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The Ox
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Synopsis
Based on a true story, the bleak period piece Oxen was co-written and directed by Ingmar Bergman's longtime cinematographer Sven Nykvist. In the small village of Småland in the late 1860s, Helge Roos (Stellan Skarsgård) works as a farmer on an estate belonging to Svenning Gustafsson (Lennart Hjulström) and his wife (Liv Ullmann). Plagued by a terrible famine, Helge illegally kills one of the Gustaffson's last oxen so his own family can eat. He and his wife, Elfrida (Ewa Fröling), feel guilty about it, but the meat keeps them alive through the winter. When he tries to sell the hide in the spring, a clergyman (Max von Sydow) finds out and encourages him to confess. The judge sentences Helge to a life of manual labor at the state prison for his crime. When he is finally pardoned and released after six years, he returns home to Elfrida to find out that she has been supporting the family by performing sexual services, which has resulted in the birth of another child. In the 1970s, Von Sydow and Ullmann appeared together in a set of films also dealing with the Swedish famine in Jan Troell's The Emigrants and The New Land. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Cast

Ewa Fröling Elfrida Roos
Bjorn Granath Flyckt
Lennart Hjulström Svenning Gustafsson
Helge Jordal Navvy
Stellan Skarsgård Helge Roos
Max von Sydow The Vicar
Liv Ullmann Mrs. Gustafsson

Production Crew

Peter Hoimark Art Director
Dan Myhrman Camera Operator
Carl-Gustaf Nykvist Cinematographer
Dan Myhrman Cinematographer
Sven Nykvist Cinematographer
Edvard Grieg Composer (Music Score)
Lubos Fiser Composer (Music Score)
Inger Pehrsson Costume Designer
Sven Nykvist Director
Lasse Summanen Editor
Edvard Grieg Featured Music
Jean Doumanian Producer
Lasse Summanen Screenwriter
Sven Nykvist Screenwriter
Magnus Magnusson Set Designer
Bo Anders Persson Sound/Sound Designer
Year: 1991
Runtime: 93
Country: Sweden
MPAA Rating: NR
Category: Feature

Genre
Drama

Produced by
Jean Doumanian Productions
Kanal 1
Nordisk Film
Sandrew Film & Teater
Sonnenfeld/Josephson Worldwide Entertainment
SVT
Swedish Film Production
Sweetland Films
TVFund

Release
August 21, 1992 (USA)

Awards
1991 - Best Foreign Language Film - Academy
1991 - Best Foreign Language Film - Academy
1991 - Best Foreign Language Film - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie
1991 - Film Presented - Telluride Film Festival