Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with Orange Click Here

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Average user rating
1 review

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

One of Bergman's warmest, and therefore finest films, this concerns an elderly academic - grouchy, introverted, dried up emotionally - who makes a journey to collect a university award, and en route relives his past by means of dreams, imagination, and encounters with others. It's an occasionally over-symbolic work (most notably in the opening nightmare sequence), but it's filled with richly observed characters and a real feeling for the joys of nature and youth. And Sjöström - himself a celebrated director, best known for his silent work (which included the Hollywood masterpiece The Wind) - gives an astonishingly moving performance as the aged professor. As Bergman himself wrote of his performance in the closing moments: 'His face shone with secretive light, as if reflected from another reality...It was like a miracle'.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend
Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with Orange Click Here

User reviews of this film

  • Technoguy said...
    Posted on Mar 18 2008 21:28 Bergman makes films with the depth and subtlety that a writer uses in writing great novels.This film is a lodestone in it's ability to set the template for all future films.There is a nightmare sequence that is truly astonishing,clocks without hands,people without faces,a coffin revealing himself that has fallen off a carriage.The power of the leading actor(Sjostrom) who himself was one of Sweden's great directors to convey changes of emotion from sadness to joy.The road trip he takes is both external by car to Lund to collect an honorary doctorate for his lifetime acheivements.Its also internal,through dreams and memories into the wild strawberry-patch of the unconscious.With his daughter-in-law Marianne(Tulin) he explores the highways and the by-ways,picking up hitch-hikers enroute,having a minor accident with a squabbling married couple.His dedication to his science has cut him off from the spontaneous springs of innocence,love and happiness.The symbolism is not heavy-handed,it meshes beautifully in with the past,the present and the future of his life.Bibi Andersson plays both his early love Sara,who he loses through his coldness and one of the young hitch-hikers on their way to Italy.The black and white filmography is a superbly executed achieve-
    ment.The dialogue has Dickensian power,the narrative is like a beautiful jewel that glimmers,the dream sequences are expressive and surrealistic.All the characters are working, from his cold dowager mother to Von Sydow as a garage mechanic.
    Report as inappropriate

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Hippies who work for The Man

Hippies who work for The Man

To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within

Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies

Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies

Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe

Grant Heslov: interview

Grant Heslov: interview

Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'

The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'

The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'

Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’

Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?

Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?

Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer

Michael Jackson's This Is It: review

Michael Jackson's This Is It: review

Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas

Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace

Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace

From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'

Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'

Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'

Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her

How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life

How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life

Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations