Utvandrarna and Nybyggarna The Swedish film Utvandrarna was shown in the U.S. with the title The Emigrants (1971). The film Nybyggarna was shown with the title The New Land (1972). Both movies were co-written and directed by Jan Troell. Troell was also the cinematographer and the editor of both. (Sounds crazy, but he did it.) The films are actually one long film, broken in half so that each could be seen separately. As can be guessed from the titles, the first film sets up the plot by showing us that, despite intelligence and hard work, many families couldn't make a living on the small plots of land in Sweden. The second film follows the family from Sweden to the United States. The situation for them in the U.S. isn't that much better when they arrive, but they have reasonable hope that they will succeed. Max von Sydow plays the husband, Karl Oskar, and Liv Ullmann plays his wife, Kristina. Both are extraordinarily talented. In addition, Von Sydow is handsome, and Ullmann is impossibly beautiful. The remainder of the cast is strong, and the acting by the children is wonderful. These movies will work better on the large screen, but we had to settle for the small screen. Both films carry very high IMDb rating of 8.0. I gave each a 10.

The second half of Jan Tröll's huge epic film goes beyond the expectations of even those who recognize the greatness of the first part (THE EMIGRANTS). This is a film that attempts to show most of an entire life, and it succeeds. While specific in the period, setting and character backgrounds, it's ultimately a universal experience. We see the great struggle of human existence played out against hardship, joy, horror and tragedy. All of it told through acting, directing and a poetic visual style that drive home the themes, and haunt the memory long afterward. The cast is headed by two of Ingmar Bergman's best-known and lauded stars (Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow, as Kristina and Karl Oscar) along with an astonishing young actor, Eddie Axberg, as Robert.Great moments come and go, sometimes lingering on the screen, sometimes gone in a flash. Tröll spares the viewer nothing as far as life's harsh realities go. He takes chances too. Midway through THE NEW LAND, we are shown a lengthy flashback of Robert's harrowing ordeal when he and a friend leave Minnesota to find gold in California. Things go terribly wrong, and the sequence can resemble the writing of Cormac McCarthy in its grim poetry--told mostly without dialog and a percussion-only score. Not many directors would have risked it, but he sequence adds immeasurably to Robert's tragic character. In the end, this is Karl Oscar's story, with Max von Sydow in what could be his greatest role. All the wonder and sadness of life is in his performance, and up there on the screen. This is a great film by any standard.

Swedish screenwriter, film editor, cinematographer and director Jan Troell's fourth feature film which he edited, photographed and co- wrote with Swedish screenwriter and producer Bengt Forslund, is an adaptation of the novels "The Settlers" (1956) and "The Last Letter Home" (1959) by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg (1898-1973) which is the last two parts of his tetralogy, "The Emigrants suite" (1949-1959). It premiered in Sweden, was shot on locations in Sweden and USA and is a Swedish production which was produced by Bengt Forslund, is the second and last part of a two-part film and was preceded by "The Emigrants" (1971) and was produced by Bengt Forslund. It tells the story about Karl-Oskar Nilsson and Kristina Johansdotter who after having emigrated from Småland, Sweden with many other Swedish emigrants, travels from New York City, USA to an area in Taylor Falls, Minnesota, USA. Karl-Oskar finds and claims a piece of land for his family at a place called Ki-Chi-Saga and there they settle after saying goodbye to his brother Robert and his friend Arvid. Acutely and engagingly directed by Jan Troell, this period drama set against the backdrop of America during the late 1850s and 1860s, draws an extensive and gripping portrayal of a group of Swedish emigrants who travels to the United States to make new and better lives for themselves and a compassionate portrayal of a relationship between a peasant and his wife who are striving to support their children and themselves in a foreign country during the American Civil War. While notable for its poignant production design by Swedish art director P.A. Lundgren (1911-2002), the brilliant cinematography by Jan Troell and the fine costume design by Swedish costume designer Ulla-Britt Söderlund (1943-1985), this character- driven and dialog-driven epic examines themes like family relations, interpersonal relations, friendship, poverty, religion, cultural differences, love, courage and dignity.With the natural surroundings playing an important and symbolic part of the story and depicting various character portrayals, this reverent sequel becomes an in-depth study of character, has a distinct atmosphere which is emphasized by the naturalistic milieu depictions and the efficient score by Swedish composers Bengt Ernryd and Georg Oddner (1923-2007) and is impelled and reinforced by the empathic and involving acting performances by Swedish actors Max von Sydow and Eddie Axberg, Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and Swedish actress and singer Monica Zetterlund (1937-2005). A finely narrated and illuminating historic drama which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 45th Academy Awards in 1973 and gained, among other awards, the NBR Award for Best Actress Liv Ullmann at the National Board of Review Awards in 1973, the NSFC Award for Best Actress Liv Ullmann at the National Society of Film Critics Awards in 1974 and the Guldbagge Award for Best Actor Eddie Axberg and Best Supporting Actress Monica Zetterlund at the Guldbagge Awards in 1972.

This is an extraordinary film, which I gave 10 out of 10 even if Warner Brothers, the film's theatrical distributor, cut the film in half for its American release. If ever this film (and its predecessor, "The Emigrants") makes it to DVD, I sincerely hope those 102 minutes are restored, so that I can at last see the film that Jan Troell intended for me to see.As it looks on video, "The New Land" is still magnificent - its depiction of Swedish immigrants settling in frontier Minnesota outdoing every Western ever made. Be sure to look for the scene that George Lucas stole wholesale where Max von Sydow slaughters an ox and places his freezing son inside it during a snowstorm.