Utvandrarna (The Emigrants). 1971. Sweden. Directed by Jan Troell. Screenplay by Troell, Bengt Forslund, based on books by Vilhelm Moberg. With Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Monica Zetterlund, Pierre Lindstedt. Digital restoration courtesy Swedish Film Institute. In Swedish; English subtitles. 191 min.
Based on Vilhelm Moberg’s mid-19th-century novels about Swedish emigration to the United States, Jan Troell’s epic two-part journey—starring Swedish screen legends Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann—of a family’s travels and attempts to settle in a new, unknown world is one of the most realistic, brutal portrayals of the sacrifices, hardships, and obstacles of the life of immigrants as they look for a better life away from a home that only offers meager survival.