Released in 1971, Utvandrarna (The Emigrants) is a painstakingly realistic epic from Swedish director Jan Troell set in Sweden and America in the mid-19th Century. Divided roughly into three equal parts, the story follows the lives of Swedish farmers Karl Oskar and Kristina Larsen (played by the equally phenomenal Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann), their children, and a small but diverse group of people who decide to leave their homeland for the promise of a better life in America. The stories for The Emigrants and its 1972 sequel, Nybyggarna (The New Land) are based on four novels by Vilhelm Moberg.

The first third focuses on the hardships at home: backbreaking farm work in a period of drought, religious persecution for a rogue priest and his followers who refuse to take part in the corrupt church of their town, the dead end paths for the young and poor. This section establishes the earnest and solemn mood of the film with long, slow takes of the daily tasks of the peasant class. The attention to detail from farm tools to shoes, clothes, home and simple furnishings, is quite astonishing in its period authenticity. With its gradual pace, limited palette of greens, yellows and browns, as well as haphazard distribution of key events (that is, without obviously having them conform to the formula of traditional narrative), The Emigrants captures real life as one might imagine it to have felt in this particular time and place. After intense discussions, disagreements, confusion, and finally a pivotal tragic death, the group decides to leave their lives behind and sail to America.

The central chapter of the film covers the arduous boat trip. Again, surprising in its detail, gradual pace, and grim realism, the film affords a rare glimpse of what it might have been like to be one of our own ancestors in America, facing unutterable conditions (among them, hunger, disease, death, lice, tight quarters, rocking seas, and terrible smells) for 10 weeks. Perhaps for this reason alone (though there are plenty others), The Emigrants should be required viewing for anyone wishing to gain an appreciation for the sacrifices of our ancestors. Apart from shedding light on such dangerous and bittersweet passages, the story has universal appeal as vision of any painful or difficult crossing.

Also of special note throughout the film, but especially in the middle third, is the role of religious faith in the lives of the characters. Karl Oskar often curses God for the plight of his family during the drought, much to the consternation of his more typically religious wife, Kristina. On the far end of the spectrum is Danjiel, the self-made priest (Allan Edwall), a man of unwavering devotion who expects providence to guide his flock through the passage. He promises that the faithful will neither become seasick nor attract lice, a standard that naturally comes back to haunt his adherents. Potential Spoiler. Quite poignantly, the priest becomes far more human when his own wife succumbs during the sea crossing. End Spoiler

The final third takes us to America where the emigrants come face to face with their disillusionments as to what the new country would bring. With further train and steam boat journeys, the story finally takes the Larsen family to Minnesota where Karl Oskar ranges through the open space in search of a new home.


The acting from the entire ensemble is compelling, understated, and richly detailed. The cinematography is beautiful throughout, mainly consisting of exterior nature shots in the surrounding chapters and claustrophobic interiors on the boat. A rather austere chamber music score by Erik Nordgren accompanies the action, often at ironic variance with the sun-soaked vistas, and it is used sparingly and in unexpected moments.

All in all, a glorious package. Except for one major, whopping drawback: the only available version in the US is dubbed. Dubbing is cinematic crime, but it is particularly heinous in the case of The Emigrants where not only do we lose the beauty of the original Swedish, but we are faced with the complete absurdity of the emigrants speaking English to American natives, and not being understood! I hope a DVD will right this wrong, but in the meantime we are stuck with this nonsense. The dubbing also makes for a muffled soundtrack, all of which brings down my rating to 4 stars, and ensures that I will wait until a subtitled version before approaching the sequel, The New Land.


Three Notes
• The Emigrants was nominated for Academy Award Best Picture in 1972, losing to The Godfather. Liv Ullman was nominated for Best Actress, losing to Liza Minelli. Jan Troell was nominated both as director and screenwriter. Interestingly, The New Land was nominated in the same year as Best Foreign Film (losing to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie).
• Thank you to psychovant for adding this film to the database, and to metalluk for bringing my/our attention to it in a recent piece on best epics.
• I would not recommend The Emigrants for children mainly because it is very long, slow, and concerns themes that are more of interest to adults or young adults.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS