Wild Strawberries (1957)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Folke Sundquist, Björn Bjelfvenstam, Naima Wiftstrand, Jullan Kindahl, Gunnar Sjöberg, Gunnel Broström, Max von Sydow, Ann-Marie Wiman, Gertrud Fridh, Sif Ruud, Yngve Nordwall, Åke Fridell.

Elderly doctor Isak Borg (Sjöström) takes a trip with disgruntled daughter-in-law Thulin to pick up an award from the University of Lund, and ends up taking stock of his life on the way through a series of transportive vision-like memories that blend together past with present for a tapestry of successes and failures, full of regret and emptiness, but perhaps—at the end—peace as well. An existential odyssey companion piece with Bergman’s previous film from the same year (The Seventh Seal), but where that one turned its gaze to the “big picture” human condition, this one frames its soulful examination in the more intimate terms of one man’s life. A touch too ponderous and overly unsubtle in its symbolism, but a rewarding effort with no shortage of haunting sights and psychological sensations, and some lighter more frivolous moments to round out life’s encompassing experience. Masterclass acting from several participants, especially eighty-year-old Sjöström in his final screen performance, who directed and starred in the silent film Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage) more than thirty-five years prior, which greatly influenced the filmmaker of this one; the two pictures overlap on certain themes and abstractions, and the carriage hearse seen at the beginning of this story might be considered a tribute of sorts. Original Swedish title: Smultronstället.

89/100