In the middle of the 19th century, Kristina and Karl-Oskar live in a small rural village in Smaaland (southern Sweden). They get married and try to make a living on a small spot of land. However, the small size of their land, the infertile soil, and some bad harvests make it tough. One of their children even starves to death. Thus, they decide to emigrate to the U.S. They meet a group of farmers with their families planning the emigration under the leadership of a banned priest. They sell everything and embark for the U.S. The journey on the sailing ship is long and tedious. Some of the emigrants will never reach the New World. Written by
Gerhard Windecker <firstname.lastname@example.org>
a new land...a new hope...a new dream
Did You Know?
and Wilhelm Moberg had a disagreement whether the actors should use dialects. Troell wanted all actors to speak Småländska (the dialect spoken in county Småland where the story takes place) while Moberg wanted no dialects. As a compromise Karl-Oskar and Kristina speak with a dialect while many of the others such as Robert and Arvid only speak with a very light accent. See more
Black slaves are shown chained to the Lake Erie steamboat leaving Buffalo, New York, circa 1850. Slavery had been abolished in the State of New York since 1827. See more
If we refrained, I mean, then there won't be any more children.
Refrain? For the rest of our lives? Would we keep ourselves from each other for all our days? I would never be able to, Kristina. Not until I'm so old that spruce moss begins to grow in my beard.
Followed by The New Land