Wild Strawberries (DVD)

This is an absolute gem of a film. It was written in 1957 by Ingmar Bergman, one of the most renowned director in the world. He may not be very well known by the mainstream but he is relished by the people who do actually know his films. From what I have seen of his films so far; he is a genius in ideas that are totally open to interpretion that the audience truly never know the full story. The themes such as bleakness, depression and hope, he tackles ...
...present in the 1950s were often jolly with a optimistic outlook on life. He displays many ideas in his films that seem to delve in the study of the human condition; how people cope with the inevitable events that occurs in their life.

''' CAST '''

Actors: Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Jullan Kindahl
Directors: Ingmar Bergman

''' PLOT '''

This film is ... more

This is an absolute gem of a film. It was written in 1957 by Ingmar Bergman, one of the most renowned director in the world. He may not be very well known by the mainstream but he is relished by the people who do actually know his films. From what I have seen of his films so far; he is a genius in ideas that are totally open to interpretion that the audience truly never know the full story. The themes such as bleakness, depression and hope, he tackles were unheard of at the time. Many of the films present in the 1950s were often jolly with a optimistic outlook on life. He displays many ideas in his films that seem to delve in the study of the human condition; how people cope with the inevitable events that occurs in their life.

CAST

Actors: Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Jullan Kindahl
Directors: Ingmar Bergman

PLOT

This film is an emotional journey of a man who reaches the conclusion that his cynical approach to life has left him empty and alone; devoid of any real meaning. Along the journey, he learns very important things about himself that shapes the end of his life.

It starts off with the old man Isak, who is played by a veteran actor (77 years old) in Swedish silent cinema Sjostrom, who is travelling across Sweden to collect an award for a lifetime achievement in medicine. He passes through his family's old summer house and receives flashbacks of what once was long ago. This is where Bergman inserts dream sequences and memories as the old man recalls from his past; he remembers and analyses with fresh eyes; new secrets are uncovered throughout the film. The first memory he recalls while at his parent's deserted summer house is the infidelity of his fiancée at the time with his brother; he watches the two embrace each other, and strawberries fall from her lap; staining it red, experiencing his first heartbreak. This may suggest that due to this event; his whole life was then dictated to have the cold and cynical demeanour.
Depsite the depressing summary above, this film resembles a faint glow of optimism though-out the film.

CAST PERFORMANCES

Sjostrom gives a very compellingbut yet poignant performance as an old man who is close to death; and looks back on his life. He conveys all the emotions that the old man experiences so well it really pierces the screen. His performance certainly overshadowed the other roles in the film; and it felt as if Bergman wanted to show that other characters didn't have an important role in the film. But many of the characters introduced in the film played a pivotal part in the man's realisation through-out the film.

The other characters didn't seem to be important to the film through-out and their performances was nothing to write home about. But actually, the daughter-in-law puts across her bitterness towards Isak behind closed lips; a difficult performance to do sometimes. There are other characters but I won't mention them as I may reveal too much.

Other features to comment on

The black/white viewing here did not hurt the film at all, it made the first dream sequence more arty and haunting image that stayed with me for the entire film. Some black/white films tend to be quite grainy but I thought this film was actually superb quality for a black/white and the time it was filmed in- 1957.

The several dream sequences and memories were beautifully filmed; some of them were so haunting I had to stop and restart the whole scene again.

Watching this film in Swedish subtitles did not affect my viewing pleasure; though at some moments it was a bit difficult to read due to the same problem as mentioned in The Seventh Seal; the bright lighting of the outdoors makes the subtitles difficult to read.

The film lasted only for 87 minutes, I felt this was an ample amount of time for the progression of the film from beginning to end. Any longer, the quality of the film would have deteriorated.

SUMMARY

To summarise; a very haunting film that will make you re-evaluate your life and wonder if you could have done it differently. Though, I think it would touch the older generation rather than the younger generation who hasn't lived a life yet.

Thank you for reading.  

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