Utvandrarna – and – Nybyggarna
English titles: The Emigrants – and – The New Land
Genre: pioneer drama
With: Max von Sydow (Karl Oskar Nilsson), Liv
Ullmann (Kristina), Eddie Axberg (Robert Nilsson), Allan Edwall (Danjel
Andreasson, Kristina’s uncle), Monica Zetterlund (Ulrika), Pierre Lindstedt
(Arvid), Hans Alfredson (Jonas Petter), Ulla Smidje (Inga-Lena, Danjel's wife),
Eva-Lena Zetterlund (Elin, Ulrika's daughter), Gustaf Färingborg (Provost
Brusander), Åke Fridell (Aron), Halvar Björk (Anders Månsson), Tom C. Fouts
(Pastor Jackson)
Director: Jan
Troell
Screenplay:
Bengt Forslund and Jan Troell (based on Vilhelm Moberg’s novel)
Release: 1971
and 1972 respectively
Studio: Svensk
Filmindustri, Warner Bros. Pictures
Rating: PG
MBiS score: 8.7/10 (for both movies)
‟It will be better once we get to America.”
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Story-line: Småland,
Sweden, circa 1844. When his father becomes an invalid, Karl Oskar gets married
and takes over the farm but eventually realizes that it will never produce enough
for a growing family. Robert, his younger brother, leaves home searching for
another way of life, is forced to work as a farmhand and is badly mistreated by
his employer Aron. Uncle Danjel and his small congregation – who have chosen to
worship God outside the established Church – are subjected to religious
persecution. All of them will come to one conclusion: that Sweden has turned
its back on them and that a better life awaits in North America.
Pluses: powerhouse
acting by Max von Sydow (a tireless, impetuous Karl Oskar) and Liv Ullmann (the
resilient, often worried Katrina) but also by Eddie Axberg (the intellectual,
likeable Robert) and all cast members, adept, no-frills direction, a logical,
fair-minded and gripping screenplay, superb cinematography, authentic-looking
production values and a spare, varied and functional musical score.
Minuses: each
film clocks in at more than 3 hours so it would be wise to watch them in
several segments. Be warned that THE NEW LAND contains one very gruesome scene
toward the end and that its conclusion is not easy to watch.
Comments: in these evocative, epic but also bleak movies, Jan Troell has given us a rare and valuable glimpse into the immigrant experience and frontier life from the 1840s to the 1890s. You will see how huge a gamble it was for Europeans to cross the Atlantic on hopes and hearsay and, from the very moment they set foot in America, how they struggled through tragedies and disappointments, adapted to a new culture and tried to reach some kind of understanding with First Nations at a particularly turbulent time in history. These films also immortalize another great collaboration between Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, two of the brightest stars ever to grace the silver screen anywhere. THE EMIGRANTS and THE NEW LAND – a huge, ‟Bergmanesque” accomplishment for Jan Troell as director, writer, cinematographer and editor – garnered six Oscar nominations and were rewarded with three Golden Globes.
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