
"All along the line, there's nothing but cold and death and loneliness"
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
Professor Isak Borg

Sara

Marianne

Evald

Agda

Anders

Viktor

Isak's Mother

Mrs. Alman

Karin, Isak's Wife

Aunt Olga

Alman

Åkerman

Wife's Lover

Uncle Aron

Sigfrid

Sigbritt

Charlotta

Angelica

Åkerman's Wife

Anna
Twin Kristina
Twin Birgitta
Hagbart (uncredited)
The Manager (uncredited)
Benjamin (uncredited)
Sigbritt's Baby (uncredited)
Elisabeth (uncredited)
Isak's Father (uncredited)

Conductor (uncredited)

Professor Tiger (uncredited)
Bishop (uncredited)

(uncredited)