It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I saw this film during it's original release almost 30 years ago and have held it in the highest regards ever since. I was curious to see it again and how it would hold up to the passage of time. I was very happy to find it as beautiful and inspiring as I did those many years ago, perhaps even more so. It's a truly beautiful film to look at. The stark landscapes, seasons, people, the farm and buildings, are all captured and expressed so naturally and lyrically. All of the performances are solid but the two leads are really great and generate a real depth to the story. As for the story itself, it's expressed with such simplicity that it feels poetic.

No relief in this one. No let up. The conqueror escapes to nothing, nowhere; a wintry, frozen and empty sea-shore. Max can act, no question. So can Pelle the boy. The direction consummates the never-ending grimness and daily grind of the emigrant labourer, paid 100 kronor a year, about £10. It's virtual slavery, though the bodies are not sold. These slaves are especially abused and exploited because they are foreign. Life continues, a living death.Undeniably effective, but who would want to watch this twice ? Joylessness squared. Unpunished rape, unwanted child-murder, bullying, crippling poverty, death and decay. An existential inferno, where hope is eventually abandoned. What benefit is to be gained from seeing this relentless, unrelieved misery ? I give it eight stars, because it's a powerful movie, but recommend no-one to watch it. One flaw: the boy's dubbed American accent was annoying. It was out-of-place. The only man capable of bringing a little lightness to the company, with his musical squeeze-box, gets bludgeoned into mindless inanity.

What is all the fuss about? I see that only one other reviewer agrees with much of what I would say about this clichéd and extremely boring piece of cinema. I would regard myself as a bit of a fan of Scandinavian cinema. Many Bergmans were wonderful, Colin Nutley's work is almost always great (if one allows that his work qualifies as Scandinavian) and Von Trier is also often wonderful. But, Bille August really failed badly with this one I'm afraid. Perhaps this had something to do with the soundtrack on the DVD of Pelle that I bought. I know Max von Sydow's voice very well and his voice on the DVD was his own and fine. But it seems to me that everyone else in the cast who didn't speak English as a first language in real life was dubbed with the most obnoxious American accent, including young Pelle himself. I never like to give up on any movie because I feel that I can't then rightly hold an opinion about it. So, as tempting as it was to give this one away after an hour, I soldiered on so I could write a reasonable review. At two and a half hours, this piece of clichéd rubbish is way too long. I wish I had nicer things to say about it but I'm afraid I cannot. JMV

This is a difficult film to review, because it is pretty much all of its ingredients, so the best description of it would either be fifteen pages or fifteen words."The grass is greener" describes the motif pretty well.The usual description leads one to think it is totally about "Pelee", but that isn't the case. Many characters and many plots are in this film.I watched it with some expectations. Max von Sydow is one of the most respected names in acting, and even when he appears in high action apocalyptic films, there is some bit of "thinking" involved.We usually expect Sydow to be involved in works that are "mystical puzzles", such as "The Seventh Seal" and "The Reward".But sometimes, like this film, the film is about "reactions". In fact, two things that I was always conscious of while watching this were the title and the "reactions".Why was it called "Pele the Conqueror"? We come to that at the end.As for the "reactions", that too is a omen of the ending. The characters don't "think things through". They simply react.And that does give a very realistic view of the times and the people. It is a story of the hopes of people on a Scandinavian stone farm in the late 1800s. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a dull "slice of life" film, though.I am not the most patient viewer, maybe a bit "attention deficit", but this film kept me interested throughout.I could say more, but then I wouldn't know where to stop. Hopefully, this review gives an idea of what to expect. It has good scenery, and is well made. I feel comfortable in saying that nearly everyone will be pleased by it, and most will be more than pleased.