1988 Winner, Pelle the Conqueror

Pelle the Conqueror

Director:  Billie August

Distributed by:  Svensk Filmindustri (Sweden) and Kærne Film (Denmark)

Released:  December 1987

Countries:  Denmark and Sweden

There are some films—some very good films—that after you finish watching, you walk away without a good idea in your head what the plot was.  You may tell someone else you liked the film, but if pressed to relay what it was about, you are unable to coherently give a satisfactory response, ending by saying something like, “Uh, it was pretty good.”  Pelle the Conqueror is one of these films.

Set sometime in the mid-1800’s, a Swedish father and son emigrate to Denmark to start over again after the death of the boy’s mother.  The father, Lasse, played by Max von Sydow, is rather old to have an 11-year old son

Pelle asking Lasse to come home

and is feeling his age.  Lasse thinks things may be better, but the only work, and place to live, he can find is on a farm as laborers.  The movie is mostly about the tough times they experience on the farm, included being treated by the Swedes as second-class citizens.  Lasse takes up with a woman whose husband is missing at sea, which is not looked at kindly by the townspeople, including the kids, who mistreat Pelle in school for having such a father.

If this doesn’t sound like much of a story, it’s because it isn’t.  This point is, mostly, that the father, Lasse, realizes he is stuck in life and has to make due with a possible widow and all the booze he can get his hands on.  It’s Pelle who has a shot to make it in life, as long as he can escape the life on the farm.  An older rebellious man working on the farm instills in him the dream to make it on his own, to live a life in which he isn’t told what to do, possibly in America.

"The power of Christ compels you!"

I can’t say I found the film entertaining really, but watching a masterful actor at his craft was what made this worth watching.  Von Sydow is truly an international star, having starred in the classic Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal from 1957, a Swedish film, famous for his game of chess with the Grim Reaper.  He also, of course, was the titular character in 1973’s The Exorcist.  But his role in this film earned him a Best Actor nomination, and rightfully so.  His relationship with Pelle is somewhat ambiguous—there is certainly love between them, and Lasse will sacrifice for him and protect him.  But the father was not quite admirable, as he struggles with who he is and what he wants for his son. 

The Title:  Pelle Erobreren or Pelle erövraren, depending on if you are looking at the Danish or Swedish title, respectively.  The old man calls Pelle that to keep his chin up. 

"You took your finger off!  No take-backs!"

The Culture:  Unexplained is why the father and son move from Sweden to Denmark.  Given the bleak, almost washed-out quality of the film, Denmark doesn’t seem like a great place to move to in 1850.

Agenda Danger:  The movie is based on the first part of a 1910 novel of the same name written by Martin Anderson Nexo.  The book deals with Pelle growing up and becoming a labor leader who embraces communism.  This film sets the table for the need for such reform, but this is not really a leftist film—it concentrates on the father/son relationship.

Best Picture that year: Rain Man

Rating:  Uh, it was pretty good.

1989 Winner, Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso

Director:  Giuseppe Tornatore 

Distributed by:  Miramax Films 

Released:  November 1988

Country:  Italy

As with most technological improvements, advancements in movie-making and movie-watching bring with them an unforeseen downside.  Availability is one of those advancements.  Nowadays, even foreign films from 25 years ago can be found on DVD by going on Amazon or just using a library card.  You can stream movies by using a remote control in your living room (and by “you” I mean "not me"; I’m still not trained in the art of Netflix or Hulu or any of that kind of stuff).  But the price of this availability is, simply put, the Movie Theater.  I’m not talking about the multiplexes with 20 or more movies being shown at the same time; I mean the old movie houses where huge crowds would all watch the same movie together as a community experience.

The Cinema Paradiso is one of those movie houses.  In post-World War II Italy, Alfredo is the

Toto checking out some deleted scenes

theater’s projectionist, at a time when being so was more of a profession than a job.  But the star of the film is Salvatore, a 5-year-old who lost his father in the war and loves to hang out at the theater.  Salvatore, or Toto as he is called, is a handful, both to Alfredo, who considers him a pest, and to the local priest, who can’t get Toto to be a proper altar boy.  The movie is told in flashback, as the adult Toto learns of the death of Alfredo, who had grown to be a father figure to him.

Early in the film, Alfredo is pre-screening a film for the priest—and whenever a kissing scene shows up, the priest rings his bell, an indication for Alfredo to mark the film for cutting.  No kissing is aloud to be shown to the masses.  When the films are screened to the public, the crowd lustily boos and jeers, good-naturedly expressing its anger at the Church censorship.  Toto, the film lover who will grow up to be a successful director, wonders about the scenes being cut, which eventually leads to the film’s famous and touching finish.

Annoying kid in an American film

Where to begin on what is good about this film?  First, young Salvatore Cascio is terrific as a little boy full of mischief yearning for a male figure in his life.  There is something about young kids in foreign films that American films don’t seem to have—Toto, the young boy in Life is Beautiful, the youngest son in Journey of Hope, the granddaughter in Antonia’s Line—these kids show a charming endearing quality that the annoying wise-ass Macaulay Culkins (Home Alone) turn into obnoxiousness in American films.  (Add to the list of charming kid performances that of the boy from the “foreign language” Calcutta part of the current film Lion.)  The first part of Cinema Paradiso is worth watching just for Toto, and for his relationship with Alfredo, who sees greatness in him.

Adult Toto loving the cinema

But the heart of the movie is in its love of movies themselves and the movie-going experience.  The cinema, and to a lesser extent, the theater that is the Cinema Paradiso, are what bring people together in war-weary Italy.  Most especially, the theater brings Alfredo and Toto together at a time both need it.  I think of theater-going as when I have to contend with the older people behind me loudly pointing out the actors they recognize, or the younger people texting their BFF's while the movie is showing. At the Cinema Paradiso, a lot of the fun is the crowd laughing or jeering or even sitting mesmerized  together as a community.

The story, the characters and acting, and great cinematography are all perfect here.  Director Giuseppe Tornatore, who has made three English-language films and several noted Italians films since, made it difficult on himself to top this film made at the beginning of his career.  The score by his frequent collaborator, the brilliant composer Ennio Morricone  (perhaps most famous to Americans for the scores of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and The Mission),  is perhaps one of his best, and that's saying something.   

I’m not sure all the films Alfredo showed from the projection room of the Cinema Paradiso were great films, but if they were half as good as Cinema Paradiso, the huge movie house would be packed every night.

The Title:  The Italian name of the movie is Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, or New Paradise Cinema.

The Culture:  A great look at small-town Italy right after World War II.

Agenda Danger:  Whatever commentary may be derived from the over-protective and controlling Catholic priest is more than offset by the humor of Toto’s interactions with him and the emotional ending.

Best Picture that year: Driving Miss Daisy

Rating:  Italian cinema is noteworthy for so many great films, like Life is Beautiful (1998), The Bicycle Thieves (1948), and the works of Fellini (such as 1963’s 8 ½ and 1960’s La Dolce Vita).  This film takes a back seat to none of them.  It's a movie about loving the movies that makes you love movies even more.