Smultronstället

English title: Wild Strawberries

Also known as: Fraises sauvages (les)

Genre: psychological study (in black and white)

With: Victor Sjöström (Dr. Eberhard Isak Borg), Ingrid Thulin (Marianne Borg), Bibi Andersson (Sara), Gunnar Björnstrand (Dr. Evald Borg), Jullan Kindahl (Agda the housekeeper), Folke Sundquist (Anders), Björn Bjelfvenstam (Viktor), Naima Wifstrand (Mrs. Borg, Isak's mother), Gunnel Broström (Berit Alman), Gertrud Fridh (Karin Borg, Isak's wife)

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Screenplay: Ingmar Bergman

Release: 1957

Studio: Svensk Filmindustri

Rating: -

MBiS score: 9.0/10 

 

One Day in Your Life, Your Life in One Day 

 

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Story-line: at 78, Professor Isak Borg can look at his world in a philosophical light. ‟I have a son, also a doctor, in Lund. My mother, although old, is still alive. My wife Karin has been dead for many years. I am lucky, I have a good housekeeper.” While he suspects that death is not far off, he still has things to look forward to. Tomorrow, he will travel from Stockholm to Lund − a 300-mile journey with his daughter-in-law Marianne − to receive an honorary degree.

Pluses: magnificient acting by Victor Sjöström as the stern yet increasingly mellow Isak Borg, perfect support from Ingrid Thulin and an excellent cast, masterful direction by one of the greatest names in cinema, a serious, kind-hearted screenplay that rolls along efficiently and fully develops its characters with the aid of dark or whimsical flashbacks, spot-on dialogues and flashes of humour, a musical score attuned to the various moods of the story, very pretty cinematography and ravishing production values (detailed sets, attractive costumes and pertinent sound effects).

Minuses: if you find the movie uninspiring at first, take note that it all comes together − superbly so − in the last act. We’re dealing with one of cinema’s masterpieces here!

Comments: like several other films by Bergman, the exquisite WILD STRAWBERRIES does evoke mortality as a movie theme but focuses much more on relationships, reminiscences and the ups and downs of life. In this Swedish version of a road movie, characters come to see themselves and others in a different way, personal conflicts are examined and hopefully resolved, time is spent meeting new people and human frailty is accepted or at least tolerated. And the film left me with an implicit lesson that is well worth remembering: you can feel young whatever your age!

 

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