The Emigrants/The New Land

Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell's epics The Emigrants and The New Land, both based on novels by author Vilhelm Moberg, follow a farming family's migration from a rural Swedish province to America in the mid-19th century. Bergman regulars Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann star as Karl Oskar and Kristina, a couple who uproot their family to pursue a fresh start in the New World (along with several other villagers) after enduring poverty, hunger, and the tragic death of a child. Released in 1971, The Emigrants, which was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture, details the unrest that prompts the move, the physically and emotionally taxing journey across the Atlantic to New York City, and the arduous cross-country trek to Minnesota where the group settles. The New Land, which followed in 1972, charts the lives of the new Americans up through the early 1890s. The two films, each running over three hours in length, are masterworks. Troell is a meticulous and patient filmmaker, capturing details within the environment and subtleties from his actors (Von Sydow and Ullmann again prove why they are Sweden's greatest thespians) that combine to make the films seem lived-in and authentic. Handsomely re-mastered, this Criterion double bill also includes an introduction by critic John Simon, a conversation between film scholar Peter Cowie and Troell, the 2005 retrospective “making-of” documentary To Paint with Pictures, and an essay by critic Terrence Rafferty. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (P. Morehart)