ABBA THE EMIGRANTS (SWEDISH FILM, 1971) Jim Colyer

Things are tough in Sweden in the 1840s. The Church holds the peasantry in check. The farm land is inferior. Karl Oskar takes over his father's farm and sets out to get a wife. Our first glimpse of Liv Ullmann is in her swing. She has the long braids and full lips. They walk arm and arm. Karl Oskar courts his Kristina and before you know it, they are married. Then, it becomes a lot of work and very little play. Kristina's mother-in-law catches her in her swing when she should be milking cows. Suddenly, there are children. In bed, the religious Kristina prays for good weather while resisting Karl Oskar's sexual advances for fear of another pregnancy. Robert, lieing on his back staring at the sky, lets us know instantly what kind of person he is. Karl Oskar's brother is no worker. He thinks, dreams and wants to be rich. Throughout the film, Robert is associated with water, a comment on his lack of solid values. He easily persuades the gullible Arvid with his schemes. The two share a bug-infested room on the farm where they grudgingly toil. Out in his fields, Karl Oskar curses the lack of rain. His crops will fail. A golden wheat-colored texture pervades the entire film. The characters are earthy. It is dark inside their houses as they huddle, the candlelight reflecting off their faces. Life is boring. The girls tease Arvid. Robert laments his lack of social status. He develops a rosy view of life in America. Grievance is the road to America. Karl Oskar's barn burns, and Robert gets a beating. Kristina's first-born dies, and her Uncle Danjel is chastised for his religion. The prostitute, Ulrika, has obvious reasons for wanting to leave. She is one of the more interesting characters. Monica Zetterlund plays the part. The fiesty Ulrika never backs down from a good argument. She berates the Churchwarden who has paid for her sex and gets into it with Kristina on the ship over lice. Ulrika's daughter, Elin, sits between Robert and Arvid in the buckboard as the emigrants head down to their ship. Ulrika combs Elin's hair at the inn where they spend the night. The ocean voyage is a nightmare. It is crowded, and there is a lack of food. There is a storm and seasickness. Accordian music breaks the monotony. Robert and Elin study English. Karl Oskar and his family finally set foot in America. The pregnant Kristina lies in the grass, soaking up sunshine. Karl Oskar uses his knife to divide an apple. They got the idea of Minnesota while on the ship. They get there by train and steamboat. I like the scene on the Mississippi River with the full moon and the singing of the old hymn. Robert confides in Elin about his plan to go to California. Karl Oskar is satisfied with what he finds at Lake Ki-Chi-Saga. He measures the top soil, takes his hatchet and stakes his claim by cutting away the bark of a big oak tree. He sits against its trunk with his hat over his face and shows us he can smile after all. He has done what he set out to do. Geese fly overhead. The lanky, horse-faced Max von Sydow makes a great Karl Oskar.