57. Max Von Sydow as Lasse Karlsson 
      Pelle the Conqueror (1987)

As Lasse Karlsson, a Swedish widower who emigrates to Denmark with his young son, Von Sydow is the human equivalent of a workhorse one cart away from the glue factory. You can almost hear his bones creak as he moves wearily across the stark, windswept landscape. Yet for every humiliation Lasse endures without fighting back, Von Sydow never lets him become pathetic. Even during his most crushing moments of disappointment, there are flashes of hope behind his cool blue eyes that life will be better for his beloved son. It’s a performance so quietly compelling that it earned Von Sydow a Best Actor Oscar nomination, a rarity in a foreign-language film.

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