Overview
A poignant tale of love and loss as a couple seeks a better life across the ocean.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- humanistic
- austere
- historical film night
- arthouse viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Jan Troell’s patient, deeply humanistic immigration epic as an absorbing and visually accomplished masterpiece, while some find it rambling or overly decorative.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film follows Swedish farmers facing hunger, land failure, religious conflict, and the dangerous voyage toward America.
Rural labor, harsh weather, bodily exhaustion, and the sailing journey are rendered with tactile observational detail.
Kristina and Karl-Oskar’s family is driven from southern Sweden by infertile soil, failed harvests, and starvation.
The promised New World motivates the emigrants, while the voyage and separation impose severe human costs.
Films like The Emigrants, and why
America America
epic historical drama about migration, family hardship, and the pursuit of a better life
The Grapes of Wrath
somber, humanistic historical drama centered on working-class displacement and survival
The New World
patient period drama portraying emigration, faith, and communal struggle with emotional realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Jan Troell
- Release Date
- 1971-03-08
- Runtime
- 191 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (131)
Cast
- Max von Sydow
- Liv Ullmann
- Eddie Axberg
- Sven-Olof Bern
- Aina Alfredsson
- Allan Edwall
- Monica Zetterlund
- Pierre Lindstedt
- Hans Alfredson
- Ulla Smidje
Common questions
- What is The Emigrants about?
- A sweeping Swedish historical drama follows a farming couple who abandon hunger-stricken Småland for the perilous promise of a new life in America.
- What is The Emigrants like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Emigrants as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Emigrants violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Emigrants as mild.
- What did critics think of The Emigrants?
- Critics broadly regard Jan Troell’s patient, deeply humanistic immigration epic as an absorbing and visually accomplished masterpiece, while some find it rambling or overly decorative.
- Which films are like The Emigrants?
- Films with a similar feel include America America, The Grapes of Wrath, and The New World.
- How long is The Emigrants?
- The Emigrants runs 191 minutes.
