The New Land (1972)

The New Land (Nybyggarna)
Directed by Jan Troell
Written by Bengt Forslund and Jan Troell from a novel by Vilhelm Moberg
1972/Sweden
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Karl-Oskar: We can’t risk your life.
Kristina: My life is in the hands of the Almighty.
Karl-Oskar: It’s too dangerous. How dare you?
Kristina: It’s easy. I don’t care about the doctor. I trust in God. If I live, it is His will. If I die, it is His will.

The story of Swedish immigrants in America is one of triumph through tragedy.  I have some nits to pick but this is a compelling sequel.

The film picks up in 1850 Minnesota where The Emigrants (1971) left off.  The Nilsson family – father Karl-Oskar (Max von Sydow), mother Kristina (Liv Ullmann), their children and Karl-Oskar’s young brother Robert (Eddie Axberg) – separate from their fellow immigrants and go to the land Karl-Oskar has selected for them.  It is forested land on a lake.  They start with the belongings they have brought with them on the ship and some small amount of cash.  The family begins building their house and planting crops.  They overcome many obstacles.  We follow their relations with neighbors as the settlement grows.

Early on they make the acquaintance of the indigenous population.  Kristina shares what little they have with some women and makes a kind of peace.  As the years wind on occasionally some Native Americans will show up, examine everything carefully and take something they want.  It looks like this is a tolerable level of harmony for both sides.  But it does not last.

Robert bristles under the criticism of his older brother and takes off with a friend to walk to the gold fields of California.  This is an extremely ill-fated move and filmed in sort of a nightmarish way.

Finally, Kristina who has been pregnant most times during the years covered by the story is told by a doctor that another childbirth will kill her.  The years go on.  Some more sad, tragic stuff happens.  But the family prospers financially and the next generation will be 100% American.

I thought the first part of the film was on a par with the previous film.  It leisurely gives a highly detailed account that puts the viewer in the action and feeling the emotions that the newcomers must have felt as they worked for survival.

Then things get pretty dark. The trip to California and the fate of the Indians are filmed and edited in a very 1972  self-conscious way that I did not particularly like. It’s a long film and a bit of a misery sandwich but I’m glad I saw it.  If you get around to “The Emigrants”, I’m sure you will want to see this one as well.

The New Land was nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.

Nice tribute by Liv Ullmann to director/writer/cinematographer Jan Troell

Unused theme song