Pelle the Conqueror

Max Von Sydow gives a stirring performance as an immigrant father with an enduring dream of conquering the world. Realizing his failure, he instills the dream in his son. Together, they seek a better life in the new land, but are confronted with harsh conditions and a bleak economic system, systemic of poverty and prejudice. The film locations and the fine acting enhance this Danish import. It should be noted that Von Sydow' character is a man possessed with inner strength and is unafraid of the punishing work and low pay, yet in several parts of the story, the father which his son has come to admire, retreats from the simple promises he has given his son. consequentially, the boy learns to accept his father as just an ordinary man with an enduring dream. Don't we all? ***