Sweet Land [DVD] [NTSC]

'Sweet Land' revolves around two generations of the Torvik family, after Lars Torkiv's grandmother 'Inge' dies in 2004 he's faced with the difficult decision to either sell the family farm to a property developer or to hold onto a piece of land which means so much to his family history. He remembers back to the time when his grandfather 'Olaf' died and the story 'Inge' told of how she and 'Olaf' came to be married.
An orphan born to German parents who settled in Norway after fleeing world war one, Inge arrives America in 1920 as part of arranged marriage to meet 'Olaf', a Norwegian immigrant farmer who has settled in a small village in Minnesota. When she's met by her prospective husband he's shocked to learn the woman his Norwegian parents have sent to marry him is a German immigrant without any identity papers.
After the local minister refuses to marry them on the moral grounds that Inge is German and the local county clerk refuses to marry them due to her lack of papers, the couple are forced to live together on Olaf's farm and soon find themselves condemned by the local minister and ostracised by the entire town. Now as outcasts the pair are forced to face a harvest alone without any community help, but through the hardship the couple form a deep bond in which love develops.
Despite a horribly misleading DVD cover which makes the film seem like a cheesy made for TV romantic drama, I was really surprised as just how good a film 'Sweet Land' is. Produced on a budget of $1 million dollars this is a beautifully tender independent film, which is a very human tale chronicling the journey of two people who eventually fall in love.
The direction from `Ali Selim' is simply outstanding. Although the story is one that tells of how `Inge' and `Olaf' fell in love `Selim' cleverly tells it in such a gentle and quiet way avoiding any romance or schmaltzy moments, and at no point in the film do the couple ever come in physical contact with each other, and for a film with such a modest budget the cinematography was stunning, the colours bright and vibrant and the landscape of the Minnesota farmlands was a joy to view.
For me this was one of those rare films which I knew within five minutes of viewing that I was going to enjoy it, and not for one minute did it ever disappoint.

As other reviewers suggest, PLEASE IGNORE THE COVER!!!

This is a brilliant, touching film with a wonderful lack of schmaltz.
The characters are subtle, nuanced, and well-acted. It's the sort of film that you can't help but recommend to friends.

"Let us hope that we are preceded in this world by a love story"- Of Time and Memory.

The title is dreadful, the strapline (A love Story) is misleading and the DVD cover has an embarrassing clinch (which is not in the film). The marketing people for this movie should be shot. There are no clinches, no bedroom scenes, not even a kiss. There are no strings in the background and there is no melodrama. It is a tender evocation of a period and a place, and yes, a love story. But this is sensitive film-making, more European than American, with an interesting storyline and a measured pace which makes for a tale well told. The acting is first rate from the two leads, and Ned Beatty, Alan Cumming and Alex Kingston are on top form in supporting roles. The whole thing is believable (even if the house on the hill is rather too Norman Rockwell), compelling and a rewarding experience for the viewer. The film is not without its flaws; for example, the double framework (a man in the present remembers scenes from 30 years previous about events from 50 years before that) is cumbersome and awkward; but to my mind it deserves every one of the four stars I (and others) have given it.