When his wife dies, Lasse takes his 12-year-old son, Pelle, from their home in Sweden to Denmark in search of a better life.

When his wife dies, Lassefar (Max von Sydow) takes his 12-year-old son, Pelle (Pelle Hvenegaard), from their home in Sweden to Denmark in search of a better life. Signing on as laborers at a large farm, father and son undergo numerous trials, including prejudice against immigrants and run-ins with those more powerful than themselves in both the physical and the social sense. Over the course of a year, young Pelle learns what it takes to survive in a harsh and unforgiving world.—yusufpiskin

Following the death of his wife, weary Lasse Karlsson leaves everything behind in poverty-stricken Skåne County, Sweden, to start anew in the Danish island of late 1850s Bornholm with his twelve-year-old son, Pelle. However, the dream of a better life turns sour on arrival, and when the father and son finally manage to land a job as swineherds at the estate of the wealthy landowner, Kongstrup, they soon realise that they are at the bottom of the social system. As Pelle is forced into maturity, learning how to survive the inhuman living conditions, a noble idea begins to form: earn enough money to travel to exciting, far-off America and, eventually, conquer the unknown but fascinating world out there.—Nick Riganas

The end of the 19th century. A boat filled with Swedish emigrants comes to the Danish island of Bornholm. Among them are Lasse and his son Pelle who move to Denmark to find work. They find employment at a large farm, but are treated as the lowest form of life. Pelle starts to speak Danish but is still harassed as a foreigner. But none of them wants to give up their dream of finding a better life than the life they left in Sweden.—Mattias Thuresson