The Promised Land

There are times in the impressive Danish historical drama The Promised Land where Dr Lecter peeks from the eyes of the main character...

The anti-immigrant and Romani sentiment expressed by Danes in 1755, although tinged with superstition, sounds eerily familiar. Mostly, though, The Promised Land, in common with its hero, ploughs a furrow as a rough-hewn costumed adventure.


The only problem here is that the whole ends up feeling a bit didactic and leaning towards the narrative style of Hollywood simplicity, yet does not take away from the power of a film that definitely deserves to be seen. [Full review in Spanish]

The Promised Land builds like a glacier or rock formation — and it delivers.

If every scene doesn’t land with maximum impact, Mikkelsen nonetheless remains the film’s MVP and an actor who can somehow galvanise an entire movie with a plethora of commanding, often wordless, close-ups.

Western fans and connoisseurs of mid-budget European cinema don’t typically have much on which they can agree. The Promised Land builds a bridge between the two and makes the crossing entirely worthwhile.

The story is conventional, but at no time does it give off the stench of the old-fashioned. [Full review in Spanish]

A costume drama based on the true story of a captain cultivating Danish moors despite many obstacles.

For all its lapses in portraying romance, The Promised Land is still an inspiring, relentlessly gritty tale of one undying determination, an indomitable will to achieve the impossible against all odds.

Terrific cinematography (Rasmus Videbaek) and utterly convincing production design (Jette Lehmann) mark this intimate epic.