Themes: Family Gatherings, Sibling Relationships, Orphans
Main Cast: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Gunn Wållgren, Börje Ahlstedt, Allan Edwall
Release Year: 1982
Country: SE/FR/WG
Run Time: 188 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Though he made allusions to his own life in all of his films, Fanny and Alexander was the first overtly autobiographical film by Ingmar Bergman. Taking his time throughout (188 minutes to be exact), Bergman recreates several episodes from his youth, using as conduits the fictional Ekdahl family. Alexander, the director's alter ego, is first seen at age 10 at a joyous and informal Christmas gathering of relatives and servants. Fanny is Alexander's sister; both suffer an emotional shakedown when their recently-widowed mother (Ewa Froling) marries a cold and distant minister. Stripped of their creature comforts and relaxed family atmosphere, Fanny and Alexander suddenly find their childhood unendurable. The kids' grandmother (Gunn Wallgren) "kidnaps" Fanny and Alexander for the purpose of showering them with the first kindness and affection that they've had since their father's death. This "purge" of the darker elements of Fanny and Alexander's existence is accomplished at the unintentional (but applaudable) cost of the hated stepfather's life. Ingmar Bergman insisted that Fanny and Alexander, originally a multipart television series pared down to feature-film length, represented his final film, though within a year after its release he was busy with several additional Swedish TV projects, and he returned to make one more theatrical release movie before his death - the 2003 Saraband. Oscars went to Fanny and Alexander for Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist), Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
As Ingmar Bergman's pentultimate theatrical feature, this semi-autobiographical tale of two young children in turn-of-the-century Sweden is a distillation of a six-hour TV miniseries, which the director turned into a 3-hour plus movie. The last feature film that Bergman directed, it is a story seen through a child's eyes. The potent symbolism and profound melancholy that run through most of Bergman's work is evidenced here, but it is balanced by scenes of great sensual pleasure (a true delight, given Bergman's reputation for dourness) and emotional joy. The youthful point-of-view encourages the audience to adopt a naive simplicity while viewing the film, resulting in more profound mood swings as the tale follows the downward spiral of the protagonists' lives after their beloved poppa Oskar dies. Bergman's notoriously determined pacing works particularly well in evoking the childrens' dread in the Bishop's stultifying Puritanical household. The large ensemble cast is uniformly superb, with the two children (Bertil Guve and Pernilla Allwin) a heartbreakingly sweet touchstone for our emotions. This is one of Bergman's most impressive achievements, and probably his most popular and accessible film, as it examines his familiar issues of psychological torment and spiritual confusion in a humanistic and life-affirming context. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Fanny and Alexander took home four trophies, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography for Bergman's longtime collaborator Sven Nykvist, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
Ewa Fröling - Emilie Ekdahl; Christina Schollin - Lydia Ekdahl; Jarl Kulle - Gustav Adolf Ekdahl; Mona Malm - Alma; Gunnar Björnstrand - Filip Landahl; Jan Malmsjö - Bishop Edvard Vergerus; Marianne Aminoff - Bishop's mother Blenda; Erland Josephson - Isak Jacobi; Stina Ekblad - Ismael; Mats Bergman - Aron; Kristina Adolphson - Siri; Kristian Almgren - Putte; Harriet Andersson - Justina; Pernilla August - Maj; Anna Bergman - Miss Hanna Schwartz; Nils Brandt - Mr. Morsing; Siv Ericks - Alida; Majlis Granlund - Miss Vega; Maria Granlund - Petra; Sonya Hedenbratt - Aunt Emma; Svea Holst - Miss Ester; Heinz Hopf - Tomas Graal; Maud Hyttenberg - Mrs. Sinclair; Kerstin Karte - Prompter; Tore Karte - Administrative Director; Ake Lagergren - Johan Armfeldt; Sune Mangs - Mr. Salenius; Per Mattson - Mr. Mikael Bergman; Lena Olin - Rosa; Lickå Sjöman - Grete Holm; Eva von Hanno - Berta; Angelica Wallgren - Eva; Inga Ålenius - Lisen; Kerstin Tidelius - Henrietta Vergerus
Credit
Marik Vos-Lundh - Costume Designer, Ingmar Bergman - Director, Sylvia Ingemarsson - Editor, Jörn Donner - Executive Producer, Daniel Bell - Composer (Music Score), Frans Helmerson - Composer (Music Score), Marianne Jacobs - Composer (Music Score), Anna Asp - Production Designer, Sven Nykvist - Cinematographer, Katinka Farago - Production Manager, Brita Werkmäster - Production Manager, Jacob Tigerskiold - Set Designer, Ingmar Bergman - Screenwriter, Benjamin Britten - Featured Music, Robert Schumann - Featured Music
Fanny and Alexander (Swedish: Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982Swedishfilm written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was originally conceived as a four part TV movie which spanned 312 minutes. A version lasting 188 minutes was created later for cinematic release. The TV version has since been released as a one-part film.
