Film Review of Wild Strawberries (1957) by Ingmar Bergman

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Cast: Victor Sjostrom, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Bjornstrom

IMDb: 8.5 /10 

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Logline: After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.

Review:

Wild Strawberries is a drama film that taps into existential dreams, and essentially questions what the most valuable aspect about life is. Isak is a former medical doctor and professor who embarks on a day-long drive to accept his honorary degree. There are numerous stops and encounters along the way that influence him to reminisce about different parts of his life, which is one of the themes of the film, decay of thought and memory. Isak has clear and vivid dreams of his childhood which provides him with more knowledge of what kind of person he is and has always been, a cold and inconsiderate man. The audience also gets to see his inability to remember other important factors of his life, his career, in which he invested plenty of years of his life perfecting. This poses the question of what matters most? Is it the person we become throughout the course of our lives or the career we spend most of our time chasing?

The idea of marriage, its expectations, and parenthood are also explored. This journey film highlights the journey of life, whether recreating is a necessity or the fuel to the endless cycle of suffering in life. It illustrates how people are an adaptation of their parents as we adopt certain character traits from them. 

The acting was convincing and natural enhancing the realistic feel of the matters in the film. It is also incredible how two characters are played by one actress, illustrating the exceptional choice in casting.

Ingram Bergman effectively directed Wild Strawberries. He guided the storytelling effectively like in the way he controlled dialogue, it is on the nose and points things out blatantly. 

The tone and mood of the film influences self-introspection. 

Grab your popcorn and enjoy Wild Strawberries. Drop comments and share your thoughts and opinions.

Ingmar Bergman - Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) (1957) The second film by Bergman in 1957, after the Seventh Seal, and the second masterpiece of that year as well. Again Bergman explores questions of mortality, not so much the silence of god in this one but again how to face death. It's also the second film in a row where wild strawberries play a part as symbols of innocence and youth... The main character here is an old man, played by Phantom Carriage director Victor Sjöström, who decides to drive his car from Stockholm to Lund (some 600 km, I checked) with his daughter-in-law to get his honorary degree from the university as a celebration of his 50th anniversary as a doctor. As he takes this trip we get what is basically a roadtrip film, he picks up hitchhikers, reminisces on life and learns a lot about himself and those that surround him. It is basically a journey of redemption for a man who was probably too rigid in life and who learns to let go a bit. This is again a beautiful film, with superlative acting and a deep, bittersweet message. Again it is all these things being also constantly entertaining, jumping from flashbacks to dreams to real-life, with plenty of humor and reminiscences on life and death. The film focuses on three generations, one of the young hitchikers, that of the Doctor's son and daughter-in-law and that of the Doctor. In the end there is something that each learns with the others, and the Doctor who starts the film terrorized by the idea of dying ends the film with a smile of acceptance. (5/5) #cinema #cinephile #wildstrawberries #ingmarbergman #bergman #comedy #movie #moviereview #film #filmreviews #review #sweden #1950s #poster #filmposter #movieposter #swedishcinema #maxvonsydow #victorsjostrom Virus-free. www.avg.com (at Lisbon, Portugal) https://www.instagram.com/p/B172UlOldfY/?igshid=jaf01mfy7spa