I'm a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman and over forty years have managed to see all his cinema films (bar one - 1950's "Sånt händer inte här"). I'm enjoying your series. One interesting fact that you might not be aware of but for a Swedish audience they would immediately recognise the meaning of the film's title: "Smultronställe" literally translates into English as "wild strawberry patch", referring to the place rather than the fruit themselves. For Swedes "Smultronställe" is also an idiom, an expression, a metaphor, meaning "a secret favourite place", one that is emotionally resonant and individualised (other people might not recognise it as such), which one goes to mentally (and physically too) to find peace (a bit like a "happy place"). Of course in the film Isak's "smultronställe" are places of anguish and disquiet, except the last. Hope you find that of interest.
We had no idea about the literal translation of the film's title, but it's interesting to think through how that might impact the larger interpretation of the film. - Sonia
...for the wild strawberries, that Isak comes to understand himself after his journey into the absurdity of his own life and his final resolution that even at his old age he does not know how to behave. Instead he comforts himself and falls asleep to reveries of his most cherished memories of childhood and our circle closes; an old man on the brink of death and an unborn child who will repeat the pattern of regeneration and taste their own wild strawberries :)
Isak, our protagonist, at the beginning of his “journey” can show strangers more love and compassion than those familiar to him. He is more or less told that he is loathsome and he reacts naively surprised by this confession, as if this had never, in his life, occurred to him and seems a bit silly or dramatic. This is a man who has lived his life without drama,
Thanks for making this video. There needs to be more commentary on this type of cinema outside of exclusive academic circles. FYI I think The Virgin Spring is Bergman's most powerful and under appreciated work, though not necessarily the most entertaining (that would be Smiles of a Summer Night IMO).
guys.. great job. After the movie I really enjoyed to explore more by your video. And I was also delighted for many parts I also thought the same things with you. THANK YOU! and keep the good work.
Nice serie. Just a headsup: Be sure to get the 5 hour version of Fanny and Alexander when you are going to break it down. The most epic scene in the film is cut from the three hour version.
The most curious element to this film is the question, how do the dreams function? These dreams correspond and even form the structure of the narrative both stylistically and with respect to content, plot. When we hear our protagonist talk about the disturbing or humiliating nature of these dreams, where are we? In a dream, daydream, memory, real time, or are these blurred?
Hey, I'm most likely writing a thesis comparing Wild Strawberries to Another Woman by Woody Allen. How would I go about referencing your video's Harvard style? Is there anywhere where you keep all of your information?
Thanks for getting back to me, the only bit of information i need that I may not have accurate is the company name or the name of your site? I think it's great that you're promoting Bergman. I just finished my undergrad degree on cinema studies and I had still somehow never heard of him which is a tragedy. I don't have to tell you how and why his film's are so fantastic. Also I can't believe you guys met and interviewed Livv Ullman, that's so cool. I'd be happy to talk more about Bergman and my thesis in a PM if you're interested.
We don't have a company. This is a not for profit project we're doing simply for the love of cinema and to hopefully share Bergman with newcomers. If you're using a website you can cite th-cam.com/users/breakingdownfilms Feel free to send me over more details in a private message and thanks for watching! - David
I appreciate your cause, a lot of people (myself included at one point) who claim to be movie buffs rarely if ever stray from recent Hollywood films which is so unnecessarily limiting. I sent a pm over youtube, as opposed to google plus, which you might not get a notification for. You will have to manually check your inbox.
the configuration of the self in time yet without any obvious teleological drive. There seems to be an absence of a goal until we reach it, unexpectedly. There is the sublimation of a goal, to be honoured as a great doctor, but is not the real goal something far greater and absurd, that which torments us; the realisation of the goal as illusion or at the very least superficial compared with the real journey and process of life? Again, the same theme of searching that we saw in The Seventh Seal.
...at a distance from himself, who is embarking on a journey, a pilgrimage (why does he choose to drive the long way instead of fly?) to be honoured, but for what? Being a doctor, who we are told can surgically remove things, ills. Has this been the great doctor’s profession in “life,” to attempt to remove through repression what he cannot - events, emotional turmoils - that which he comes to realise have stayed with him, shaped him, all his life?
Does his old age disturb or humiliate him or that despite his age he knows that he knows nothing and never has? In what is surely one of the earliest incarnations of Kafka on screen, one ‘dream’ even manifests as a trial in which he is charged with guilt, and boy can things get ugly if you're found guilty of that! The clock with no arms is a lovely metaphor. The structure of time is there - the numbers - but the arms - the markers of time - are missing. How poignant a symbol for the unconscious;
...that timeless aspect of the psyche which abides by no rational rule for how to structure the events in one’s life. We move forward, backwards, stop. We follow a story set over many generations inside one family and yet one which reaches out to others and to ourselves. Are we, the audience, but another aspect of generation to this man watching himself? Are we watching Bergman watch us watching Bergman? Bergman is yet again playing with the notion of ourselves (Bergman?) over time:
As we have seen, this is always a failed attempt in a Bergman film (the man practically wrote the diagnostics for PTSD). And we see this attempt carried forth in his son Evald who longs for the cessation of generation. He expresses the will to negate his life and that of his child, whereas his wife longs for regeneration despite the realisation that bringing a new life into the world is absurd, a longing for life,
![ALLY - OH MY! [ REACTION ] 'Amarin Nitibhon' #ALLY_OHMY #ALLY #allynitibhon #แอลลี่](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nX9qpHjVfbQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman and over forty years have managed to see all his cinema films (bar one - 1950's "Sånt händer inte här"). I'm enjoying your series. One interesting fact that you might not be aware of but for a Swedish audience they would immediately recognise the meaning of the film's title: "Smultronställe" literally translates into English as "wild strawberry patch", referring to the place rather than the fruit themselves. For Swedes "Smultronställe" is also an idiom, an expression, a metaphor, meaning "a secret favourite place", one that is emotionally resonant and individualised (other people might not recognise it as such), which one goes to mentally (and physically too) to find peace (a bit like a "happy place"). Of course in the film Isak's "smultronställe" are places of anguish and disquiet, except the last. Hope you find that of interest.
