#axel strobye

In 2003, The American Film Institute had their list of the Top 100 Heroes and Villains in film and the number 1 hero was Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch from “To Kill A Mockingbird” Atticus was a selfless widowed father trying to instill love and boundaries on his children. But Atticus might have some competition from Lasse Karlsson, the co-protagonist from Bille August’s Academy Award winning masterpiece “Pelle The Conqueror”. If there is anyone else who would win single father of the year, it would be Lasse.

Max Von Sydow, in probably the role of his career, plays Lasse, a widower with a young son named Pelle (Pelle Hvenegaard). The two of them decide to leave their homeland of Sweden to find work and stability in Denmark. They manage to find employment on a farm owned by the ruthless Mr. Kongstrup (Axel Strobye). Immediately, Lasse and Pelle face prejudice because of their Swedish background and their low rank on the farm. Luckily, they find allies in the resilient worker Erik (Bjorn Granath) and Kongstrup’s bastard son Rud (Troels Asmussen). Lasse even finds companionship in Madame Olsen (Karen Wegener), whose husband is lost at sea. But when life gets father and son down to the lowest form of self-esteem, they still strive for that better life that have always dreamed of.

Bille August plays the role of master artisan when capturing the gloomy backdrop of turn of the century Denmark. A lot of the aerial shots by the water and on the farm grounds seem like they were plucked straight from oil paintings from that era. Cinematographer Jorgen Persson helped show the mix of the macabre and the exhilarating in those shots. Along with Peter Greenaway’s “The Draughtman’s Contract” and Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” among others, these films are in the most pristine condition from beginning to end.

It is times like this, where I come to the conclusion that AMPAS does not know jack when it comes to awarding the top performance of the year. How does a struggling and loving father like Lasse Karlsson, lose to an annoying babbling fool like Raymond Babbitt. Max von Sydow managed to bring tears to my eyes throughout the film, with his flawless performance, whereas Dustin Hoffman’s overacted performance made me want to shut off the TV set. It’s the last scene between Lasse and Pelle, that not only should have gotten Von Sydow his Oscar, but Pelle Hvenegaard a nomination for either Lead or Supporting Actor. It’s where we see Pelle graduate to manhood and the scene between father and son that will bring on the waterworks. If Gregory Peck was able to win an Oscar for Atticus Finch in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, they should have done the same for Von Sydow.

Even if the Academy didn’t give Von Sydow Best Actor, they had the foresight to award this masterpiece Best Foreign Language Film for Denmark. Von Sydow would not come out of the award season empty handed. He would receive the Bodil and the Robert awards from Denmark and the European Film Award for his performance. Pelle Hvenegaard would also win the European Film Award for Best Young Performance and Best Actor in a Foreign Film at the Young Artist Awards. Other awards for the film included the Golden Globe, Palme D’Or, Bodil and Robert. “Pelle The Conqueror” will go down as one of the best coming of age films ever made.