The Emigrants Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

The Emigrants Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 16, 2016

Winner of Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress and Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film, Jan Troell's "The Emigrants" a.k.a. "Utvandrarna" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video introduction by theater and film critic John Simon; and the documentary film "To Paint with Pictures". The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Terrence Rafferty's essay "Homelands". In Swedish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Kristina and Karl Oskar

Kristina (Liv Ullmann, Persona) and Karl Oskar’s (Max von Sydow, The Virgin Spring) story is a familiar one. It is the story of millions of people from all over the world who have been coming to America in search of a better life. What makes their story special is how it is told by Swedish master Jan Troell. As we follow their journey, we forget that they are only characters in a film and begin thinking of them as real people we might have known for years.

The film opens up in a secluded 19th century Swedish village where Kristina and Karl Oskar barely make ends meet. They have a small farm but it seems like nature is always against them -- the crops are never big enough to feed the entire family and they are constantly tested by strange disasters. Their ongoing struggle worries Karl Oskar, but before Kristina he insists that if they believe in each other they will survive.

But as time passes by the frustrated Karl Oskar comes to the conclusion that they aren’t making any progress and decides to tell Kristina about his dream -- emigrating to America, the great New Land where those who are willing to work hard find success and have a better life. Shortly after, he discovers that his much younger brother, Robert (Eddie Axberg, Here is Your Life), who has been contracted to work for an abusive landowner, has been secretly reading about America’s riches and is also planning to leave.

The news that Karl Oskar and his family will emigrate spreads like fire and other villagers decide to join them. Amongst them are the good-hearted farmhand Arvid (Pierre Lindstedt), the rebellious pastor Danjel (Allan Edwall), and even the local whore Ulrika (Monica Zetterlund).

The journey across the Atlantic Ocean is long and harsh. Many of the travelers become seriously ill and some quickly die. Eventually, the survivors reach American shores and head towards Minnesota, an unknown place with plenty of unclaimed farming land.

Troell’s masterful film touches the heart in a very special way. Initially it feels like we are viewing an unusually beautiful but still quite raw documentary whose goal is to educate us about the harsh realities of life in rural Sweden. But then gradually the film engages us in a way that forces us to embrace the Swedes and see their struggles from a different angle -- we begin to feel their pain and share their joy, we begin to experience their sacrifices in an entirely new way.

The film also forces us to see nature similarly. There are some marvelous panoramic shots, but nature remains a mysterious force that must be respected. When it becomes angry, we can feel its power and understand how quickly it can destroy those who disrespect her.

At the time when Troell shot the film Ullman and Von Sydow were already established actors, but here they do not shine alone. The brilliance of their performances comes from their ability to blend in and convey a wide range of emotions. Indeed, some of the best scenes are the ones in which they remain silent and the camera simply observes their faces and bodies.

Criterion’s new release of The Emigrants features the original uncut version of the film which runs at approximately 191 minutes (plus an intermission). When the film was released theatrically in the United States, it was cut by Warner Bros. to approximately 151 minutes.

The Emigrants Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jan Troell's The Emigrants arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. (The film is included in Criterion's new double-featre set with The New Land).

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"For these restorations, undertaken by AB Svensk Filmindustri in cooperation with Frithiof Film to Video AB, and Cinepost Studios AB, new high-definition digital transfers were created on a Thomsen Spirit DataCine film scanner from the original camera negative. The grading was done using Da Vinci's 2K, and the restoration work using Quantel iQ tools. The original monaural soundtracks were remastered at 24-bits from the 17.5mm print masters. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX4.

Restoration supervisor: Mats Forsberg/Chimney Group, Stockholm.
Transfer supervisor: Peter Bengtsson.
Colorist: Thomas Barkenas/Nordisk Film Post Production, Stockholm."

The film has a very strong organic appearance. Because in different parts light is captured by the camera in unique ways, there are small density fluctuations. When they occur, grain exposure can vary quite a bit. Detail and clarity, however, remain very good. Especially during the outdoor footage depth is frequently very impressive. Colors are stable and look natural. However, as the action moves from the small village to the ship and eventually to the New Land, different nuances emerge. Contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. Brightness levels are well balanced, but there are a couple of sequences where some of the daylight footage reveals very light wear (see screencapture #14). However, there are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or warped frames to report. Overall image stability is excellent. All in all, this is a wonderful organic presentation that makes it exceptionally easy to appreciate the brilliant vision and stylistic preferences of director Jan Troell. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Emigrants Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Swedish LPCM 1.0 (with a few very small exchanges in English). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film has a great organic sound design. At times depth and clarity are excellent, but other times some small fluctuations emerge. Obviously, these fluctuations give the film a documentary feel that is most appropriate. The dialog is clean and always easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

The Emigrants Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Emigrants. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles. (5 min, 1080p).

• Introduction - in this new video introduction, theater and film critic John Simon discusses the brilliant simplicity of Jan Troell's film and some of the timeless truths that are depicted in it. The introduction was recorded exclusively for Criterion in October 2015. In English, not subtitled. (8 min, 1080p).

• To Paint with Pictures - this archival documentary takes a closer look at the production histories of The Emigrants and The New Land. Included it are clips from interviews with director Jan Troell, actors Liv Ullmann (Kristina), Hans Alfredson (Jonas Petter), Pierre Lindstedt (Arvid), and Eddie Axberg (Robert), producer Bengt Forslund, and script supervisor Katinka Farago, amongst others. The documentary was produced by Svensk Filmindustri in 2005. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles. (57 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Terrence Rafferty's essay "Homelands".

The Emigrants Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The journey is familiar, but the simplicity and sincerity with which it is captured by Jan Troell's camera make The Emigrants a very special film. Criterion have included the original uncut version of the film in a two-disc set together with its follow-up, The New Land. Both have been restored in 2K and are released for the first time in North America since the VHS era. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.