Search - Pelle the Conqueror on DVD


Pelle the Conqueror
Pelle the Conqueror
Actors: Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow, Erik Paaske, Björn Granath, Astrid Villaume
Director: Bille August
Genres: Action & Adventure, Indie & Art House, Drama
PG-13     2004     2hr 30min


     
6

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow, Erik Paaske, Björn Granath, Astrid Villaume
Director: Bille August
Creators: Jörgen Persson, Bille August, Janus Billeskov Jansen, Per Holst, Bjarne Reuter, Martin Andersen Nexø, Per Olov Enquist
Genres: Action & Adventure, Indie & Art House, Drama
Sub-Genres: Action & Adventure, Indie & Art House, Family Life
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen
DVD Release Date: 06/01/2004
Original Release Date: 12/21/1988
Theatrical Release Date: 12/21/1988
Release Year: 2004
Run Time: 2hr 30min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Languages: Swedish, English
See Also:
We're sorry, our database doesn't have DVD description information for this item. Click here to check Amazon's database -- you can return to this page by closing the new browser tab/window if you want to obtain the DVD from SwapaDVD.
Click here to submit a DVD description for approval.

Similar Movies

My Father's Glory
Director: Yves Robert
2
   G   2002   1hr 45min
En Tu Ausencia
Director: Iván Noel
3
   UR   2008   1hr 39min

Similarly Requested DVDs

Pride Prejudice
Director: Joe Wright (IV)
   PG   2006   2hr 7min
   
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Single Disc
Director: Steven Spielberg
   PG-13   2008   2hr 2min
   
In Bruges
Director: Martin McDonagh
   R   2008   1hr 47min
   
Valkyrie
Single-Disc Edition
   PG-13   2009   2hr 1min
   
The Kite Runner
Director: Marc Forster
   PG-13   2008   2hr 8min
   
Funny Face
Director: Stanley Donen
   UR   2001   1hr 43min
   
X-Men The Last Stand
Widescreen Edition
   PG-13   2006   1hr 44min
   
Shrek the Third
Widescreen Edition
   PG   2007   1hr 33min
   
Inkheart
Director: Iain Softley
   PG   2009   1hr 46min
   
National Velvet
Director: Clarence Brown
   G   2000   2hr 3min
   
 

Movie Reviews

5-star movie, 4-star DVD
LANCE R LINDLEY | Yokosuka, Japan | 01/23/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pelle the Conqueror is an utterly flawless film with regards to acting, cinematography, score, storytelling, etc. It won Best Foreign Film honors at the Academy Awards and was even nominated for Best Picture. Of course, the politics of Hollywood could never have allowed it to claim that honor, otherwise a precedence would have been set of acknowledging that foreign films might be (gasp!) better than a lot of the [stuff] Tinseltown shovels out.Personally, I watched the Oscars that year exclusively to cheer for Pelle the Conqueror and even more specifically for Max Von Sydow, who turned in the performance of a lifetime. From the moment I began watching the film to the moment it ended, I never lost my sense of absolute immersion. It was, in truth, a grueling experience... because like so many Scandinavian films, Pelle is not a "feel good" story and doesn't have a happy ending. It doesn't have a happy beginning or middle, either. I'm straining my memory to remember a full happy minute, actually. Max Von Sydow is so thoroughly convincing as the widower father of 12-year-old Pelle Hvenegaard that I couldn't help but bear his anguish as all his hopes for a better life for his son get trampled. Even though I was fairly young when the film came out, Von Sydow led me to understand a poor father's burden. When I saw this movie in the theater in 1988, I was told by a friend it was "part one" and that the subsequent film would give viewers a little more resolution as young Pelle escapes to try to reach America... I waited and waited for that sequel, because I believed in these characters and wanted a better life for them; that's how powerful the film was to me.So why only 4 stars? Because the DVD (to date -- these things sometimes change) does not contain the whole film. 22 minutes were hacked from the original to fit into American time slots, and they were inexplicably not restored when the film went to DVD. The DVD also lacks special features such as "making of," background story, director's comments, etc. that would have been fascinating, especially considering this is such an epic foreign film from a country American viewers know so little about."
Hauntingly moving experience
R. Riis | NY | 03/17/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Moving Academy Award winning film about a Swedish widower and his son who emigrate to Denmark in the late 1800s to find work and a better life. What they find, though, is something else entirely. Brilliant performances by Max Von Sydow (an Oscar nominee for perhaps his greatest role as the widower) and 12-year-old Pelle Hvenegaard. This VHS version is in danish with English subtitles. Max Von Sydow dubbed his own role in the English language version (an option on the DVD version). At turns heart-rending and uplifting. Outstanding cinematography, filmed on location on the Danish island of Bornholm. One gripe : the original European release of this film was 160 minutes long; 22 minutes were cut for US release. Why couldn't those 22 minutes have been restored on either the VHS or especially the DVD? Most highly recommended!"
A movie for all children and adults
L. Cama | Towanda, PA USA | 02/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a truly great movie. It demonstrates human emotions on a grand scale. It takes place around the turn of the century. A father (played by Von Sydow) and his son Pelle (played by Pelle Hvenegaard) are forced to travel from Sweden to Denmark in order to leave a life of poverty and despair (Pelle's mother died). Pelle is only 12, and his father is over 50. Only reluctantly does a farmer hire them (the father is too old, and the kid is too young). Little did they know that the life in Denmark was physically harsh and emotionally draining. Prejudice was common against the foreigners. Pelle is very dependent upon his emotionally weak father who will not defend his son and likes alcohol.

In the end, Pelle demonstates his strength beyond most adult men.

This movie is directed and produced so clearly and accurately that it draws you into the the harsh, physically filthy and emotionally draining life on the farm. Since it is filmed over the course of about one year, you need not doubt that the georgous scenery is real. The blizzard, the ice, and the fields are real. In fact, Pelle Hvenegaard was named 12 years before the production after Pelle from the novel. Pelle is an uncommon Swedish name. His acting was so good that one forgets this was a movie.

The ending put me in tears. Although it was somewhat predictable, it still packed an emotional punch. It took my breath away.

I can recommend this Academy Award winning movie to anyone."
Best movie I have seen in a long time.
belwol | Phoenix, AZ USA | 09/01/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I stumbled into Pelle by accident in the Bravo Channel a few days ago. I have not been able to get Pelle out of my mind. It is a beautiful movie about the hopelessness of life as a worker in a farm in Sweden. Pelle, the stableman's son hears about America and it becomes his dream. The scenery, the actors, specially Pelle and his dad are excellent. I watched the English dubbed version. Dubbing was well done. I just found out this is an older movie which was just recently dubbed in English. The best movie I have seen in a long time."