Scandinavia around 1900: After the death of his wife, a farmer and his 12-year-old son leave impoverished Sweden for Denmark to find a better life. But on the estate where the two end up, they are degraded and exploited. But Pelle also makes a new friend who awakens the urge to see far-off lands in him.

The adaptation of a novel by Martin Andersen NexØ won the Oscar as well as the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1988.