Sweet Land

This film is © by Forward Entertainment, 2006

Starring:

Tim Guinee as Olaf Torvik
Elizabeth Reaser as Inge Altenberg
Alan Cumming as Frandsen
Lois Smith as (older) Inge

Directed by: Ali Selim

RATING:

Sweet Land is a straight forward movie about simple people. In real liferegular people can sometimes live real interesting lives. Such is the case here as this movie delivers a really powerful story about everyday people. Set in a small farm town in Minnesota during the 1920s Sweet Land presents lively characters and a very charming tale of life and love. The film is set up in three different time periods but two of them are brief and only used for the sake of reflection. First we meet a man whose grandmother has died and he has to decide whether to sell the farm land where she had lived for most of her life. Second we see the man at a younger age at the time his grandfather dies and his grandmother tells him the life story of the young man's grandparents. It is this story that is the third and most important tale and takes up most of the time in this movie.

Inge is a young woman who has come to the US from Germany shortly afterWorld War I. She is able to earn her voyage because she is arranged to be married to a local farmer named Olaf. While Olaf speaksa bit of German Inge knows hardly any English. They are determined to go through their plans but run into many problems in trying to get married. The local clergy does not want to marry them because she does not speak English and she has no proper immigration papers. A great deal of xenophobia is also a determining factor as she is German and American's attitude towards Germany is not very favorable after the war. The couple also run into trouble with the local judge as their attempt to a civil marriage is foiled by similar reasons.

Inge and Olaf struggle to figure out how to live together in a small and conservativetown without being married. Here Elizabeth Reaser and Tim Guinee really shine in their roles making this film a very enjoyable experience. As the characters get to know each other and grow as people their thoughts, feelings, and complexities are very well presented by these two actors. While the supporting cast does a good job as well it is Reaser and Guinee that make this movie shine. They are greatly helped by a good plot and real strong character development provided by this film.

Everything in this movie works very well, the acting, the plot, the setting and the resolution. It is such an enjoyable experience that I totally forgot about time or movement of the plot and was surprised when it came to an end. The 1920s clothing and the surrounding farmland add to the charm of this movie. This film offers a positive story about humanity without having to stretch out any particular ideals. I feel most people would enjoy the film as it is a very universal tale. I strongly recommend it to everyone to see it. Once again, this movie reminds me of the sad state the film industry is in. This is a great movie but will receive so little exposure and only a few will see it. If would be nice if Hollywood gave us more movies like this one.