A Fortunate Man

(2018)

★ 6.7 IMDb · 177 votes

Genres: Drama

Year: 2018

Runtime: 167 мин

Country: Denmark, Austria

Director: Bille August

Cast: Esben Smed, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, Benjamin Kitter, Julie Christiansen, Rasmus Bjerg, Ole Lemmeke, Sara Viktoria, Sophie Marie Jeppesen, Tommy Kenter, Tammi Øst

Plot

A gifted engineer flees his austere roots to pursue wealth and success among Copenhagen's elite. As he rises through the ranks of society, the pride propelling him threatens to be his ruin.

In the late 19th century, Peter Sidenius is an ambitious young man from a devout Christian family in Western Denmark, who travels to the Danish capital of Copenhagen to study engineering, rebelling against his clergyman father. He comes into contact with the intellectual circles of a wealthy, Jewish family and seduces the elder daughter, Jakobe. Per, as he now calls himself, conceives a large-scale engineering project including the construction of a series of canals in his native Jutland, and lobbies for its construction. But just as Per seems to be about to make his dreams come true, his pride stands in the way.