The New Land

Continuing the grubby realism of 'The Emigrants', the conclusion sees Sydow, Ullmann et al settle in Minnesota. It's a fantastic yarn, and the two actors are even more phenomenal than one has come to expect. It's also a very dark story. One shot in particular, a slow backward zoom, shows the result of one of the most gruesomely evil acts that I can remember having seen committed to celluloid. Troell makes some brave directorial choices, bordering on the experimental in the California flashback.

Excellent film, though not quite as stellar as the first one. This comes partly from the fact that while in the first one there was a clear goal - to get from Småland to Minnesota - the sequel is more of a slice-of-life-style look at the characters' lives as they get settled in in their new home. Also, in part thanks to its rougher cinematography, The Emigrants had more of a documentary feel which suited it great. The sequel with its more polished cinematography loses some of this charm.

Stop being so excellent!

Watching the long cuts of this duology is a must, because it remains riveting for what I think tallies up to six-and-a-half hours, never losing focus or detail. Troell most certainly puts Sydow and Ullman to better use than Bergman ever has, allowing them to weave intricate characters over the realist backdrop of the Moberg adaptation. His sweet little imagistic digressions establish a beautiful sense of environment, tone and mood. The entire saga is a masterpiece.

The expressionistic touches in the first episode are intensified here, conveying the fear and desperation that sometimes grips these immigrants, but Troell's NEW LAND is still far more prosaic than Malick's NEW WORLD, although the Swede has a far keener sense of justice and injustice, too, both in the outrageousness of the latter and in the complexity of points of view concerning the former. Was surprised to learn that a key moment in RETURN OF THE JEDI was directly stolen from this movie.