'The Promised Land' director Nikolaj Arcel talks filming where history took place
A harsh, uninhabitable landscape is the last place any person wants to end up, but it's exactly where Cpt. Ludvig von Kahlen has his eyes — and heart — set on in Danish director Nikolaj Arcel's film "The Promised Land."
The movie, which is one of the shortlisted films for the Academy Award's international feature film category, will screen at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 5, Jan. 8, Jan. 12 and Jan. 14.
The year is 1755, and the tough and rugged veteran soldier, played by celebrated actor Mads Mikkelsen, has one goal in mind: cultivate the barren Jutland (a Danish peninsula) heath to farmland. It seems like an impossible task, as no one has ever been able to do it. But Ludvig is as stubborn as he is smart, and if anyone can do it, he's certainly the man for the job.
Of course, it's not an easy journey for him. Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a merciless and despicable landowner, claims the land is his, despite Ludvig receiving permission from the king, and will do anything to stop him. It's enough to break any person, but Ludvig puts up an extraordinary fight, even if it means losing everything he holds dear, like his formed family with Ann Barbara, who escaped from Frederik's mistreatment, and Anmai Mus, a little Roma girl they take in.
Arcel and screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen adapted the story from Danish author Ida Jessen's novel, "The Captain and Ann Barbara." The layered story of ambition and protecting one's family captivated Arcel, who said many of Ludvig's struggles are still commonplace for Danish people today. He's also no stranger to historical dramas — his 2012 film "A Royal Affair" was nominated for an Academy Award.
"What really drew me to the story were the characters. The first character I fell in love with was Anmai Mus, the little girl. She was sort of my first in point into the story. And really, Ann Barbara. It was an exciting journey for a character who is almost invisible at the beginning of the story, and then grows into someone who has a huge impact on the story and huge impact on the main character," Arcel said in a recent interview. "Ludvig was a harder man to love and harder man to identify with, but as I finished the novel, I found there was a point in his journey that I thought was moving."
Taking on this story also allowed the director to pair up with Mikkelsen again, who starred in "A Royal Affair." There was no one else Arcel imagined for the role, he said, and the screenplay clearly won Mikkelsen over as well.
Arcel spoke with The Desert Sun about his previous visits to the desert, and what it was like to shoot in a harsh, historically significant area.
DS: Congratulations on being selected for the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Will you be attending?
NA: It's in the books for now. I’ve been to Palm Springs several times just for vacation, but I was also there for the festival for my last Danish film, 'A Royal Affair,' so I’m excited to be back.
DS: What memories do you have from that experience?
NA: At that point, I had only first come to Los Angeles and I had never been there. I was in LA for 'A Royal Affair' and its various nominations. This was my first time in California.
For me, Palm Springs was very exotic. Since then, I’ve been there several times, I’ve been all around California, so I’m a little more used to it, but 10 years ago it was almost like another planet. My biggest memory was going around wide-eyed. Everything was so foreign and interesting and wonderfully warm at all times in the year. It was in January and I was like, 'Wow, it's not winter here.'
DS: What drew you to Ida Jessen's novel 'The Captain and Ann Barbara'?
NA: I fell in love with the book. I was sent the book by the publisher before it was published because the publisher had an idea that this could be something for me, and they were certainly right. Ida Jessen, she has written several novels that I liked. I was very familiar with her work, but this was her first historical novel.
What really drew me to the story were the characters. The first character I fell in love with was Anmai Mus, the little girl. She was sort of my first in point into the story. And really Ann Barbara. It was an exciting journey for a character who is almost invisible at the beginning of the story, and then grows into someone who has a huge impact on the story and huge impact on the main character.
Ludvig was a harder man to love and harder man to identify with, but as I finished the novel, I found there was a point in his journey that I thought was moving. I couldn’t see myself in him, but I could see the whole idea that every person, at least in our part of the world, is very concerned with either ambition and family and trying to juggle those things, and I thought it was a very exciting way to tell a story about a man who is so ambitious that he almost loses what’s important.
DS: He is a very interesting character. He's very tough and is after one goal, to cultivate the land, but then as more people come into his life, he softens, especially with Ann Barbara and Anmai Mus. How do you have a character who is so difficult and rough around the edges transition into a more gentler person later on?
NA: I think it makes it easier when you have an actor like Mads Mikkelsen because you have faith in his ability to show subtle transitions and subtle development in a way. You don’t have to do these big swinging movements where you understand the characters change profoundly because this happened or this happened, it’s more like a slow progression, and I’m pretty sure if I had not had Mads, I would be more worried about that.
Having worked once already and knowing him and understanding his body of work and knowing what he’s capable of, I felt safe because he’s also a really good storyteller. When we were done with the script, we’d talk about the transitions and try to figure out how the character evolves. We’d pin point these little things, here he’s changing a little bit, he’s changing a little bit. But really we wanted it to be almost like something that people didn’t notice until the very end, when he’s completely changed.
DS: Was Mads on your mind for this role from the get-go?
NA: From minute one. I called him after I read the book, and maybe even while I was reading the book, and I told him, 'I have this great story, but I’m not going to do it without you, so you’re going to have to say yes now' (laughs). He said, 'OK, if you write a good script, I’ll do it.' That’s the beauty of working with your friends or working with people that you know well, and we enjoyed working together the last time (in 'A Royal Affair'), so in that sense it was easier to click right away on this next film.
DS: The landscape and harsh environment in this film feels like a character. How did you scope out this area?
NA: It was a long, long journey. It’s very hard to find these landscapes because they either don’t exist anymore or they’re so protected you’re not allowed to film on it. Interestingly, and really fortunately, we were actually able to shoot on the very same space where the real Ludvig built his house 300 years ago, so that is real. This is the first time I’ve had the pleasure and honor to shoot on the actual location where something historical really happened. That was the reason why they let us shoot these scenes, they felt we were telling part of their history. They felt, OK, you have to be very protective of the plants and vegetation, but you can shoot here because you’re basically telling our local story.
DS: Filming in this exposed and harsh area, was that tough for everyone? Because it looks very, very cold in this film at all times.
NA: I hate to say this, but a lot is movie magic. In terms of thinking about the real people who lived there 300 years ago, that must have been insanely tough because there’s no shelter anywhere. Sometimes we could feel it, but we always had the luxury of going into a trailer and having a cup of coffee, so we couldn’t really complain.
DS: This film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and it is Denmark's official submission to the Academy Award's Best International Feature Film category. When you reflect on the journey you've taken with this film, how do you feel?
NA: It’s always very surreal because when you make a film, you’re so focused on trying to do your best to make the best film you can. When it’s all over, you feel so honored and happy when you get invited to a festival, or are the official selection from Denmark, that’s always just a pure joy.
You always do your best, sometimes it doesn’t work out, but when it does work out, it’s great and wonderful. It’s an honor to be in the running, especially in a year that is so strong with the international category. So it’s going to be a battle for everybody, but I think instead of seeing it as a battle, I’m trying to enjoy that the film is being spoken of in this way and being acknowledged in this way and just having it be a pleasure and honor to be there.
How to watch
What: "The Promised Land" screenings during the Palm Springs International Film Festival
When and where: 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center; 4:30 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Annenberg Theater; 10 a.m. Jan. 12 at the Annenberg Theater; and 10 a.m. Jan. 14 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center
Cost: $15
More info: https://psfilmfest.org/film-festival-2024/film-finder/the-promised-land
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'The Promised Land' teams up Nikolaj Arcel, Mads Mikkelsen again
