CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Sharkflei
Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
valorie_lemley
My Grandparents are of Norwegian ancestry, and their parents, homesteaded in a Norwegian populated area in North Dakota. I've been to the "farm" and never really knew how hard the life was. I had heard about the discrimination of Germans at that time, although they began in the 1890's. Hard work aside, what a beautiful life, a new frontier and God blessed as they were to have each other till death did they part. They are both buried on the farm. And the phrase Olav uses, "banking and farming don't mix" was something I heard my Grandfather say many times. I only wish I had known them, heard their stories. When I was there I saw the old place, where they are laid to rest and did little more than climb a haystack, milk a cow and a goat, and ride a horse. Bravo. What a lovely film.
glesialo
Wonderful photography and excellent actors (The main actress superb) but I can not believe that even Yankees are (were) so ridiculously puritan and narrow minded.Would any red-blooded man receive his (Incredibly beautiful and intelligent) wife-to-be without a smile or a kind word? Would he refuse to use their common language (Norwegian) with her? Could they live together in a remote farm without trying to know each other, without kissing or caressing until they are legally married?The silly plot and the slow pace at which the director tells it have made this movie very dull to me.
rooprect
This is a wonderful, artistically-shot film which, despite its sweet title, introduces a lot of subthemes about the underbelly of human nature. Presented to us as a flashback within a flashback, the story takes us back to the last century where socio/political/religious rules were hard to get around. But despite it being a period piece, we see powerful reflections of modern day.Whether we're yelling "Witch!" or "German spy!" or "Pinko Communist!" or "Muslim Terrorist!", American society has always had a love affair with xenophobia that keeps frothing to the surface every few decades. What's interesting & inspiring about this movie is that it shows how individuals can still exist within this harsh, judgemental environment. Though society may be unfair & ignorant, we needn't get depressed & cynical about it. Romance can still exist.In keeping with that theme, the story is very bright and light-hearted (though never sappy), and that's what I enjoyed most about it. The landscape is vibrant, and the director made full use of colour, unlike many period pieces that are shot in dull sepias. On the contrary, being a flashback, this film presents a somewhat dreamy, storybook image which is very nice on the eyes.The star, Elizabeth Reaser, is so convincing as the European immigrant, and the way she unleashes rapid volleys of German and Swedish(?) is so authentic that I was certain she was a real-life German who couldn't speak any English. Imagine my surprise when I found out she's a Michigan girl. Her performance alone is worth the price of admission. If all mail-order-brides were like her, I'd be tempted to send away for a half dozen.
Turfseer
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.
