Sweet Land

Yesterday afternoon I went to see the movie "Sweet Land" with my friend Jacquie. This is a movie about a young German woman, Inge, who immigrated to Minnesota in the early 1920s, to marry a young Norwegian immigrant, Olaf. Due to Inge's German heritage and lack of appropriate papers, she is not immediately accepted by the small farming community or the church, which will not perform their marriage. Through all the hardship these two virtual strangers fall in love, and their love story is as sweet as the land that Olaf has cultivated.

The story is presented as a memory of Inge and Olaf's grandson in the year 2004, after the death of Inge. He is faced with the very real challenge of keeping the land that his grandparents lived on, or selling it to a developer at a large profit.

I just loved this movie - the scenery and cinematography is so beautiful, and the actors give understated but powerful performances. I guess my interest in genealogy makes me predisposed to early American immigrant experiences, especially those of the Midwest. The love story between Olaf and Inge itself is really beautiful. There is a very poignant line that comes on the screen in the very beginning of the movie:

Let us all hope we are preceded in this world by a love story.

Go see it if you can!