THE NEW LAND Movie Review

Nybyggarna

In the second half of director Jan Troell's epic about an impoverished Swedish family's mid-19th-century emigration to America (the first half of the story was told in The Emigrants), the family settles in their new home in Minnesota, where a different but equally difficult struggle lies ahead. As you settle into the opening scenes of this film, even if it's a year after seeing The Emigrants (as it was for me) you feel an immediate and surprisingly powerful wave of emotion. You know these people, and it's a joy to be with them again. Part of the joy of experiencing The New Land also comes from the sheer pleasure of a big but controlled narrative, in which a huge and deeply significant story is being told, but not in platitudes. This is an epic that reveals itself gradually, scene by scene, always remaining on an intimate, focused, human level, so that when the movie's inevitable last revelation comes—and it's one that will hit home with any American who's descended from ancestors who spoke a language other than our own—it's only then that we fully grasp the magnitude of the story that we've seen. Though they're one gigantic story, The Emigrants and The New Land were designed to be seen separately, with, perhaps, a bit of time between them. Like most great art they will stay with you permanently, providing a kind of equilibrium and perspective that will not fade, regardless of where you or your family came from, and regardless of where you're headed. A masterpiece.

NEXT STOP … The Emigrants, The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II

1973 (PG) 161m/C SW Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Allan Edwall, Eddie Axberg, Hans Alfredson, Halvar Bjork, Peter Lindgren, Monica Zetterlund, Pierre Lindstedt, Per Oscarsson; D: Jan Troell; W: Jan Troell, Bengt Forslund; C: Jan Troell; M: Bengt Ernryd, George Oddner. National Board of Review Awards ‘73: Best Actress (Ullmann); National Society of Film Critics Awards ‘73: Best Actress (Ullmann). VHS WAR, MOV