PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! The authentic title for Nikolaj Arcel’s The Promised Land is Bastarden, translated as “The Bastard” from Danish. It’s a becoming title in that the writer-director’s second characteristic with the famend Mads Mikkelsen is kind of a brutal expertise. The film stares headlong at heavy matters reminiscent of born rank and man’s contest with nature. However, none of this could recommend that the English title has misplaced one thing. On moderately uncommon events, the Biblically allusive title reveals one other aspect of the image — the bending of 1’s will towards future. With this most primordial of themes, Arcel and co-writer Anders Thomas Jensen have constructed a bit of cinema that’s not simply arresting however wholly resplendent.
Ludvig von Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) is the bastard son of a maid and a nobleman who has overcome his low rank to turn out to be a profitable military captain. Desiring to grab a noble title himself, the self-possessed Kahlen commits to establishing a settlement within the wild heath, an expanse of desolate wilderness. However, he quickly runs afoul of Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a rich landowner who refuses to share land or revenue.
There is a noticeable vein of the mid-century journey working all through The Promised Land in each tone and aesthetics. The visuals are molded within the fashion of bygone epics, reminiscent of The Searchers and Lawrence of Arabia. The latter clearly is a direct affect on Arcel. Wide lens cinematography is utilized in nearly each scene, rendering Denmark’s rugged heath in merciless, charming frames that bleed with foreboding. This makes the wilderness itself a sort of omniscience, all the time current and observing.
“Desiring to grab a noble title himself, the self-possessed Kahlen commits to establishing a settlement within the wild heath…”
As anticipated, Mikkelsen turns in a strong efficiency all through The Promised Land. He is a person so stoically dedicated to his purpose that his presence appears to ignite the ire of the ever-present heath. However, because the supporting character Ana Barbara, Amanda Collin is of comparable power, appearing as a lady equally as unflinching but additionally palpably female in a time of super hardship. The two are rounded out by the splendidly maniacal but effervescent Bennebjerg, who teeters on the sting of cartoonish exaggeration however skillfully maintains believability all through.
However, it’s within the orchestration of those characters that Arcel finds his most super success. Though seemingly simple, the plot frequently affords natural turns, permitting all the forged to play splendidly off the singular Mikkelsen. In these shock moments, the dramatic journey feels most like an journey — producing moments of real depravity but additionally earnestness in its purest varieties.
The solely setback is a barely off-kilter third act that too shortly and too tidily ties up unfastened ends. And but, this misstep is buffered by a well-hewn narrative context that maintains the emotional tone with out ever veering into oversentimentality. Indeed, Arcel and Mikkelsen have struck a deeply human chord with The Promised Land. It is a story of undoubted savagery but additionally one in all hope in all its divine illumination.
The Promised Land screened on the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival.
