Amazon.co.uk Review
Made in 1957, Wild Strawberries finds the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman at the height of his powers. It's a road movie, in effect: an aged medical professor (Victor Sjöström)--lonely, disillusioned and haunted by dreams of death--travels across country to receive an honorary degree. But as with all good road movies, the outer journey parallels an inner one. Incidents along the road conjure up memories, and Professor Borg finds himself forced to confront the failures and lost opportunities of his life. Gentle and elegiac, Bergman's film is a masterpiece of compassion and reconciliation, and also a tribute to his predecessor Sjöström, the greatest Swedish director of the silent era. The 78-year-old film maker gives an austere, moving performance, and Bergman treats his lined features like a landscape of yearning and regret. Sjöström is ably supported by other members of Bergman's regular repertory company of the period, particularly Bibi Andersson, heartbreakingly appealing, as the lost love of Borg's youth. --Philip Kemp
Amazon.co.uk Review
Wild Strawberries, Ingmar Bergman's 1957 follow-up to the The Seventh Seal, is a "journey" movie. Victor Sjostrom plays Isak Borg, an elderly retired professor of medicine, setting out by car to the University of Lund to receive a Jubilee doctorate degree. With him on the journey is his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin). Along the way, they pick up a bickering couple and three hitchhikers, including effervescent sprite Sara (Bibi Andersson). Borg also experiences some troubling and beautifully realised dream sequences, as well as flashbacks evoked by a visit to the country house of his youth. Through these, we learn of Borg's awareness of his imminent demise and his underlying regret that his personal relationships have always been distant and reserved, especially with his wife and son.
With his magnificently aged and infinitely expressive emotional range borne of his years as a silent movie actor, Sjostrom superbly conveys a dawning sense of remorse and self-realisation. However, the performance is almost too good. The central accusation of the film--that the doctor is "utterly cold"--hardly squares with what we see of him on screen. We just have to take Bergman's word for the doctor's past aloofness. Wild Strawberries is so overpoweringly rich and ruminative a film, however, that what should be a major flaw is reduced to a barely visible crack.
On the DVD: the text-only extras are notes from Bergman's own memoir, in which he discusses his own estrangement from his parents (the autobiographical inspiration for Wild Strawberries) while critic Geoff Andrews' additional comments are helpful. He hails the film as "one of the first great road movies".--David Stubbs
Customer Reviews:
Ingmar Bergman's warmest film........2008-02-23
Funny to see a heart-warming road movie in the body of work by Ingmar Bergman, but here it is. Wild Strawberries charts the spiritual odyssey of professor Isak Borg, played by Victor Sjostrom. As he drives from Stockholm to Lund to receive an honourary degree, he is accompanied by his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin), whose marriage appears to be falling apart. Along the way he visits several of his childhood locations, forcing him to become aware of not only his mortality, but his emotional indifference to those close to him.
Wild Strawberries' true greatness however, lies with the director himself. Bergman, ever the master, refuses to let the proceedings get mired down with over-sentimentality. Borg's self-aware reflection and redemption comes across as genuinely touching, but never sickly sweet.
His peaceful, understated direction can only hint at the more angry, obtuse work that would come later in his illustrious career.
But this being Bergman, you know there will be some dark moments. Borg's creepy dream where a coffin reveals someone he knows rather well, will send a cold jolt up the spine. And Marianne's tearful flashback involving her pregnancy, may be a little to close for comfort for some.
Yet it's all worth it just to see that genuine Bergman rarity; a truly touching ending.
And the performances sparkle. Sjostrom, himself Sweden's greatest director before Bergman, gives a measured, beautiful portrayal in a performance worthy of anyone you can name. And the late, great Ingrid Thulin's radiant beauty is simply breathtaking.
Who'd have thought it? An Ingmar Bergman movie to make you smile.
Journey into past.......2007-11-29
This is a film about loneliness, regrets, disappointments, self-discovery, existential anxiety, forgiveness, redemption, our vulnerabilities and failures as human beings, and the acceptance of the world as it is. It reaffirmed my belief that Aristotle was right when he said that "happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" and that "learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain."
