The Emigrants is a 1971 Swedish drama film directed and co-written by Jan Troell, and starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Monica Zetterlund, and Pierre Lindstedt. It and its 1972 sequel, The New Land (Nybyggarna), which were produced concurrently, are based on Vilhelm Moberg's The Emigrants, a series of novels about poor Swedes who emigrate from Småland, Sweden, in the mid-19th century and make their home in Minnesota. This film adapts the first two of the four novels (The Emigrants (1949) and Unto a Good Land (1952)), which depict the hardships the emigrants experience in Sweden and on their journey to America.

Plot

In 1844, the Nilsson family lives on a small farm in Korpamoen in Ljuder Parish in the Swedish province of Småland. Eldest son, Karl Oskar, runs the farm after his father, Nils, is injured. Karl Oskar marries Kristina Johansdotter. In the following years, Karl Oskar and Kristina have four children, Anna, Johan, Märta and Harald. The family struggles with rock-filled fields, poor weather, and bad harvests, leaving them hungry and in debt. Kristina rebukes Karl Oskar for his irreligious attitude, partially blaming it for causing their problems.

Awards