The Emigrants (1971) review

Fed up with the bad soil, religious persecution and poverty in his native Småland during the mid-19th century, farmer Karl Oskar Nilsson (Max von Sydow) takes his wife Kristina (Liv Ullmann), their small children, his brother Robert (Eddie Axberg), Robert's friend Arvid (Pierre Lindstedt), Kristina's uncle Danjel (Allan Edwall) and several others on perilous journey (wrought with sickness and death) from Sweden to America (specifically Minnesota) to hopefully find prosperity and freedom.  This epic film is more of a sociological study than a psychological one and, unlike his fellow countryman Ingmar Bergman, Troell is primarily intrigued by physical rather than spiritual suffering - Karl Oskar's father injures himself, his daughter Anna gets sick and dies, people on the sailing ship Charlotta are infected with lice (and then become seasick), pregnant Kristina vomits blood, etc. - although it remains captivating throughout, considering its over three hour running time.  For many of us in the U.S., it serves as an important historical reminder of how our ancestors overcame the odds to create a new life for themselves in this country - most of mine came from Italy - and the importance of remembering the risks they took.  Von Sydow is expertly cast as one of the great cinematic dreamers, filled with almost reckless determination; a sequel, The New Land, was shot concurrently and released in 1972.