In the late 1850s, the elderly emigrant Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle arrive to the Danish island of Bornholm from Skåne County, in southern Sweden. Lasse tells Pelle a better life awaits them in Denmark after the death of Pelle's mother, and seeks work. He immediately finds it difficult to find employment, given his advanced age and Pelle's youth. The most they can find is work at a large farm, where they are generally mistreated by the managers.