There is something about a woman believing in and standing by her man that really hits me.
Sweetland is for adults that believe in love. It is for lovers that understand love is built on patience. I've always said love is about forgiveness, (being able to forgive the one you love daily for little offenses...and large), however Sweetland makes the case that people have to work hard for love. Love doesn't come easy and this story explores the many components of love, not just patience and forgiveness.
I previewed Sweetland in a small theater where an after film discussion took place. Being married once to a foreign national I had some appreciation of the characters plight. In fact during the story I grappled with how my ex-wife would have handled the hardships the character Igne had to endure. But in the end I drew no real comparisons to them as people. I found the quiet persistence of Inge as an indominble trait that would win any mans heart for life. 
The pacing of Sweetland is very important. You can't appreciate the plight of the characters without gaining a perspective of how small these people were in the world around them. The film makers tested the patience of many movie goers this night but after I got a feel for who was who in the story I settled in for a beautiful ride. Without a doubt this story is only for people that really are fond of love. Close couples will do well to see it, but casual daters may find this story to be more of an experiment in love rather that what you learn love is made up of in real life. The film makers offer this synopsis...
Sweet Land is a poignant and lyrical celebration of land, love, and the American immigrant experience.
The story begins when Lars Torvik’s grandmother Inge dies in 2004, he is faced with a decision— sell the family farm on which she lived since 1920, or cling to the legacy of the land. Seeking advice, he turns to the memory of Inge and the stories that she had passed on to him. The film then falls back to that time where she first arrives.
Inge arrives in Minnesota in 1920 to marry a young Norwegian farmer named Olaf. Her German heritage and lack of official immigration papers makes her an object of suspicion in the small town, and she and Olaf are forbidden to marry. Alone in America, with what appears no way back, Inge is adrift. Still not speaking English and hardly any Norwegian, Inge goes to live with the family of Olaf’s friend and neighbor Frandsen and his wife Brownie, where she learns the English language, American ways, and a hard-won independence. 
Igne then takes the initiative to get closer and get to know Olaf. Inge and Olaf slowly come to know each other, and against the backdrop of endless farmland and cathedral skies they fall in love, a man and woman united by the elemental forces of nature.
This is a different time and the Lutheran values are strict. Still unable to marry, they draw closer and begin the share the same home but living apart because of the values of the time. They are scorned by neighbors and disaproved of the by local minister.
It is when Olaf's friends farm is threatened by foreclosure that he takes a stand, and the community unites around the young couple. They finally accept Inge too as one of their own.
The film is based on Will Weaver’s short story A Gravestone Made of Wheat and shot on location in Southern Minnesota.
After leaving the film I couldn't help but have a greater appreciation for a time not so long ago, but long forgotten. I'm a man that believes in family values despite my modern day eye-for-an-eye underpinnings. It left me feeling happy that a time like this existed, and hopeless that women like Inge no longe walk this earth. Today women are driven to be equal to men in every way. God just didn't make us the same for a reason. And I don't mean physically. Women can be emotionally stronger than men by their patience. Men are weaker than women by their desire. In this story women prove to be stronger than men but recognize the worthiness of dedication. And that is where women of today fall short. Very few understand the value of family and dedication. This story shows that an almost total stranger put her dedication to a man to an ultimate test and she won out. It is a testimony to a better time with values worth remembering.
Be ready for a slow paced film. And outside of some birds flying against the flock and two at the end flying together to show the romantic unitedness of Olaf and Inge, I don't think you'll get any Hollywood payoff. The payoff is the story.
