Time Essay: The Emigrants: A Dream Survives

Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great.

—Genesis

IT would undoubtedly astonish Jan Troell, the director of The Emigrants, to learn that he has made the most political film of the year. On the surface the movie is an epic celebration of 19th century Swedish immigration to the promised country. But within its rich textures is an oddly lucid explanation...

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