The Promised Land

By Joanna Langfield

This poignant Nordic drama may not unearth much new ground, but, for those looking for a good, old school Western, this one delivers on its promise.

The always impressive Mads Mikkelsen stars as an 18^th Century Danish war hero, determined to create a new colony in the name of his King. The land he struggles to inhabit is seemingly barren, frigid and, even worse, under to local control of a wealthy nobleman with his own designs. The Captain seems not just resigned to his lonely fate, to singularly populate a barren wasteland, but also to stay determined, to face whatever odds come his way. Eventually, he finds those odds might include others, who may have a different reason for wanting to help him.

There are myriad American Westerns that tread similar turf. But they don’t make a whole lot of those these days. The idea of a lone man, a celebrated veteran who faces a new fight to create a new future, may not sell in traditional production studios these days. But that does not mean the basic story, stripped down to the themes of good versus evil, isn’t valid or compelling. After all, even souped up Superhero stories or more contemporary family based Western tv series are drawn from the same point. Yet, it still feels kind of retro-refreshing to watch this icy epic, to see a man take on the odds and, in so doing, find strengths and compassions he never knew he had.