Utvandrarna (1971)

Director:

Jan Troell

Writers:

Bengt Forslund (writer)
Vilhelm Moberg (novels)
(more)

Release Date:

8 March 1971 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

a new land...a new hope...a new dream

Plot:

In the middle of the 19th century, Kristina and Karl-Oskar live in a small rural village in Smaaland (southern Sweden)...

Plot Keywords:

19th Century | Emigrant | Emigration | Religious Intolerance | 1850s

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins

Cast

Max von Sydow	...	Karl Oskar
Liv Ullmann	...	Kristina
Eddie Axberg	...	Robert Nilsson
Sven-Olof Bern	...	Nils
Aina Alfredsson	...	Marta
Allan Edwall	...	Danjel
Monica Zetterlund	...	Ulrika
Pierre Lindstedt	...	Arvid
Hans Alfredson	...	Jonas Petter
Ulla Smidje	...	Danjel's wife
Eva-Lena Zetterlund	...	Elin, Ulrika's daughter
Gustaf Färingborg	...	The Vicar
Åke Fridell	...	Aron
Agneta Prytz	...	Fina Kajsa
Halvar Björk	...	Anders
Arnold Alfredsson	...	Verger
Bror Englund	...	Mans Jakob
Tom C. Fouts	...	Pastor Jackson
Peter Høimark	...	Second mate
Erik Johansson	...	Captain Lorentz
Staffan Liljander	...	Landberg
Göran Lundin	...	First mate
Ditte Martinsson	...	Child
Lasse Martinsson	...	Child
Pelle Martinsson	...	Child
Annika Nyhammar	...	Child
Yvonne Oppstedt	...	Child
Bruno Sörwing	...	Child
Linn Ullmann	...	Child

Directed by
Jan Troell

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bengt Forslund		writer
Vilhelm Moberg		novels "Utvandrarna" and "Invandrarna"
Jan Troell		writer

Produced by
Bengt Forslund	....	producer

Original Music by
Erik Nordgren

Cinematography by
Jan Troell

Film Editing by
Jan Troell

Art Direction by
P.A. Lundgren

Costume Design by
Ulla-Britt Söderlund

Makeup Department
Cecilia Drott	....	makeup artist
Bengt Ottekil	....	wig maker

Production Management
Lennart Blomkvist	....	unit manager
Suzanne Dansereau	....	assistant production manager: USA
Lotti Ekberg	....	assistant production manager
Curt L. Malmsten	....	production manager

Art Department
Peter Høimark	....	props
Jimmy Leavens	....	assistant props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Eddie Axberg	....	sound
Berndt Frithiof	....	sound mixer
Sten Norlén	....	sound engineer
Björn Öberg	....	sound
Tommy Sundqvist	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Ove Alström	....	still photographer
Sture Arelind	....	electrician
Georg Engstrand	....	electrician
Rolf Holmquist	....	assistant camera
Dick Kehl	....	electrician: USA
Staffan Liljander	....	assistant camera
Stig Limér	....	grip
Pierre Rydberg	....	grip
Björn Ryd	....	lighting technician
Lasse Sandgren	....	grip

Other crew
Katinka Faragó	....	continuity clerk
Georg Oddner	....	editing counsel
Jan Persson	....	editing counsel

Production Companies

• Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (dubbed version)

Also Known As:

The Emigrants (USA)

Runtime:

191 min | Germany:182 min | USA:151 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-8 | Norway:12 (1972) | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

Jan Troell and Wilhelm Moberg had a disagreement whether the actors should use dialects. Troell wanted all actors to speak Småländska (the dialect spoken in county Småland where the story takes place) while Moberg wanted no dialects. As a compromise Karl-Oskar and Kristina speak with a dialect while many of the others such as Robert and Arvid only speak with a very light accent.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: On the train west a character shows an American silver coin and yells out it has "In God We Trust" on it. The scene is the 1850s and the motto was not added to American silver coins until 1867.

Quotes:

The Vicar: No one is allowed to give communion unless they are ordained.
Danjel: As far as I know, nowhere in the Bible does it say that Our Lord Jesus was ordained.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Nybyggarna (1972)

A realistic look at the pursuit of the American dream

When Jan Troell's "The Emigrants" was released in the U.S. in 1972, it opened to excellent reviews and received the honor of being one of the few foreign-language films to receive a Best Picture nomination. It didn't win anything, though, and seems to have been forgotten over the years. Perhaps this is because the public has since found other Swedish films to be more noteworthy, in particular the works of Bille August and the later works of Ingmar Bergman.

Sad to say, because "The Emigrants" is a film that closely examines two very different cultures in an effective and insightful way. A diverse group of Swedish peasants (among them a married couple, a priest, a prostitute, and a young upstart) endure back-breaking labor in their homeland to little profit. They decide to move to the states after being influenced by the exaggerated stories spread abroad (everyone has more than enough food, everyone is filthy rich, etc.). The audience sympathizes with them not just because they endure so much in Sweden, but also because they believe the stories they hear about frontier life in America. Yes, they will obviously have to strive and struggle to survive in their new home, but they are all the more admirable because of their adherence to the American dream.

"The Emigrants" is harsh and often unrelenting in the straightforward way it depicts the realities encountered by the Swedish settlers. The scenes where they travel across the ocean in a small, cramped, and diseased ship are appropriately claustrophobic and terrifying. Later, the family at the center of the story threatens to break up when Liv Ullmann's character, a fragile young mother, loses track of her daughter while hurrying to board a steamboat.

Although most of the characters were better developed in the sequel to this film, "The New Land," Troell's story is very moving in its sincere depiction of how outsiders came to this country to pursue their hopes and dreams.