OVERLAY REPORT

In the 1971 film *The Emigrants*, directed by Jan Troell, the plot is set in motion by a series of compounding hardships and specific tragic events in the mid-19th century in Småland, Sweden. While the film depicts a broad social movement, the narrative is driven by several key actions and catalysts: ### 1. The Father’s Injury The film opens with a visceral scene that establishes the brutal physical reality of the characters' lives. Karl Oskar’s father, Nils, is trying to pry a massive boulder from a field to clear land for plowing. The pry bar slips, and the boulder crushes his leg, leaving him permanently disabled. This action forces the eldest son, **Karl Oskar (Max von Sydow)**, to take full responsibility for the family farm, Korpamoen, inheriting both the backbreaking labor and the mounting debts associated with the poor, rocky land. ### 2. Environmental and Economic Failure The "starting action" of the struggle is the relentless battle with the earth. Karl Oskar and his wife **Kristina (Liv Ullmann)** work tirelessly, but the soil is so full of rocks that it yields little. A pivotal scene depicts a severe drought where Karl Oskar, driven to desperation, throws hay toward the heavens in an act of defiance against God—an action that shocks the pious Kristina. These repeated failed harvests leave the family in a state of perpetual hunger and debt, creating the economic necessity for change. ### 3. Robert’s Decision to Leave Karl Oskar’s younger brother, **Robert**, provides a secondary spark for the plot. He is sent away to work as an indentured farmhand at a neighboring estate, where he is brutally beaten and mistreated by his employer. Robert returns home with physical marks of flogging and a book about America. He shares his dreams of a land with "fertile soil" and "no masters" with his friend Arvid and his brother. Robert’s refusal to return to his abusive master and his presentation of America as a viable escape provides the first ideological push for the family to leave. ### 4. Religious Persecution The plot is further expanded by the actions of Kristina’s uncle, **Danjel Andreasson**. Danjel leads a group of religious dissenters who reject the strictures of the state Lutheran Church. When the local provost, Brusander, persecutes them—fining and eventually exiling Danjel for holding illegal prayer meetings—Danjel decides to move his followers to America. This adds a layer of religious and social motivation to the group's departure. ### 5. The Fatal Catalyst: Anna’s Death While Karl Oskar is convinced of the need to emigrate early on, Kristina remains steadfastly opposed to leaving her home. The **definitive action** that sets the plot fully in motion is the death of their eldest daughter, **Anna**. During a period of famine, the starving girl finds a bowl of uncooked, dry barley porridge and gorges on it. The grain swells in her stomach, causing it to rupture, and she dies in agony. This tragedy is the tipping point; Kristina realizes that staying in Sweden is more dangerous than the journey across the Atlantic. She finally agrees to Karl Oskar's plan, leading to the formal actions of selling the farm and seeking legal permission from the local dean to emigrate, which concludes the first act and begins their journey to the New World.