Before Bond and “Casino Royale,” before many of his now iconic performances and appearances in franchises like “Rogue One,” ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen first came to fame with Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Pusher” trilogy. But one of the acclaimed films that kept pushing up the mountain of international fame was Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel’s “A Royal Affair” (2012). Known for “Kongekabale” (2004) and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (the original 2009 Danish version), Arcel has reunited with Mikklesen for a new drama titled “The Promised Land” (“Basterden”).
The film is a period drama, the story of Ludvig Kahlen, who pursued his lifelong dream: To make the Danish heath bring him wealth and honor (The wild and dry heaths were created by Stone Age farmers who unknowingly exhausted the Danish farmlands). It’s an impossible task, but hey, it’s Mads Mikkelsen, and he’s up for any challenge.
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“The Promised Land” will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but it will also debut at Telluride and the Toronto International Film Festival, which attests to its quality.
Here’s the official synopsis:
In 1755, the impoverished captain Ludvig Kahlen sets out to conquer the harsh, uninhabitable Danish heath with a seemingly impossible goal: to build a colony in the name of the King. In exchange, he’ll receive a desperately desired Royal name for himself. But the sole ruler of the area, the merciless Frederik de Schinkel, arrogantly believes this land belongs to him. When De Schinkel learns that the maid Ann Barbara and her servant husband have escaped for refuge with Kahlen, the privileged and spiteful ruler swears revenge, doing everything in his power to drive the captain away. Kahlen will not be intimidated and engages in an unequal battle—risking not only his life, but also that of the family of outsiders that has formed around him.
Here’s the director’s statement:
When I had the utterly transformative experience of becoming a father a few years ago, I began viewing my past films, including the memories of making them, through a new lens. While I remain proud of the work (most of it, anyway!), it reflects the outlook of a man with a single purpose: a passionate dedication to creating stories and art… but not much else. Bastarden grew out of that existential reckoning, and is, by far, my most personal film to date. Aided by Ida Jessen’s brilliant novel, Anders Thomas Jensen and I wanted to tell a grand, epic tale about how our ambitions and desires will inevitably fail if they are all we have. Life is chaos; painful and unpleasant, beautiful and extraordinary, and we often cannot control it. As the saying goes, “We make plans and God laughs.”
“The Promised Land” has no release date, but it is definitely one of the most anticipated titles of the fall film festival circuit. Here’s the first trailer from the film, plus three official press clips from Venice below.
