oscar-nominated A Royal Affair, centers this one on Ludvig Kahlen who fought for the German army and in 1755 was given land by the King of Denmark to develop and make his own. The story may resonate with those passionate about Denmark’s history but it will likely bore most everyone else. It’s just not very interesting.
Mads Mikkelson (Another Round, Hannibal, The Hunt, Doctor Strange) stars as Kahlen, in a performance which is for the most part played very straight and stern possessing little emotion to connect with until the film’s later scenes. He spends most of the time stoically dealing with wealthy landowner Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) who insists the land belongs to him. Schinkel is the kind of villain we’ve seen repeatedly in these period films. He has very little depth and only exists to flaunt his power and money. He has a cousin who is attracted to Kahlen and is therefore sympathetic but her part of the storyline is mostly underdeveloped. There’s very little passion or romance to entice viewers to remain with the overall slow-moving narrative. Instead the power struggle escalates and lots of blood is shed which is of course also very typical of this genre.
It’s not to say that the film is poorly made in any way. The production is well-designed with period costumes and settings that capture the era. The atmosphere is predictably dreary and cloudy which may be appropriate but doesn’t lend itself much visual interest. There’s a music score which attempts to anticipate some of the drama we know is coming but again, this just feels expected as part of the genre.
Essentially the plot follows a familiar trajectory and stays true to the drama of the story. Having seen so much more similar but entertaining work such as Downton Abbey and The Great this just feels like a cliché narrative with a number of one dimensional and stereotypic characters. The exception is one of Khalen’s men who regularly complains about his hemorrhoids. His is the only light in the film and I would love to see a story set around his angst!
Denmark submitted The Promised Land for the Best International Film Oscar this year. Unlike 2021’s winning Another Round, this one just didn’t have the goods or originality to make it all the way into the final five contenders.
The Promised Land screened at the Chicago International Film Festival. It is opening this week in limited release including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago