The Emigrants

What a pure and strong cinema. Sweden's Neo Realism! No wonder why this is Bergman's favourite!

Jan Troell's epic chronicle was Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actress and Writing as well as Best Foreign Language Film ... and yet, very few that I know ever bothered to watch it. Which is a damn shame, for Sydow and Ullmann are both on fine form. I actually prefer it to the also good and similarly drab Scandinavian classic 'Pelle the Conqueror'. So do check it out whenever you've got 3 hours on your hands (double that if you want the see the story concluded in the second part).

This is excellent.

An incredible, thrilling three hours of masterful historical storytelling. Troell puts Sydow and Ullman to better use than Bergman ever has, in a highly convincing, naturalistic and full-bodied portrayal of 19th century Swedish peasants migrating to America, an apparently loyal adaptation of Vilhelm Moberg's novels. Despite the hardships depicted, The Emingrants never gets heavy or sentimental, balancing tragedies with moments of hope and elegant humor. It's a masterpiece.

Brilliant adaptation, and a fine movie in its own right too. Wouldn't necessarily have been a worse one with about 15-20 minutes trimmed, and it's very obviously part 1 of a 6-hour movie, but there you go. And von Sydow and Ullman head up a cast who are all determined to make this their shining moment (if by "shining" you mean "covered in mud and grime").

This movie is slow. Slow. Slow. But that's also required from the story and it works here beautifully. It lingers in places and events to show us how hard the difficulties hit this Swedish family and what kind of events prompt their decision of leaving their home in order to seek for a better fortune. The journey over the sea made me feel genuinely sick at times. There are moments of beauty and warmth in between the despair, though, so it doesn't wallow entirely in misery. Feels realistic!

A group of poor folk with imperfect knowledge prefer to become pilgrims to a barely known destination than to remain in a place that seems to deny them the conditions of either subsistence or existence. With a focus on historical and sociological detail, this is almost a kind of documentary fiction of the kind Peter Watkins would perfect (and take in other directions) with EDVARD MUNCH (1974). But Troell has the benefit of two very fine lead actors.

A beautiful snoozefest

83.500

The migrant condition is also the story of social strata, and Troell looks upon the plight of agrarian toil with both humorous empathy for their quaint understanding of the world, and reverence for their proximity to the earth. It is a noble theme mitigated with straightforward, documentarian simplicity, an avoidance of grandeur and insistence on drawn out, emotional authenticity.

Eu sei que é um épico, mas mesmo assim é demasiado longo, apesar de seu tempo ser proporcional ao seu realismo. DVD Obras-primas do Cinema Jan Troell

Makes me want to move to Sweden.

86.250