Bergman intended the film to be his last feature, although he wrote several screenplays afterward and directed a number of TV specials.
The story is set in 1907-08 Uppsala, Sweden and deals with a young boy named Alexander, his sister Fanny, and their well-to-do family, the Ekdahls. The siblings' parents are both involved in theater and are happily married until the father's sudden death. Shortly thereafter, the mother, Emilie, finds a new suitor in the local bishop, a handsome widower, and accepts his proposal of marriage, moving into his ascetic home and putting the children under his stern and unforgiving rule. He is particularly hard on Alexander, trying to break his will by every means. The children and their mother live as virtual prisoners in the bishop's house until finally the Ekdahl family intervenes. With help from an old friend, a Jewish antiques dealer, as well as some magic, the children are smuggled out of the house, but the Ekdahls' attempts to bribe or threaten the bishop into divorce fail. Emilie, by now pregnant, slips her husband a sedative and flees as he sleeps, after which a fire breaks out and the bishop is burnt to death. In the meantime, Alexander has met the Jewish merchant's mysterious nephew, Ismael Retzinsky, and fantasized about his stepfather's death – it is as if Alexander's fantasy comes true as he dreams it. The story ends on a mainly happy, life-affirming note, with the christening of Emilie's and the late bishop's daughter and the illegitimate daughter of Alexander's uncle, Gustav Ekdahl; but Alexander encounters the bishop's ghost, signalling that he will never be completely free of him.
In addition to its themes of Christianity, repentance, submission to authority, and the questioning of God's existence, the film deals with love, estrangement, ghosts, and the paranormal, as well as the more common Bergman theme of existentialism. Bergman also borrows some of the film's symbolism from his earlier film Through A Glass Darkly. Scenes such as Alexander's late night encounter with Aron Retzinsky echo and even mock the film's climax, only this time drawing attention to God's symbolism as a puppet. When the children's father suffers his fatal heart attack, he is playing the ghost of the dead King in Hamlet; the figure of the Bishop, and what happens to him, are reminiscent of Claudius' usurpation and the young Prince's final revenge.
The sunny and joyous Ekdahl household sequences are said to have been inspired by the works of Swedishpainter and interior designerCarl Larsson (1853-1919). The exotic and supernatural elements in the storyline derive from the stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Uma Thurman was also listed as appearing in this film.
DVD releases
The uncut TV version of the film is available in DVD editions released by Artificial Eye (in Region 2) and The Criterion Collection (in Region 1). The Criterion Collection has released two DVD editions of the film: a five-disc set that includes the theatrical version, the television version, and a behind-the-scenes film, The Making of Fanny and Alexander as well as other supplements; and a two-disc set that includes only the 188 minute theatrical version and fewer supplements. The Criterion release marked the first time the television version of Fanny and Alexander had been available in North America.[2]
