Product Details

• Actors: Stellan Skarsgård, Ewa Fröling, Lennart Hjulström, Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann
• Directors: Sven Nykvist
• Writers: Sven Nykvist, Lasse Summanen
• Producers: J.E. Beaucaire, Jean Doumanian, Joseph C. Stillman, Klas Olofsson
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• VHS Release Date: October 16, 1997
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304326300
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,142 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ox, August 25, 1999

By 

Dan "Sword Swallower" (YORKTOWN, IN, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ox [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Set in rural Sweden in the late 1800's, "The Ox" (original Swedish title "Oxen") is an insightful period film starring Stellan Skärsgard, Liv Ullman, and Max Von Sydow, and is directed by Sven Nykvist.

The main character (Skärsgard) is driven by hunger to kill and butcher the land-owner's ox for his family, and must then deal with the consequences of his wrong-doing. For insight into the Swedish immigration into the U.S., this movie makes a wonderful chronological predecessor to the film "The Emmigrants", starring Max von Sydow, which became the basis for the story "Unto a New Land", which was adapted to the U.S. TV series "Little House on the Prairie". In Swedish with English subtitles.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is an ancient legal code relevant today?, June 25, 2004

By 

"patrides" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ox [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you care nothing for matters of criminal justice, disregard the title and the rather specific concern of this review, and just rent this movie and enjoy. It is a rare kind of film that deserves attention for its narrative technique of quiet captivation and its stunning characterization of human hope amidst disappointment and failure. But I will leave that analysis to other reviewers more capable.

In a moment of desperation, a peasant (Helge) steals from his employer (slaughtering an ox with a sledgehammer) to feed his starving child and wife, who for her part is terrified by the brutal act. Director Sven Nykvist brilliantly captures an immediate alienation of husband and wife, which is followed by both of their alienation from a fragile village, suffering from famine and emigration. Helge finally finds himself driven to the cow paths in the woods, avoiding human society.

How is such alienation, necessarily caused by a sinful (or criminal, depending on which way you look at it) act, resolved? Nykvist explores two distinct possibilities: the state system on one hand and an ancient code of reconciliation on the other. You will profit greatly from meditating on this film. If only US judges and legislators would!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, A masterpiece, December 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ox [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie takes you to the core of humanity and shows how intolerant men can become. Superb performances by all especially by Stellan Skarsgard.