... Without a doubt, Fanny and Alexander is the most touching film I've ever come across, the most haunting study of a young boy's troubled mind, and the most charming account of the life of one family.
Winner of Four Academy Awards (C), the full running time of Fanny And Alexander is well ... Read review
Director Ingmar Bergman had intended FANNY AND ALEXANDER to be his final theatrical film ... more
and a summing-up of sorts of his entire cinematic career. (It was followed by 1984's AFTER THE REHEARSAL, which was also made for Swedish television and subsequently released theatrically abroad.) FANNY AND ALEXANDER is the story of two children belonging to a wealthy, extensive theatrical family in provincial Sweden in the early years of the 20th century--10-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve) and his younger sister, Fanny (Pernilla Alwin). When their father dies unexpectedly during a performance and their mother decides to remarry, the children are forced to relocate to the austere (and possibly haunted) home of their stern and rather coldhearted stepfather, Bishop Vergerus (Jan Malmsjo). A means of escape is eventually provided by Isak Jacobi (Erland Josephson), a longtime friend of the Ekdahl family's who seems to possess magical powers. In this somewhat autobiographical movie--which was filmed in the director's hometown of Uppsala--the gifted, precocious Alexander is a stand-in for Bergman himself, who had a problematic relationship with his own father, a strict clergyman. At once festive, spooky, and bawdy--and uncharacteristically life-affirming--FANNY AND ALEXANDER is one of Bergman's most universally appealing and accessible works.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:Temporarily out of stock - This item will be dispatched as soon as it arrives - We cannot guarantee Christmas delivery...
Through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve) we witness the great delights ... more
and conflicts of the Ekdahl family-a sprawling convivial bourgeois clan living in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Intended as Ingmar Bergman's swan song Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) is the legendary filmmaker's warmest and most autobiographical film a triumph that combines his trademark melancholy and emotional rigor with immense joyfulness and sensuality. Bergman was quoted as saying Fanny and Alexander is "the sum total of my life as a film-maker". The multiple awards won worldwide attest to that fact.
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Through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve), wewitness the great delights and ... more
conflicts of the Ekdahl family, asprawling, convivial bourgeois clan in turn-of-the-century Sweden.Ingmar Bergman intended Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander)to be his swan song, and it is the legendary filmmakers warmestand most autobiographical film, a triumph that combines histrademark melancholy and emotional intensity with immensejoyfulness and sensuality. The Criterion Collection is proud topresent this winner of the 1984 Academy Award?for Best ForeignLanguage Film, accompanied by rarely seen introductions by Bergmanto eleven of his other films. Special Features: New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image andsound, enhanced for widescreen televisions Audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie New and improved English subtitle translation Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition A new essay by novelist Rick Moody (The Ice Storm, PurpleAmerica, Demonology) The individual release of Fanny and AlexanderThe TheatricalVersion includes a bonus disc featuring new introductions bydirector Ingmar Bergman to eleven of his films, as well as aselection of theatrical trailers.
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: A great film... Disadvantages: A long film...
...cinematic history. Without a doubt, Fanny and Alexander is the most touching film I've ever come across, the most haunting study of a young boy's troubled mind, and the most charming account of the life of one family.
Winner of Four Academy Awards (C), the full running time of Fanny And Alexander is well over 5 hours (yes, I said 5), and I'm not joking when I say that not one minute should be missed. If one film sums up all that is ... ...director Ingmar Bergman, then 1982's Fanny And Alexander is it. I'll explain.
The film takes place in a rural Swedish town over the time-span of one year, and follows the developing story of the extended Ekdahl family, seen through the eyes of the two children (the title characters Fanny and Alexander). Their loving parents are Oscar and Emilie Ekdahl, who are both well known and much loved local theatrical performers.
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Stop the press. I've just watched one of the best films in cinematic history. Without a doubt, Fanny and Alexander is the most touching film I've ever come across, the most haunting study of a young boy's troubled mind, and the most charming account of the life of one family.
Winner of Four Academy Awards (C), the full running time of Fanny And Alexander is well over 5 hours (yes, I said 5), and I'm not joking when I say that not one minute should be missed. If one film sums up all that is breathtaking, all that is inspiring and all that is truly wonderful about director Ingmar Bergman, then 1982's Fanny And Alexander is it. I'll explain.