Poignant Character Study.......2006-06-06
"Wild Strawberries" is a poignant character study of an elderly doctor nearing the end of his life. The film is like a sort of cross between "A Christmas Carol", "La Gloire De Mon Pere" and Tarkovsky's "Mirror". Set during a road trip to receive an honorary award from a university the doctor, played superbly by Victor Sjostrom, already plagued by vivid dreams about death and lost opportunities in his youth , gets more reminders of his personal failings en route. Most of these are in the form of reveries, triggered by encounters with people and places from his past."Wild Strawberries" is well acted ,the cinematography is excellent and the themes of the film ultimately are uplifting ones.
A true masterpiece.......2006-04-17
Nearing the end of his life, Professor Isak Borg is driving, with his daughter-in-law, from Stockholm to Lund to be awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to medical science. Through his conversations with his daughter-in-law, a group of three young hitch-hikers they pick up and an embittered married couple who nearly crash into them, as well as extraordinary dream sequences and flashbacks to his youth, Borg faces and come to terms with the life he has lived. Wild Strawberries was one of the very first "road movies" - a film in which the main character simultaneously undertakes a physical journey and a psychological or spiritual journey - and it remains one of the very best of the genre. Isak Borg is played by Victor Sjöström, who is outstanding in his depiction of an old man facing death. This is one of Bergman's masterpieces.
High quality film.......2004-07-21
A thought-provoking, bittersweet, intimate and poignant journey through a fulfilled but regretful life, this film continuously captivates and entertains. Ingmar Bergman excels in knitting together dreams, memories, imaginings and the present to explore the human soul. Large credit should be given to the cast for outstanding performances, particularly Victor Sjostrom as the old professor nearing the end of his life, Ingrid Thulin as the stoical daughter-in-law and Bibi Anderson as the charming lost-love and the effervescent hitchhiker.
Although a sorrowful experience, the appeal of this film will never fade.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Made in 1957, Wild Strawberries finds the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman at the height of his powers. It's a road movie, in effect: an aged medical professor (Victor Sjöström)--lonely, disillusioned and haunted by dreams of death--travels across country to receive an honorary degree. But as with all good road movies, the outer journey parallels an inner one. Incidents along the road conjure up memories, and Professor Borg finds himself forced to confront the failures and lost opportunities of his life. Gentle and elegiac, Bergman's film is a masterpiece of compassion and reconciliation, and also a tribute to his predecessor Sjöström, the greatest Swedish director of the silent era. The 78-year-old film maker gives an austere, moving performance, and Bergman treats his lined features like a landscape of yearning and regret. Sjöström is ably supported by other members of Bergman's regular repertory company of the period, particularly Bibi Andersson, heartbreakingly appealing, as the lost love of Borg's youth. --Philip Kemp
Amazon.co.uk Review
Wild Strawberries, Ingmar Bergman's 1957 follow-up to the The Seventh Seal, is a "journey" movie. Victor Sjostrom plays Isak Borg, an elderly retired professor of medicine, setting out by car to the University of Lund to receive a Jubilee doctorate degree. With him on the journey is his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin). Along the way, they pick up a bickering couple and three hitchhikers, including effervescent sprite Sara (Bibi Andersson). Borg also experiences some troubling and beautifully realised dream sequences, as well as flashbacks evoked by a visit to the country house of his youth. Through these, we learn of Borg's awareness of his imminent demise and his underlying regret that his personal relationships have always been distant and reserved, especially with his wife and son.
With his magnificently aged and infinitely expressive emotional range borne of his years as a silent movie actor, Sjostrom superbly conveys a dawning sense of remorse and self-realisation. However, the performance is almost too good. The central accusation of the film--that the doctor is "utterly cold"--hardly squares with what we see of him on screen. We just have to take Bergman's word for the doctor's past aloofness. Wild Strawberries is so overpoweringly rich and ruminative a film, however, that what should be a major flaw is reduced to a barely visible crack.
