Jan Troell · 1971 · exile

Jan Troell's 1971 film, from Vilhelm Moberg's novels. In the 1850s, crop failure and hardship drive a Smaland farming family to leave Sweden forever for America. Karl Oskar and Kristina endure a grueling Atlantic crossing in steerage, then push on from New York up the rivers and across the frontier to the wild lakeland of Minnesota, to break new ground and build a life from nothing.

1. 1
   Smaland

   The stony, unforgiving farm country of southern Sweden where crop failures and poverty drive Karl Oskar, Kristina and their family to sell everything and emigrate to America.

2. 2
   New York

   The American port where the emigrants land after a brutal, disease-ridden Atlantic crossing in steerage - the gateway to a continent they must still travel halfway across.

3. 3
   Minnesota

   The wild lakeland of the Minnesota frontier where the family finally stakes its claim, breaking virgin soil by a lake to build the farm and the future they crossed the world for.