The Emigrants

An epic drama about immigration to America, The Emigrants, 1972, (Utvandrarna) is one of few films that tell of immigration from the perspective of a foreign country. Set in Sweden and Minnesota, it chronicles the life of a poor Swedish family and their journey through the decision making process and subsequent journey to make a new life in America. This film is directed by Jan Troell and starring Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, and based upon a series of books, Upon a Good Land by author Vilhelm Moberg.

Set in Sweden in the 1900's, The Emigrants tells the story of a group of farmers and one family in particular, who are very poor and lead a harsh life. Barely surviving, they decide to immigrate to America after tragedy strikes their family. The film traces their journey across the globe to the New World and across America to where they finally settle in Minnesota. It is a story of immigration from Sweden to America told from a Swedish perspective and a lot of attention to detail.

• Max von Sydow as Karl Oskar

• Liv Ullmann as Kristina

• Eddie Axberg as Robert Nilsson

• Sven-Olof Bern as Nils

• Aina Alfredsson as Marta

• Allan Edwall as Danjel

• Monica Zetterlund as Ulrika

• Pierre Lindstedt as Arvid

• Halvar Bjork as Anders

"...infinitely absorbing and moving...a very rare film" — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19730115/REVIEWS/301150301/1023

"a stately, pictorially romantic chronicle" — Vincent Canby, The New York Times http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A00EFD6133FE73ABC4D51DFBF668389669EDE

"The Emigrants, Jan Troell's masterpiece about the other side of immigration, is a harsh, sometimes brutal film about a group of Swedes who emigrate to the US for many of the reasons we've heard about; we just haven't really seen it like this before." — Michael W. Phillips, Jr, Goatdog's Movieshttp://goatdog.com/moviePage.php?movieID=731

"Uncommitted, tedious, and often dishonest..." — Dave Kehr, Chicago Readerhttp://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-emigrants/Film?oid=1065988