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June 01, 2006
Fanny and Alexander
One of the many reasons Netflix loves me is that I stubbornly hold onto dvd's waiting for the inspiration to watch them for weeks at a time. I did this not once, but twice with Fanny and Alexander. The broken promise raved about it, which is the reason it landed in my flat the first time. (I have a love, love, hate relationship with foreign movies: I love to watch them, love to think about them, and hate to get up the inspiration to read subtitles. But it's really no harder than fully paying attention to an English language film.) It landed on my Netflix the second time because other film reviewers wrote passionately about their love of Bergman and this particular masterpiece, so here it came at the most inopportune time: when I got extremely sick with bronchitis.
So, I've finally seen the theatrical release form of Fanny and Alexander. And I gotta say, I can't wait to see the 6 hour (made for Swedish television) version. Of course, I want to wait and watch that version on a better screen. Perhaps the big screen at my folks' house. It definitely warrants surround sound and sharp picture quality.
Ebert gave the movie 4 stars when it first came out in 1983. In that review, he explained the movie's importance in relation to Bergman's oeuvre. Then, he reviewed it again in 2004 as part of his "Great Movies" series. If, like me, you get sick of the obligatory plot description in Ebert reviews, definitely do not read the latter review. It was actually a pleasant read for me, since it reminded me of all the delicately shifting aspects of the plot.
My favorite words from his reviews are contained in the last graph of the Great Movies review:
At the end, I was subdued and yet exhilarated; something had happened to me that was outside language, that was spiritual, that incorporated Bergman's mysticism; one of his characters suggests that our lives flow into each other's, that even a pebble is an idea of God, that there is a level just out of view where everything really happens.Amen, brother.
Other interesting tidbit: Rotten Tomatoes lists 16 fresh reviews, 0 rotten.
IMDB entry
Posted by cj at June 1, 2006 10:36 PM