Remembering true desperation

Movie from half-century ago brings a harsh reminder of American dream

The Front Page

Morning Update

Monday, April 25, 2022

By Ken Tingley

Few of us in this country have ever faced real desperation. With all that is going on in the world, you should consider that for a second.

Two years ago, I taped a 1971 Swedish movie called “The Emigrants.” It chronicles the plight of a family of Swedish farmers and their struggles in Sweden during the 1840s. It was a best picture nominee a half-century ago.

While the movie is powerful, it is a daunting two and a half hours of misery. Maybe, it was something I needed to see. Maybe I needed to be reminded of the cushy life I have lived. I dreamed of it that night.

For most of the first hour, we see the Nilsson family struggle to survive on their small farm without the benefit of modern tools or medical care.

We see the farmers laboring to remove large black boulders from the rocky farmland to reclaim another few feet for planting a few more plants to get them through the winter.  Over and over again they strain to remove the boulders amidst a backdrop of long stone walls. It seems a lifetime sentence that will never end.

There seems little hope of a future and almost no joy.

Few of us could imagine a life of such hardship.

They deal with bad weather, poor harvests and indentured servitude for the younger brother Robert. It is a brutal day-to-day existence.

When Robert is not being beaten by the farmer he works for, he reads of the golden opportunities across the sea in America and shares his dreams of a new life with a friend. He tells him that everyone in America free to pursue the life they want, that there is no royalty or caste system like in Sweden. He tells his friend about railroad tracks that stretch for thousands of miles across the country. His friend asks him, why no one ever steals the iron in the tracks? Robert explains there is no need to steal the iron because there is so much of it.

It is the land of opportunity and something many of us have lost sight of over the years.

We’ve all heard that immigrant story before.

So many of us have grandparents and great grandparents who lived that story as well, but I don’t think we understand it anymore. I think we’ve lost touch with the desperation of those who came before us. It’s what I learned from the Nilsson family in this movie.

They ultimately sell the farm to go to America.

They have no idea of their ultimate destination.

If you watch the next 45 minutes aboard the sailing ship you will never complain about flying coach again.

Cramped below deck with little room and even less fresh air, the father says they should have brought clothes pins for their noses.

Over the ensuing weeks, they face bouts of dysentery, an infestation of lice and sea-sickness that leads to even worse conditions below deck and the death of several passengers. It is an unimaginable ordeal.

They meet an old couple on board. They say they are going to Taylor’s Falls, Minnesota to reunite with their son.

When they finally arrive in America, the Nilsson family decides to join the elderly couple in their journey to Minnesota. The Swedes are frightened to death when they first see a roaring steam locomotive for the first time. Packed on top of each other in the train’s passenger cars, the family eventually runs out of food during the journey. From the train, they take to a steamboat and the father advises them to avoid eating the ship’s food because he believes it is what is making them sick. When they arrive in frontier Minnesota, they face a three-day walk to Taylor’s Falls.

The journey is intense.

Everything is unknown.

Consider what type of desperation it took to undertake the journey.

When they arrive in Taylor’s Falls, the men are astonished to find the top soil runs two to three deep.

They make their mark on trees to establish ownership of the land.

But the father ventures further into the woods, before finally finding a pristine spot by a lake. He marks the tree with his hatchet and carves in his name before collapsing beneath a tree. He pulls the cap over his eyes and we finally see just the hint of a smile come over the face.

It may be the only smile we see the entire movie.

I believe he was thinking he was finally free to have a life that was better for his family.

That’s the story of America. We’ve forgotten that.

Not Disney

Have we really gotten to the point in our politics where a political party has to go after Disney?

Maybe there will be a boycott and the crowds will thin out for the rest of us.

Lecture Tuesday

When I was asked to be part of the Dr. Norman A. Enhorning Lecture & Lunch Series at SUNY Adirondack, I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into. When I was told I would be speaking for an hour, I figured I needed to do a little more preparation.

I’ve put together a nice slide show to go along with anecdotes about my newspaper career over the past 40 years. I’ll be focusing on stories from my first book “The Last American Editor” as well as previewing my second book “The Last American Newspaper.”

I’m looking forward to the Tuesday event. I will let you know how it went.

Lake Luzerne event

I will be speaking about the future of newspapers at Lake Luzerne Historical Society luncheon on Sunday, May 22. Hope to see you there.

My second book, “The Last American Newspaper,” will be out in June and is being published by McFarland Books. The book is a memoir of the people and stories that the Glens Falls newspaper covered while I was editor of The Post-Star. It shows the value of local journalism and the commitment by local journalists.

To attend the luncheon at the Long Horn Restaurant in Lake Luzerne, you need to register by May 17 by calling Sue at (518) 403-4042. (Cost for lunch $22).

“The Last American Newspaper” can be pre ordered at McFarland Books at:

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