saig mutallimov
This picture is in the spirit of magical realism, where the elements of mysticism are interwoven, which play a role in the search for the answers posed by the author about the existence of God, about the crisis of religion and the value of family and love. The author of the film does not usually put points, but shows the final situation.This episode smooths out suspicion from the previous situation, there is no disharmonious sense of the possibility of tragic events and there is no optimistic mood at the same time. Everything is natural and everything can be.The picture really deserves the "Oscar" in the category "Best Foreign Film" and for Ingmar Bergman it became the third gift from the Academy.In the cinemas was a shortened version of the film little more than 3 hours, the full directors version is 4 series with a total time over 5 hours.Strong and beautiful film from Ingmar Bergman, I recommend to view. 9 out of 10.
KobusAdAstra
We are introduced to a large, well-to-do family, as seen through the eyes of young Alexander: Helena Ekdahl, his regally-looking grandmother and matriarch, who tries to keep the family together, his uncles, philandering Gustav Adolf and Carl, who continually has financial problems. Then Alexander's younger sister, Fanny, and their father, Oscar and mother, Emilie. Both their parents are actors (and some of the other family members too), whilst Oscar also works as director of the acting company. A large and generally happy family, as we see in hauntingly beautifully filmed Christmas scenes.Things change for the worse when Oscar suffers a stroke and passes away. Emilie manages the performing company for a year and then decides to withdraw from it. She is lonely and falls in love with the local bishop, Edvard, who conducted Oscar's funeral service. They get married and she moves to his household with the kids. They were in for a rude shock. They had to leave everything 'worldly' behind, no toys, their beloved books, or fancy clothes. The contrast with their previous lavish and luxury lifestyle and their new life behind cold, unadorned thick walls with bars in front of the windows, couldn't be more pronounced. In their new and austere, depressing household they had to follow strict new rules, something the kids were never subjected to. Furthermore they had to share the house with Edvard's vicious spinster sister, meddling mother and bed-ridden aunt. Alexander has a lively imagination and sometimes makes up stories, or tells fibs. He has a rebellious streak, too, and clashes with his stepfather. As a result he is caned and locked up alone in the cold attic. It seems as if Emilie is powerless, not knowing what to do to help the kids, entranced by the charismatic Edvard.The grandmother comes to learn of the kids' hardships; that they were practically being held prison, and decides to do something about it. But it is not going to be easy; the bishop is a very powerful and influential man... I watched the full, uncut and original version (part of the excellent 'The Criterion Collection'), nearly 5 hours long. (I also have the shorter theatrical version, but will leave that for another day.) It's length did not bother me in the least, and that should be a good indication of the quality of the film.The wonderful cinematography, music score, lavish sets and costumes are all out of this world. And particularly so the outstanding cast. All the actors were excellent, but mention must be made of the remarkable performances of Ewa Fröhling (Emilie), Gun Wållgren (the grandmother) and Bertil Guve (Alexander). And then the clever story-line, fluctuating between the real world and the acted world, the make-believe world. "On a flimsy framework of reality, the imagination spins, weaving new patterns."In my view 'Fanny and Alexander' is one of the best films I have ever seen. 10/10.
Wim Boeren
In Fanny & Alexander, those two characters are basically side-characters. Or at least they feel that way because I still have no idea who they are. The same can be said about everyone else. Even though the viewer never really gets an idea who all these people are, we're supposed to care that one man bursts into a depressing rant all of a sudden, another man dies, a woman starts screaming in the middle of the night, the widow finds "true love" about 5 minutes later, a boy is haunted by his dead father... The movie is full of these events that have an extremely high impact on the young minds of these two children. But why should I really care when those two children are presented as empty shells throughout the whole movie? And why should I care when the whole movie is depressing?
