The Magic Lantern of Ingmar Bergman: Wild Strawberries
March 18, 2025
Presented by The Swedish Club and Greg Olson Productions
The Magic Lantern of Ingmar Bergman
For Bergman reality is multi-layered, and here an aged professor (Swedish cinema pioneer Victor Sjostrom), through potent memories and current conflicts and beatitudes, deals with those who see him as a failure, or a grand success. With human sympathy and warmth, Bergman deals with his own parental conflicts while celebrating his idol Sjostrom. Ingrid Thulin becomes one of Bergman’s star actors.
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Tuesday, March 18, 2025
At a time when Bergman was trying to make peace with his aged parents, Wild Strawberries joins an old man’s journey of self-reflection and discovery. Dr. Borg (Bergman’s idol renowned film director Victor Sjostrom) is being driven by his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) to receive a prestigious honorary degree. Bergman, with his dream-conjuring cinematic fluency, has already shown death reaching out for Borg. This emotional jolt is amplified by Marianne’s bitter accusation that Borg’s egotistical selfishness and emotional coldness have formed her husband’s (Borg’s son, Gunnar Bjornstrand) character, and ruined their marriage. Bergman stresses the theme of intimate strife as Marianne gives a ride to a couple who viciously bicker in the back seat. Bergman masterfully interweaves planes of reality. As the journey progresses Borg revisits his youth with his parents in charming Old World settings; and a patch of wild strawberries evokes Sara, the girl he once loved (Bibi Andersson) who, due to his hesitation, married his brother instead. Back in the present, Marianne and Borg pick up some teenage hitchhikers, including another Sara (again Bibi Andersson) who take Borg at face value. They see a wise man of great accomplishment, while Bergman feels Borg’s sin was “not asking for forgiveness” from those he hurt. Perhaps the female energy of the two Saras (Bergman and Bibi Andersson were in love) can be a bridge to Borg’s self-reconciliation, and the film itself a grace note to Bergman’s parents. Best Film Award Berlin Film Festival.
—Greg Olson
- Director: Ingmar Bergman
- Principal Cast: Victor Sjostrom, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Folke Sundquist, Bjorn Bjelfvenstam, Naima Wifstrand
- Year: 1957
- Running Time: 91 min.
- Screenplay: Ingmar Bergman
- Cinematographers: Gunnar Fischer
- Editors: Oscar Rosander
- Music: Erik Nordgren
- International Sales: Svensk Filmindustri