Utvandrarna
(The Emigrants)

Sweden (1971): Drama

This movie may well be the only Swedish film to inspire a weekly American TV series. Director/writer Jan Troell's expansive saga deals with the Larsen family, who during the 19th century famine in Sweden emigrates to the more fertile fields of Minnesota. With painstaking detail, the director follows the Larsens as they make the perilous (and, to some of their fellow immigrants, fatal) journey by foot, steamer, train and paddle boat. The film, which originally ran 190 minutes but was pared down to 150 by its director for American consumption, earned five Academy Award^® nominations.

The Emigrants was soon after followed by a sequel, Nybyggarna (The New Land) (1972): Both films have been edited together for TV release under the title "The Emigrant Saga." The subsequent American TV series "The New Land" (1974) starred Bonnie Bedelia in the role created in The Emigrants by Liv Ullman, and Scott Thomas in the patriarch role originated by Max Von Sydow. In 1991, Sven Nykvist directed a "prequel" to The Emigrants titled The Ox. (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)

 View a clip of scenes from this film on YouTube.com.

5 nominations