The film takes place in a rural Swedish town over the time-span of one year, and follows the developing story of the extended Ekdahl family, seen through the eyes of the two children (the title characters Fanny and Alexander). Their loving parents are Oscar and Emilie Ekdahl, who are both well known and much loved local theatrical performers.
After a raucous Christmas get together involving the whole Ekdahl family, Oscar becomes ill and eventually collapses while on-stage rehearsing Hamlet. After a length of time ridden to his bed, Oscar dies, leaving the children without a father and the rest of the family in mourning. Grief stricken Emilie finds comfort in the arms of the cold-hearted local Bishop, Edvard, who convinces her to marry him. Consequently, the two children, along with their mother, are encouraged by the Bishop to leave their old home, full of warmth and happy memories, and begin a new life within the lonely sterile walls of his own house, complete with stone faced maids and angry ghosts.
What transpires from these events is at moments frightening, at moments enthralling, and at no time did I feel like stopping the video. Fanny and (especially) Alexander are the stars of this film, observing the part tragic and part comical events that happen around them - and there's often a lot going on. However, they quickly become the tragic centrepieces of the story as life in the Bishop's house becomes too much to handle. The rest of the film from there plays out like the Great Escape meets Leo Tolstoy with an extra helping of mysticism.
Yet, what I've described is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a sprawling drama that deals with love, death, marriage, magic, happiness and sorrow. The direction from Bergman is magnificent, and the cinematography by Sven Nykvist (who would go on to work with Woody Allen) is extraordinary. The acting, as in every Bergman film I've seen, is immaculate. I can't stress enough how great this film is. It's monumental.
But, alas, it's over 5 hours long, and this will inevitably put people off. But those of you who are truly looking for greatest film possibly ever made, then this film should be on your list.
Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman Cinematography by Sven Nykvist
Running time: approx 312 min (UK version)
Available at Amazon priced £19.99 (I can't comment on the price. I got my copy for £2.99 in a charity shop. £19.99 does sound pretty dear though)
Certificate: 15
Alexander Ekdahl - Bertil Guve Fanny Ekdahl - Pernilla Allwin Oscar Ekdahl - Allan Edwall Emilie Ekdahl - Ewa Fröling Bishop Edvard Vergerus - Jan Malmsjö
The lives of a Swedish theatrical family are dramatically changed when the father collapses and dies during a production of Hamlet. Swedish dialogue.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
ARTIFICIAL EYE; FUSION MEDIA SALES
Release date
25/02/2002
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
ART 013 DVD
Barcode
5021866013305
Featured
Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin
Languages
Main Language
Swedish
Subtitle Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Stills Gallery, Ingmar Bergman Filmography
Aspect Ratio
14:9
Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0 Swedish
Professional reviews
Review
"Even as you watch [FANNY & ALEXANDER]...,it has that quality of enchantment that usually attaches only to the best movies in retrospect....Big, dark, beautiful, generous..." (New York Times, p.C8, 17/06/1983)
Included in The New York Times "10 BEST FILMS OF 1983" (New York Times, p.II:15, 25/12/1983)
"...A sustained triumph..." (Sight and Sound, p.141, 01/03/1983)
"...A sumptuously produced period piece that is also a rich tapestry of childhood memoirs..." (Variety, 22/12/1982)
DVD Description
Director Ingmar Bergman had intended FANNY AND ALEXANDER to be his final theatrical film and a summing-up of sorts of his entire cinematic career. (It was followed by 1984's AFTER THE REHEARSAL, which was also made for Swedish television and subsequently released theatrically abroad.) FANNY AND ALEXANDER is the story of two children belonging to a wealthy, extensive theatrical family in provincial Sweden in the early years of the 20th century--10-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve) and his younger sister, Fanny (Pernilla Alwin). When their father dies unexpectedly during a performance and their mother decides to remarry, the children are forced to relocate to the austere (and possibly haunted) home of their stern and rather coldhearted stepfather, Bishop Vergerus (Jan Malmsjo). A means of escape is eventually provided by Isak Jacobi (Erland Josephson), a longtime friend of the Ekdahl family's who seems to possess magical powers. In this somewhat autobiographical movie--which was filmed in the director's hometown of Uppsala--the gifted, precocious Alexander is a stand-in for Bergman himself, who had a problematic relationship with his own father, a strict clergyman. At once festive, spooky, and bawdy--and uncharacteristically life-affirming--FANNY AND ALEXANDER is one of Bergman's most universally appealing and accessible works.
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