Latvian soldiers seek political asylum in Sweden after their country falls under Russian control at the end of World War II. They had been forced into military service by the Nazis to fight against the Russians. Fearing reprisals from the Russians for fighting against them, they struggle desperately to stay in Sweden. After a hunger strike, suicides, and political intervention by Sweden fails to keep them from their former enemy, they are ultimately given over to the Russian authorities. The men are sentenced to hard labor in prison camps and later released, and Latvians are plunged into repression by the aftermath of the bloody war. The cycle of political unrest was still apparent more than 50 years after the conflict.

1996 film

BERGMAN于2000年为瑞典电视台制作的电视-电影,是对The Phantom Carriage这部电影的幕后筹备与制作的典型的BERGMAN式戏剧图解.地点设置在电影即将开拍的瑞典电影演播室,Lennart Hjulström(<善意的背叛>)饰演导演Victor Sjöström ,与摄影师 Julius Jaenzon (Carl-Magnus Dellow)准备展示一些自己为这电影做的前期概念给原著作家,诺贝尔文学奖得主Selma Lagerlöf 拉格洛芙(Anita Björk<善意的背叛>).如伯格曼其他电影一般,本片演员阵容空前,都是国际级演员.

In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.