On the DVD: the text-only extras are notes from Bergman's own memoir, in which he discusses his own estrangement from his parents (the autobiographical inspiration for Wild Strawberries) while critic Geoff Andrews' additional comments are helpful. He hails the film as "one of the first great road movies".--David Stubbs
Customer Reviews:
Ingmar Bergman's warmest film........2008-02-23
Funny to see a heart-warming road movie in the body of work by Ingmar Bergman, but here it is. Wild Strawberries charts the spiritual odyssey of professor Isak Borg, played by Victor Sjostrom. As he drives from Stockholm to Lund to receive an honourary degree, he is accompanied by his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin), whose marriage appears to be falling apart. Along the way he visits several of his childhood locations, forcing him to become aware of not only his mortality, but his emotional indifference to those close to him.
Wild Strawberries' true greatness however, lies with the director himself. Bergman, ever the master, refuses to let the proceedings get mired down with over-sentimentality. Borg's self-aware reflection and redemption comes across as genuinely touching, but never sickly sweet.
His peaceful, understated direction can only hint at the more angry, obtuse work that would come later in his illustrious career.
But this being Bergman, you know there will be some dark moments. Borg's creepy dream where a coffin reveals someone he knows rather well, will send a cold jolt up the spine. And Marianne's tearful flashback involving her pregnancy, may be a little to close for comfort for some.
Yet it's all worth it just to see that genuine Bergman rarity; a truly touching ending.
And the performances sparkle. Sjostrom, himself Sweden's greatest director before Bergman, gives a measured, beautiful portrayal in a performance worthy of anyone you can name. And the late, great Ingrid Thulin's radiant beauty is simply breathtaking.
Who'd have thought it? An Ingmar Bergman movie to make you smile.
Journey into past.......2007-11-29
This is a film about loneliness, regrets, disappointments, self-discovery, existential anxiety, forgiveness, redemption, our vulnerabilities and failures as human beings, and the acceptance of the world as it is. It reaffirmed my belief that Aristotle was right when he said that "happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" and that "learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain."
Poignant Character Study.......2006-06-06
"Wild Strawberries" is a poignant character study of an elderly doctor nearing the end of his life. The film is like a sort of cross between "A Christmas Carol", "La Gloire De Mon Pere" and Tarkovsky's "Mirror". Set during a road trip to receive an honorary award from a university the doctor, played superbly by Victor Sjostrom, already plagued by vivid dreams about death and lost opportunities in his youth , gets more reminders of his personal failings en route. Most of these are in the form of reveries, triggered by encounters with people and places from his past."Wild Strawberries" is well acted ,the cinematography is excellent and the themes of the film ultimately are uplifting ones.
A true masterpiece.......2006-04-17
Nearing the end of his life, Professor Isak Borg is driving, with his daughter-in-law, from Stockholm to Lund to be awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to medical science. Through his conversations with his daughter-in-law, a group of three young hitch-hikers they pick up and an embittered married couple who nearly crash into them, as well as extraordinary dream sequences and flashbacks to his youth, Borg faces and come to terms with the life he has lived. Wild Strawberries was one of the very first "road movies" - a film in which the main character simultaneously undertakes a physical journey and a psychological or spiritual journey - and it remains one of the very best of the genre. Isak Borg is played by Victor Sjöström, who is outstanding in his depiction of an old man facing death. This is one of Bergman's masterpieces.
High quality film.......2004-07-21
A thought-provoking, bittersweet, intimate and poignant journey through a fulfilled but regretful life, this film continuously captivates and entertains. Ingmar Bergman excels in knitting together dreams, memories, imaginings and the present to explore the human soul. Large credit should be given to the cast for outstanding performances, particularly Victor Sjostrom as the old professor nearing the end of his life, Ingrid Thulin as the stoical daughter-in-law and Bibi Anderson as the charming lost-love and the effervescent hitchhiker.
Although a sorrowful experience, the appeal of this film will never fade.
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