Good Movie

The other night I went to a movie with a friend. We saw Sweetland, which was filmed in Minnesota - near the town of Montevideo which is where Steve's mom grew up. I have been out there many times but there really was nothing in the movie recognizeable; the entire movie was the farm, really, with no town shots.

It was really a, well, umm, sweet movie! It's the story of a mail order bride who comes from Norway to marry a Norwegian-American bachelor farmer. Turns out she is really German, though, andthat causes all kinds of worry on the part of the local Lutheran minister and some of the neighbors. They are unable to get permission to marry because it is so well known that all Germans are spies and dangerous ... never mind that this is the sweetest looking young woman you have ever seen!

I particularly enjoyed it because at the beginning there was a lot of talking in Norwegian, and they did not use subtitles. Nothing was said that couldn't be surmised from watching the actions, but Istill got a little thrill out of understanding every word, knowing that everyone else around me was simply enjoyingthe musical sounds of the language without comprehension.

Watching the neighbors and particularly the minister come to terms with accepting Inge for who she was, as opposed to which nation she was born in, was intriguing. On Carla's blog she wrote about stereotyping and making generalizations about people of other nationalities or cultures, and that was present in full force here. Honestly I didn't think the minister's character was true to life, he seemed quite mild-mannered yet strangely insistent Inge and Olaf could not marry - but then capitulated very simply and easily later in the story, without ever showing the audience any indication of an internal (or any other kind of) struggle. You would expect as a leader among his flock that it would not have been easy for him to change his viewpoint on such an important issue, but we did not see anything supporting that.

Watching Inge and Olaf develop their relationship - so cautious of social mores, yet clearly pleased with the match made through the mail - was delightful. The viewing audience gasped together when it was revealed the size of the corn field Inge and Olaf cleared by hand, and then nearly cheered when they finished the monumental task. It was easy for us to be pulled in to the charm of their relationship, the two actors did a wonderful job of taking on the personas of these two shy and very strong individuals.

Wonderful movie!