La Terre promise

Le Braveheart danois, soit tout ce que l’on pouvait espérer d’un drame historique avec Mads Mikkelsen. Un héros plein de principes et de bonnes intentions, auquel on peut s’identifier et que l’on comprend, malgré ses mauvaises décisions ; deux femmes qui l’aiment (dont une platoniquement) ; une jeune vagabonde adoptée qui apporte des valeurs familiales à l’histoire ; un méchant que l’on éventrerait volontiers, même au risque d’y perdre sa propre liberté. Pendant la majeure partie de sa durée, le film enchaîne les clichés faciles et prévisibles, mais les motivations intérieures et les destins de tous les personnages finissent par se rencontrer de façon signifiante pour aboutir à un résultat cathartique et émotionnel, avec une belle réflexion en filigrane. Un film puissant, qui mérite d’être vu sur grand écran. [Festival international du film de Saint-Sébastien] (27/09/2023)

A likable film with a likably unlikable protagonist driven by wounded ambition. The Promised Land blends a serious historical epic with some penny-dreadful twists that ultimately prevent the film from forcefully crowning Kahlen’s fate as an entirely tragic and self-destructive character. The Promised Land comes across as a film in search of itself on the heath. Fortunately, Arcel elevated his directing above that in the slightly TV-like A Royal Affair, Rasmus Videbæk beautifully captures the chiaroscuro and Mads Mikkelsen plays his unapproachable father character with his usual precision. The film wants to throw a powerful jab with its ending, but it winds up choosing a safer route that doesn’t offend, but it doesn’t satisfy either. (18/01/2024)

Great. Old-school attitude and Mads Mikkelsen's stubborn expression in a solid film with a great script that grabs you by the heart. Danish moors and beautiful shots of the rugged landscape. And, of course, there's one motherfucker you wish the worst for, wondering the whole time why the captain didn't put a bullet through his head right from the start. A great story with a strong conclusion and a worthwhile point. (05/01/2024)

Like a spaghetti western from Denmark's bleak moors meets a romance novel while waiting for Godot (here in the form of a sprouting potato plant). A bad guy that is as charismatic and sleazy as life truths facing the main "I can't see the forest for the trees" good guy, who isn't such a guy after all. It's a straightforward, genre film, a bit long-winded around the middle, especially in the first half, nicely uncompromising, well acted and... And that's it. Which is far from little. (19/01/2024)

An excellent historical drama that grabs you by the balls. Mads Mikkelsen should ditch Hollywood, because there it's one misstep after another for him, but once he's in his native Denmark, it's usually a decent blast, and Bastard excels right out of the gate. The story focuses on Ludvig Kahlen, a man who has worked his way up from gardener to captain, and his dream is to build a colony in the inhospitable surroundings of the moors, with the coveted title of nobility as a reward when he achieves his goal. But he soon makes enemies. Nearby lives Frederik de Schinkel, a ruthless, arrogant lord who believes that this land belongs to him and not to the king, and gives Ludvig a hard time on more than one occasion. The first half is a bit of a getting-to-know-you kind of movie, but thanks to an attractive premise and great actors, the film holds your attention very well. Once the film switches to the second half, some very interesting things start to happen. The atmosphere, cruelty and barbarism of the time is captured very believably. Mikkelsen has to make a lot of tough decisions and overcome a lot of difficult obstacles to achieve his goal. There's one scene reminiscent of Sophie's Choice that decently manages to mine the emotions out of the viewer, and then there's one surprise after another, and a delightful little stealth action sequence. The film is so good that it gets by without battles and that's saying something, especially for for me. 85% (02/01/2024)