We had no idea about the literal translation of the film's title, but it's interesting to think through how that might impact the larger interpretation of the film. - Sonia
...for the wild strawberries, that Isak comes to understand himself after his journey into the absurdity of his own life and his final resolution that even at his old age he does not know how to behave. Instead he comforts himself and falls asleep to reveries of his most cherished memories of childhood and our circle closes; an old man on the brink of death and an unborn child who will repeat the pattern of regeneration and taste their own wild strawberries :)
I thoroughly enjoy your insights. That comparison between Wild Strawberries and A Christmas Carol was spot-on! Thanks for this series.
Isak, our protagonist, at the beginning of his “journey” can show strangers more love and compassion than those familiar to him. He is more or less told that he is loathsome and he reacts naively surprised by this confession, as if this had never, in his life, occurred to him and seems a bit silly or dramatic. This is a man who has lived his life without drama,
Thanks for making this video. There needs to be more commentary on this type of cinema outside of exclusive academic circles. FYI I think The Virgin Spring is Bergman's most powerful and under appreciated work, though not necessarily the most entertaining (that would be Smiles of a Summer Night IMO).
guys.. great job. After the movie I really enjoyed to explore more by your video. And I was also delighted for many parts I also thought
the same things with you. THANK YOU! and keep the good work.
Nice serie.
Just a headsup:
Be sure to get the 5 hour version of Fanny and Alexander when you are going to break it down. The most epic scene in the film is cut from the three hour version.
which one are you thinking of?
The most curious element to this film is the question, how do the dreams function? These dreams correspond and even form the structure of the narrative both stylistically and with respect to content, plot. When we hear our protagonist talk about the disturbing or humiliating nature of these dreams, where are we? In a dream, daydream, memory, real time, or are these blurred?
Hey, I'm most likely writing a thesis comparing Wild Strawberries to Another Woman by Woody Allen. How would I go about referencing your video's Harvard style? Is there anywhere where you keep all of your information?
What information do you need? I'd be happy to provide you with whatever I can.
- David Friend
Thanks for getting back to me, the only bit of information i need that I may not have accurate is the company name or the name of your site?
I think it's great that you're promoting Bergman. I just finished my undergrad degree on cinema studies and I had still somehow never heard of him which is a tragedy. I don't have to tell you how and why his film's are so fantastic.
Also I can't believe you guys met and interviewed Livv Ullman, that's so cool.
I'd be happy to talk more about Bergman and my thesis in a PM if you're interested.
We don't have a company. This is a not for profit project we're doing simply for the love of cinema and to hopefully share Bergman with newcomers. If you're using a website you can cite th-cam.com/users/breakingdownfilms
Feel free to send me over more details in a private message and thanks for watching!
- David
I appreciate your cause, a lot of people (myself included at one point) who claim to be movie buffs rarely if ever stray from recent Hollywood films which is so unnecessarily limiting.
I sent a pm over youtube, as opposed to google plus, which you might not get a notification for. You will have to manually check your inbox.
+Breaking Down Bergman Mirrors! vimeo.com/119452347
the configuration of the self in time yet without any obvious teleological drive. There seems to be an absence of a goal until we reach it, unexpectedly. There is the sublimation of a goal, to be honoured as a great doctor, but is not the real goal something far greater and absurd, that which torments us; the realisation of the goal as illusion or at the very least superficial compared with the real journey and process of life? Again, the same theme of searching that we saw in The Seventh Seal.
Both?! If my math skills hold up...that's 8 HOURS. Haha...good thing we're dedicated.
...at a distance from himself, who is embarking on a journey, a pilgrimage (why does he choose to drive the long way instead of fly?) to be honoured, but for what? Being a doctor, who we are told can surgically remove things, ills. Has this been the great doctor’s profession in “life,” to attempt to remove through repression what he cannot - events, emotional turmoils - that which he comes to realise have stayed with him, shaped him, all his life?
This Wednesday is the seventh year anniversary of Bergman's death
Does his old age disturb or humiliate him or that despite his age he knows that he knows nothing and never has? In what is surely one of the earliest incarnations of Kafka on screen, one ‘dream’ even manifests as a trial in which he is charged with guilt, and boy can things get ugly if you're found guilty of that! The clock with no arms is a lovely metaphor. The structure of time is there - the numbers - but the arms - the markers of time - are missing. How poignant a symbol for the unconscious;
Bergman himself always shuddered at the corny young hitchhikers in the film. It WAS a little 'cute'
...that timeless aspect of the psyche which abides by no rational rule for how to structure the events in one’s life. We move forward, backwards, stop. We follow a story set over many generations inside one family and yet one which reaches out to others and to ourselves. Are we, the audience, but another aspect of generation to this man watching himself? Are we watching Bergman watch us watching Bergman? Bergman is yet again playing with the notion of ourselves (Bergman?) over time:
As we have seen, this is always a failed attempt in a Bergman film (the man practically wrote the diagnostics for PTSD). And we see this attempt carried forth in his son Evald who longs for the cessation of generation. He expresses the will to negate his life and that of his child, whereas his wife longs for regeneration despite the realisation that bringing a new life into the world is absurd, a longing for life,