Sweden's Oscar History

by Nathaniel R

Charter, a child custody and abduction drama, will represent Sweden this season at the Oscars. It previously played at the Göteborg, Sundance, and Zurich film festivals. It's the second feature from Amanda Kernell who won several festival awards with her debut Sami Blood (2016). Familiar face and acclaimed Norwegian star Ane Dahl Torp (1001 Grams, Pioneer, Dead Snow, The Wave) headlines. 

Though Denmark is currently more popular with Oscar voters than Sweden, Sweden is the all-time leader among Scandinavian countries. That's due in large part to three auteurs: Ingmar Bergman, Jan Troell, and Bo Widerberg who were contemporaries in mid 20th century cinema. An investigation of Sweden's Oscar history after the jump...

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1972: The Emigrants

Editor's Note: We will now resume our intermittent investigation into 1972 films for the impending smackdown -- though it will not be this weekend due to unfortunate delays. Here's Eric Blume on the Oscar favored foreign epic The Emigrants, available to rent on Amazon or iTunes.

It’s fun (and by fun, I mean zero actual fun) to watch Jan Troell’s 3 hour and 20 minute epic film The Emigrants and try to figure out how this slow-burn, where nothing good happens to any of the characters for the entire running time, made it into the Oscar race, not in one year but in two!  Due to different rules than we have currently, The Emigrants was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 1971, and then for the 1972 Oscars was nominated for a whopping four of the big eight categories:  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Liv Ullman), and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Emigrants mostly follows a peasant family in rural Sweden in the mid-19th century. Despite back-breaking work, the father (Max von Sydow) and mother (Liv Ullman), realize that they cannot survive on their farm.  A series of horrible events befall them before they decide to leave for a 10-week boat journey to America in hope of a better life. Another family, who leave for the promise of religious freedom, joins them for the grueling ordeal...

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