Sometimes it is a joy to sit back and watch something unfold before you like a great novel, transporting you to a time long ago in a place far away. Best Foreign Language Film of 1988 Oscar-winner (among a host of awards) "Pelle The Conqueror" ("Pelle erobreren") is just the kind of satisfying film experience we crave - beautiful, intelligent and universal in its appeal. Based on a series of novels by Martin Nexo, the Swedish/Danish coproduction is deliberately-paced by director Bille August, beautifully designed by Anna Asp and magnificently photographed by Jorgen Persson.

At the farm Pelle befriends a boy his age - a deformed boy who is the bastard son of Kornstrup. Pelle also befriends Erik (Bjorn Granath), a 30-ish man with two years left of service on the farm before he earns his freedom and the money for his passage to America, and the worlds beyond he intends to conquer. Meanwhile his father Lasse is seeking a wife, with the simple dream of having coffee under the sheets on Sunday. He has congress with a woman whose sea captain husband is thought to have been lost at sea, and with a farm woman who at first rebuffs him because he is old and no longer 'dangerous'. Throughout the film there is the constant reminder that harsh conditions foster harsh behaviour. The foreman of the farm hands, played by Erik Passke, is a man who has retained his feral senses and is a brutal sadist, and his son is following in the father's footsteps - during a savage standoff the foreman has fortune smile at him, but frown upon the unrestrained world-conqueror Erik; the Kongstrups have their problems, which result in an act giving Mrs. Kongstrup (Astrid Villaume) the revenge she has so desperately desires - and also giving her the husband she wants; Max Von Sydow, an extremely intelligent actor, plays Lasse, a simple, uneducated man aware of his short-comings but willing to tough out his harsh life all the same - there is no hint in Lasse that he is anything more than a man struggling in a harsh and wild landscape to bring his son to manhood. Pelle Hvenegaard is a wonder as young Pelle - one of the best performances ever by a child in a film; Pelle has a greater range of emotions to portray than is usually given a child, and he executes them all as if they were fully a part of him, and not coaxed from off-camera by the director. An amazing amount of detail went into the absolutely convincing portrait of a time and place far removed from today. August has the good sense to bring no attention to his style, and to allow the substance of the human drama to carry the 2 1/2 hours of its running time - the camera moves only when necessary, and the staging and editing are pure classic film grammar. Anna Asp's production deisgn is simple yet elegant - from the squalor of the barn which is home to Lasse and Pelle to the ornate finery of the Kongstrup mansion - as are the costumes by Kicki Ilander, Gitte Kolvig and Birthe Qualmann. Cinematographer Jorgen Persson's compositions are beathtaking, making the landscape and the weather equal characters in the drama. The editing by Janus Balleskov Jansen is precise, and the score by Stefan Nilsson lends grace and dignity to the proceedings.

Picture: Anchor Bay offers a stunningly beautiful anamorphic 1.78 transfer of this gorgeous film. The exquisite color palette is redered accurately, black level is excellent, and there is no hint of edge-enhancement or pixelization to be seen. The compositions remain as they should be seen, reminiscent of great European paintings infused with movement - for this show the letterboxing is mandatory. One of the most film-like DVD transfers I've seen, period. Sound: Both the original Danish language track and an English-dubbed track are offered in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The sound is quite good and engrossing, and the dubbing on the English language track is extremely well-done (due, in part, to Von Sydow doing his own dubbing). It would be nice to one day have the original people involved toeword the sound to a 5.1 mix, buit the sound offered here is quite good nonetheless.

The original U.S. theatrical trailer.

This film is a pleasure, and Anchor Bay has given it a perfect presentation. While it would be nice to have more extras (a commentary track would have been wonderful) the film itself stands on its own as a completely satisfying experience, and this is a must-see for film lovers of all kinds. As is often the case these days with DVD releases of catalogue titles, let's hope that this DVD becomes popular enough to allow Anchor Bay to revisit it with a special edition one day.