The New Land
| The New Land | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Jan Troell |
| Produced by | Bengt Forslund |
| Written by |
Bengt Forslund Jan Troell |
| Based on |
The Settlers and The Last Letter Home by Vilhelm Moberg |
| Starring |
Max von Sydow Liv Ullmann Eddie Axberg Monica Zetterlund |
| Distributed by | Svensk Filmindustri |
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Release date
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Running time
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204 minutes |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | Swedish |
The New Land (Swedish: Nybyggarna) is a 1972 Swedish film directed by Jan Troell and starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann and Eddie Axberg. The film is a sequel to Troell's 1971 film The Emigrants, and both are based on The Emigrants novels by Vilhelm Moberg. Drawing its story from the last two novels, The Settlers and The Last Letter Home, the film is about the Swedish immigrants establishing their home in Minnesota, during the Dakota War of 1862.
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It and The Emigrants are the basis for the 1974 American television series The New Land.
Karl Oskar, his wife Kristina and their three children, along with Karl Oskar's brother Robert and Robert's friend Arvid, have arrived to Lake Ki Chi Saga from Sweden. Taking shelter in a shanty, Karl Oskar pours all their resources into building them a house before winter arrives. He begins clearing the land of the tall pine trees, and with the help of Robert, Arvid and some of their Swedish neighbors, construct a small farmhouse.
Once the farmhouse is completed, Karl Oskar and Kristina invite their fellow Swedish settlers over for dinner, including Kristina's Uncle Danjel and Ulrika, who has become a very close friend of the family. After dinner, they discuss if they regret emigrating. Later that night, Karl Oskar tries to console Kristina and shows her something he had kept from when they had left Sweden- a shoe that had belonged to Anna, their eldest daughter who had died in Sweden. He tells her that it helps him to remember their home, which comforts her slightly. Not long afterwards, Kristina gives birth to a son, Danjel, named after her uncle. Robert, meanwhile, tells Arvid that he plans to head west to California to dig for gold, and asks Arvid to come with him. They head west, only to have their adventure plagued by a series of misfortunes. The two become lost in the desert, where Arvid dies from drinking tainted water. Robert is rescued by a Hispanic cattle driver, who brings him to a village in the Sierra Nevada. While there, Robert comes to possess a small fortune, only to have it swindled from him by another Swede. He returns to Minnesota, where after meeting again with Karl Oskar and Kristina, dies from a fever he contracted while out west.
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