Mads Mikkelsen cuts a formidable figure in this enthralling period drama, set in mid-18th century Jutland. As the earthier original Danish title indicates, Mikkelsen’s Ludvig Kahlen is illegitimate, the son of a maid who nonetheless earns himself the rank of captain in the King’s army, and persuades the crown to back him in a plan to farm the inhospitable northern heath lands. As if this wasn’t challenge enough, Ludvig must contend with the nefarious enmity of the county judge (Simon Bennebjerg), an unscrupulous landowner who despises this unwelcome interloper.
Co-written and directed by Nikolaj Arcel, whose 2012 collaboration with Mikkelsen, A Royal Affair, resulted in an Academy Award nomination, The Promised Land is a good old fashioned melodrama told with vigor and finesse, and reflective of contemporary concerns around equality and diversity. It’s also a fabulous reminder of just how good an actor Mads Mikkelsen really is.
This is a big Nordic Western that maintains its gravitas throughout… The Promised Land is a terrific story driven by skillful writing and strong performances. There’s an art to bringing vitality and modernity to historical drama, and Arcel shows a firm grasp of it.
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin
Denmark/Germany/Sweden
2023
Special Presentations
In Danish with English subtitles
Violence, Depictions of Racism
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Louise Vesth
Screenwriter
Anders Thomas Jensen, Nikolaj Arcel
Cinematography
Rasmus Videbæk
Editor
Oliviér Bugge Coutté
Director
Nikolaj Arcel
Arcel has written a large number of scripts including the adaptation of the first film in the highly acclaimed Millennium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009). His feature film A Royal Affair, which he both wrote and directed, won the Silver Bear for best script at Berlin in 2012 and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language category. Since then Arcel has directed The Dark Tower, and has written a number of critically acclaimed films, which makes him one of the most sought-after both writers and directors in Scandinavia.
Filmography: Truth About Men (2010); A Royal Affair (2012); The Dark Tower (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
La Bola Negra
A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes. Screening on 35mm.
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
The Mad Dog of Europe
The story of an unmade screenplay from the writer of Citizen Kane. In 1932, Herman Mankiewicz wrote a film that foretold the persecution of the Jews and the war in Europe. But Hollywood wouldn't take the risk and The Mad Dog of Europe was never made.
The Mortal Storm
In this explicitly anti-Nazi melodrama directed by Frank Borzage (Three Comrades) a year before the US entered the war, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart fall in love as their friends and family fall prey to the rise of Hitler's Nazi party in Germany.
NAZA
NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.
Three Comrades
Scripted by F Scott Fitzgerald, Three Comrades (1938) was the first US studio film to chronicle the rise of European fascism in the 30s. Three German veterans open up a repair shop and try to regain a normal life, but political extremists have other ideas.