Wild Strawberries (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Review of the 2013 Criterion Blu-ray edition
Along with classics like "Ikiru", "Tokyo Story", and "Umberto D", the 1957 Swedish masterpiece "Wild Strawberries" is one of the greatest films about old age ever made. With Ingmar Bergman's lyrical and sensitive direction and Gunnar Fischer's fairly expressionistic black-and-white cinematography, the film tells the tale of an old man who reminisces about his past that is filled with loss, regrets, and loneliness. The film is in several respects similar to Federico Fellini's 1963 film "8 1/2". Both films open with a nightmare sequence, and mix dreams, flashbacks, and reality throughout the narrative. Both are about a lonely and disillusioned intellectual who embarks on a journey of self-examination. Both men in the films are haunted by the past and tormented by the present, and have to deal with unsettling issues about their lives, their work, and their beliefs. And both ultimately manage to reach some sort of emotional closure.

Criterion's Region-A Blu-ray release of...

Hang in there
This movie can seem depressing and some of the scenes are hard to watch - the mirror scene with the old girfriend, the scene with his wife in the forest, the terrible couple on the road, but the three youngsters, Miss Agda, the nordic beauty of Ingrid Thulin, and Victor's wonderful performance make this a treasure. Beautifully photographed of course.



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