MovieChat Forums > Sweet Land (2008) Discussion > Lars' father, or Inge's son

Lars' father, or Inge's son

posted 17 years ago by imgeorg
6 replies | jump to latest

One thing I would like to determine, perhaps from the short story, is why Olav's and Inge's son is so much of a non-issue throughout. We see him only briefly, with his wife, at the beginning, when it is evident that Lars is torn between obedience and his love for his grandmother and the land. He and his grandmother have a bond, and it's unclear whether Inge has a similar bond with her son.

The nature of a short story is that it is, well, SHORT, and not a lot of words are available for fleshing out a lot of detail. I'm curious if Lars' father's apparent disconnect is at least explained.

[–] cowgoesmoo 17 years ago

SPOILER......

If you intend to read the short story, read no further....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
You are correct about the short story - it can be read in 15 minutes so there is very little character development outside that of Olaf and Inge. Furthermore, in the short story the roles are reversed and it is Inge who dies first.

It's been nearly a year since I've read the short story and I've loaned the book to a friend who never returned it, so I hope I'm not leading you astray with a faulty memory, but as I recall Olaf and Inge had two or three sons who assisted with Inge's burial, but that was about it - there's no deeper subtext from the book to explain. While their children were non-entities in the short story, grandchildren weren't mentioned at all - the grandson and his wife were tacked on in the movie.

Given where the story was headed, spending time at the beginning of the film to develop the relationship between Olaf/Inge and their children wouldn't advance the plot and might even have been a detour. Still, I'm curious what may have ended up on the cutting room floor.

[–] wytqueen 17 years ago

I listened to the commentary on the DVD and I think they said that the beginning ('60's & 70's) was cut from 30 mins down to 9 mins. That's a lot of film on the cutting room floor.

[–] DroverChicago 17 years ago

** SPOILER ALERT **

Olaf and Inge's son is irrelevant because the point of the story is to hope that your life has been fulfilling enough that its story will survive through multiple generations. This point is driven home at the end when Lars and his family are burying Inge. Lars' young daughter (Olaf & Inge's great-granddaughter) asks "what if I don't remember her?" and Lars' response implies that the story of Olaf and Inge as he remembers it (which is the point of view from which this story is told) will be passed down for another generation.

[–] kc1177 17 years ago

You have stated this perfectly. I too was struck by how little of the second generation we saw and all the unanswered questions, but it doesn't matter. The point (of the movie) was to show the grandson's connection to Inge. I too found it thrilling-as someone mentioned elsewhere, maybe not even in this thread, how you could follow the gist of the unsubtitled portions in other languages. Good film making! Likewise Olaf and Inge say very little to each other at times-Olaf almost nothing-yet you follow their emotional journey easily

[–] jmatrixrenegade 17 years ago

If generation conflict things don't matter since the larger pt is personal ("your life"), I'm unclear why the great-granddaughter is there at all.

It is an interesting question -- I guess I should read the short story! -- even if it is deemed irrevelant to the movie as a whole. It is sometimes interesting to consider the minor characters we see so little of ... like the children and grandchildren in "The Notebook." The movie also made me think of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!" in which different members of the family / generations reacted to things differently. There too it would be interesting to see a bit more of the other characters' p.o.v.

[–] Helena727 9 years ago

I realize that you're probably not thinking about the movie anymore :) , but just in case:

I think the point is that this incredible tie to / relationship with the land will somehow be passed down even as the connection from its homesteader (Olaf) to future generations (the great-granddaughter he never met) thins -- and even as the financial incentive to sell the land increases tremendously. When she grows up, she'll presumably pass that ethos to her children, and they'll have had zero contact with Lars/Inge. It's about the depth of roots, about the importance of non-monetary stuff trumping money.

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."