This film is considered one of the best films by Danish director Bille August - Pelle erobreren / Pelle erobreren, 1987. This is a partial adaptation of the book by Martin Andersen-Nexo, the book consists of four volumes, only the first volume dedicated to Pelle's childhood is filmed. I haven't read the book, so I don't know how exactly the film follows the book. But the film received international acclaim (Oscar and Golden Globe, Best Foreign Language Film, Cannes - Palme d'Or, European Film Academy, Best Actor and Best Young Actor - Max von Sydow and Pelle Hwenegaard).
Set in the late 19th century, the rather elderly father Lasse Karlsson (Max von Sydow) emigrates with his 8-year-old son Pelle (Pelle Hwenegaard) from the south of Sweden to the Danish island of Bornholm and there, although with great difficulty, gets a job on one farm. There are quite a lot of Swedish workers and the attitude towards them, to put it mildly, is not very good. Lasse is such a rather controversial type, he is a hero in words, but in fact he is far from heroism and even just courage, what he tries to inspire his son and even his conversations about his own “achievements” are far from what he demonstrates with his behavior. The boy, however, grows up quite smart and not a coward. After some time, he learns the Danish language with the help of a local boy, also almost an outcast, goes to school, but there he is pursued and ridiculed, first simply for being Swedish, and then when his father decides to have an affair with the wife of Captain Olssen, who disappeared some time ago, and for his father. Pelle has a good relationship with one of the Swedish workers Eric, who fascinates him with the idea of going on trips around the world - first to America, then to Australia, then to China, etc. But, alas, this dream is not destined to come true, during the riot, Eric receives a head injury, after which he becomes not quite sane, and then he is taken to an unknown place. After another fight with the son of the priest, who mocked his father, Pella faces expulsion from school and general eviction, the father and son turn to the owners of the farm for help, the owner’s wife promises to help them and the boy is offered to become an assistant manager, but after seeing how they did with Eric, he refuses this offer, offering his father to escape. However, at the last minute, afraid that due to his age, the journey will not be possible for him, his father sends Pella to the world of one. There are still many different events in which we see what all these people are - both disgusting like a manager, literally mocking employees, and the owner with his irrepressible passion for sexual adventures, which ended very badly for him, and ordinary workers. The picture of life is very unsightly, there are practically no bright moments.
After watching this film, I experienced a rather heavy feeling, of course, the actors are good, the content is acutely social and at the same time quite human, watching it was not easy, but appreciated. The film is actually good for its segment, but I will not recommend it to everyone, especially since the timekeeping is large - 2 hours 37 minutes.