Sweet Land (2005)

Brilliant and touching

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Tim Guinee's young Olaf was the male star, not Patrick. Give him the credit he is due. Tim Guinee was thoroughly believable as the reserved, thoughtful, thrifty Norwegian settler who gets more than he bargained for in his mail order bride. His portrayal of the devout Lutheran's struggle to keep his male hormones under control provides some of the most comic moments in the film. His wonder when Inge and the preacher share Keats poetry, the gradual shifting of the balance of power when Inge shows what a strong and headstrong woman she is, his courage when faced with crooked bankers were all perfectly rendered. This one is a keeper. Beautiful in every way.

I give it a five instead of 3 because I didn't watch all of it; I couldn't bring myself to watch anymore of it. Odds and ends: 1. The two pre-title sequences were much too long. So much so that tedium began to set in. 'Teases' should be just that; a hook to whet your interest. I also found the two sequences slightly difficult to understand. 2. I understand this was a first time director so slack must be cut. However, camera placement was poor in a lot of the set- ups.....awkwardness. 3. Music was simplistic and therefore heavy handed. 4. The cars, rented from overprotective antique car buffs, were always so spotlessly clean. Isn't this 1920 farmland America? Actually, everything I saw in my foreshortened viewing was squeaky clean and over- scrubbed. 5. Since Olaf was Norwegian and believed he was 'sent' a Norwegian bride-to-be, why wouldn't he at least speak the language to her, however shy he was? 6. Alan Cumming's character should have been named, 'Nonny Sequitur'. 7. Finally, I think director Selim was channeling Norman Rockwell cause that's what the total effect was for me, a Norman Rockwell painting.

Here's a film that aspires to be included in the ranks of European Art Films but unfortunately doesn't quite make the grade. Before we flashback to the main story, we're treated to two "flash forward" scenes: one set in the 60s when the main character, Inge, buries her husband and another scene twenty or so years later when the grandson buries Inge. Instead of getting right into the story which is set in 1920s Minnestoa, we're treated to quite a bit of slow-paced, unnecessary exposition. When we finally do get to the core of the story, where Inge (well played by Elizabeth Reaser) comes to America, we find out little about the personalities of the characters.Most of the first half of the movie deals with Inge trying to cope with a hostile community where she barely speaks any English (it's not really explained very clearly, but Inge is a mail-order bride from Norway but she's actually German who's been living in Norway). Her husband-to-be Olaf, is a Norwegian-American who is unable to communicate with her in German (it appears that he can speak Norwegian and so can she--well at least I thought I heard her speak some Norwegian during the film) but they choose not to because the town minister insists that she only speak English. So quite unconvincingly, when they are alone, they never converse in Norwegian which would probably help her to learn English a lot faster. Reaser does a good job at showing how difficult it is learning a new language and there are some scenes that are fairly compelling as Inge and her hard-working farmer-husband learn to love each other. But beyond that what do we find out about the characters in this film? Well there's Olaf, who's a bit of a Stoic but also a real good guy who saves his best friend's farm by bidding for it at an auction (even though he doesn't have the money!). And of course there's the minister, who is caught up in the anti-German hysteria of the day and gives Inge a real hard time. But of course, he's really not such a bad guy after all because eventually he inexplicably comes to accept her. And in fact, all the neighbors, who at first appear as though they're going to start a witch-hunt against Olaf and his potential bride, suddenly have a change of heart and actually give Olaf the cash to buy his best friend's farm which prevents the family from being evicted. 1920 Minnesota doesn't prove to be much of a bad place after all--not a bad apple amongst the suspicious neighbors who all turn out to collectively have hearts of gold. It's comfortable like a Hallmark Greeting Card but does not bode well for good drama which needs more of a sinister protagonist to keep things interesting. As we step back into 1920, we feel the author only has a superficial sense of what it was like to live back in that time. Oh yes, there's a nice attempt to recreate the look of the period with the old Model-T cars and gramophones but without in-depth characters, the film ultimately proves to be an exercise in sentimental storytelling.

Simple and beautiful love story Sweet Land (2005) had won its creator Ali Selim Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. In the film, love triumphs over ignorance, prejudice, social hardships, and the other obstacles, not the last one, the difference in cultures and languages. German immigrant Inge (Lois Smith, a wonderful but rarely seen in the movies stage and TV actress) tells her life story to her grandson after burying her husband of 48 years on their farm in Minnesota in 1968. The story begins in 1920, when Inge (Elizabeth Reaser as Young Inge) just arrived to Minnesota as a mail-order bride to Norwegian-American farmer Olaf (Tim Guinee). Discovering that Inge is actually German, the community and its spiritual leader Minister Sorrensen refused to accept Inge as Olaf's wife echoing the anti-German propaganda in the country after WWI. The touching tale of a young couple's falling in love, longing for each other, wishing to live and work together on the land till death do them part, and finally making the community accept their love, is beautifully shot and moves in a quiet thoughtful way where every small detail matters. Elizabeth Reaser as young Inge is radiant and it is hard to take your eyes off her face and smile. Her Inge is strong, intelligent, beautiful, and funny. Indeed, sweet movie.