THE EMIGRANTS Movie Review

Utvandrarna

In the middle of the 19th century, horrendously impoverished living conditions couple with severe religious and moral intolerance led more than a quarter of Sweden's population to leave their country, and a vast proportion of those came to America. Swedish director Jan Troell set out in the early 1970s to create a gigantic epic in two parts that would tell of this extraordinary moment in his nation's history; it would also, of course, be the story of an equally significant moment in this country's history. Released in 1971, the first of these films, The Emigrants, portrays the day-to-day struggle for existence of the Nilssons: Karl Oskar (Max von Sydow), his wife Kristina (Liv Ullmann), and Karl Oskar's young brother Robert (Eddie Axberg). The Nilsson farm is a physically magnificent setting, and Troell never pretends this isn't so. Even when a hungry child dies of eating raw grain, Troell refuses to make the physical setting anything less than majestic; Troell wants to be sure that when it is time for the family to finally pull up stakes and begin the long, dangerous voyage to America, we understand that they are not simply leaving behind poverty. They are leaving their home because they are suffering, but they also suffer in leaving it behind. The ocean voyage itself is a harrowing nightmare, and their early American experience doesn't bring them the paradise they've imagined; how could it? Nevertheless, they move on, and their journey will come to a profoundly moving conclusion in the second half of this magnificent epic, which is titled The New Land. (European prints of The Emigrants run over three hours, but the director shortened the film for America to just under two-and-a-half hours. Whatever you do, steer clear of the English-dubbed version.) Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Adapted Screenplay (it was based on Vilhelm Moberg's novels), and Foreign Language Film.

NEXT STOP … The New Land, The Ox, The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II

1972 (PG) 151m/C SW Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Allan Edwall, Eddie Axberg, Svenolof Bern, Aina Alfredsson, Monica Zetterlund, Pierre Lindstedt; D: Jan Troell; W: Jan Troell, Bengt Forslund; C: Jan Troell; M: Erik Nordgren. New York Film Critics Awards '72: Best Actress (Ullmann); Nominations: Academy Awards '72: Best Actress (Ullmann), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director (Troell), Best Picture. VHS WAR, MOV