Product Description

Through the wide eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve), we witness the great delights and conflicts of the Ekdahl family—a sprawling, convivial bourgeois clan living in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Intended as Ingmar Bergman’s swan song, Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) is the legendary filmmaker’s warmest and most autobiographical film, a triumph that combines his trademark melancholy and emotional rigor with immense joyfulness and sensuality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26973 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2004-11-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Swedish
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 188 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
One of the more upbeat and accessible films by acclaimed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Written by Bergman, this autobiographical story follows the lives of two children during one tumultuous year. After the death of the children's beloved father, a local theater owner, their mother marries a strict clergyman. Their new life is cold and ascetic, especially when compared to the unfettered and impassioned life they knew with their father. Most of the story is seen through the eyes of the little boy and is often told in dreamlike sequences. Colorful, insightful, and optimistic, this is far less grim than most of Bergman's work. It was awarded four of the six Oscars for which it was nominated, including Best Foreign Language Film. Though this was announced as his last film, Bergman continued to work into the late 1990s, though mostly for Swedish television. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews

The Sacredness of Human Love
Perhaps we're the same person, with no boundaries. Perhaps we flow through each other, stream through each other boundlessly and magnificently. You bear such terrible thoughts...it's almost painful to be near you. ~Ismael

My introduction to Ingmar Berman was Wild Strawberries. Since his movies are relatively new to me, I had no idea what to expect. The stark exterior with snow and chilling life-taking rivers contrast with lush interiors filled with red curtains draped to the floor and comforting warm rooms that invite you to stay and read a book.

The beauty in this movie stole my heart. It is a nostalgic blend of childhood memories and in some places there are phantasmagoric elements. Pleasure sets the mood at the start and contrasts sharply with the Bishop's spiritual angst and the temporary solitude endured by the children.

The two main families have contrasting life views. The initial matriarchal family, the Ekdahl's household, is filled with joy and freedom, while the patriarchal family, Vergerus household, is filled with restriction, conflict and literally, pain. While the movie seems to imply that the second family is also matriarchal with an evil twist, it feels very patriarchal because all the women fear the Bishop.

Oscar Ekdahl and Emilie have two children: Alexander and Fanny. Oscar then dies of a heart attack (but never leaves the movie because he reappears often as a ghost like in Hamlet) and leaves Emilie to take care of the children. She seeks out a male role model for her children and seems to be a poor judge of character or in need of security due to financial concerns.

Fanny and Alexander are almost quiet observers in their own life, taking what occurs because they feel they have no choice in the matter. The mansion they lived in created a safe nurturing environment and the second house seems more like a prison or dank castle set close to a river. After Emilie marries the Bishop, their lives take a sharp turn for the worst because of the austere surroundings and confining spiritual practices. There is one scene of cruelty that is quite horrifying if you consider the control over an innocent child, but we are soon given some relief by the magical setting that follows.

What truly disturbed me more than anything (besides the themes of punishment and vengeance) is when the Bishop almost innocently asks Emilie and her children to give up their entire lives and start afresh by moving to his house. It is completely subtle, yet this total lack of emotional regard for memory and attachment was a warning sign Emilie completely disregards.

Since I love Hamlet, I enjoyed seeing how this play was acted out in the movie in subtle ways. If you know Shakespeare's play, you may take great pleasure in recognizing the similarities, even when presented almost humorously as in the mention of soliloquies.

To truly summarize this movie in three easy points would be to say this movie is about Bliss and Family Nurturing, Horror and Childhood Insecurity/Fears and the Release from Captivity or a Return to the Fantasy life. I love the way Berman incorporates fantastical and supernatural elements, but even in this moment there is some horror to be endured.

Alexander is the main force in the film and Fanny seems quiet and somewhat underdeveloped as a character. Her moment of beauty comes when the Bishop tries to touch her face and she moves away in defiance. She has a quiet power and therefore she is more in control of how she is treated.

There are a few scenes I found to be especially beautiful. Alexander opening the doors and entering a room filled with red curtains, then standing at the window with his hand on the window and you can see the detail of the embroidered sheers. Outside a scene is striking as women sit with orange, yellow and sapphire buckets of flowers.

The family traditions, suspense, playful lusty romantic scenes, ghosts, and horse drawn carriages make this movie one of the most captivating movies I've ever seen. Ingmar Berman creates a subtle intoxication as he mingles his soul and memories in a story that borders on tragedy and then recovers in the most magical of ways. This movie is art in every way and the contrasts and tests of character are unforgettable.

~The Rebecca Review

8/12/2005
P.S. After recently watching the Swedish television version (it is on the 5-disc set), both may be essential viewing. While the TV version extends scenes in great detail, there are a few surprises that change the tone of the film in subtle ways. Alexander becomes less the focus and a much more reclusive and at times somewhat ominous presence in the background, while the Bishop can at times almost appear human. This was surprising because in the film version, he is definitely vilified to a greater degree. This masterpiece is a great study of the human condition and throughout the script there are new revelations in the TV version. The TV version seems much more about female empowerment than the film that seems to be about a young boy's journey. We find out why the Bishop's wife and children actually die and there seems to be more of an emphasis on the outside of the amazing yellow home walled with windows. Emilie seems even more exhausted by the pain of her daily tedium and plays the part of a pawn rather well in order to enable her own release from her marriage. The movie is then a beautiful introduction to a much greater masterpiece that almost has to be viewed to understand the context in which various scenes occur. Of course, there is still that one mysterious double appearance, which is magical, yet unexplained.

Powerful
This ORIGINALLY THREE HOUR LONG film was extended for Swedish Television a couple of years after its release. I've seen both versions and must say that the story makes much more sense in the five hour version, and I hope that's the one we eventually will get. However, some stuff (15 to 20 minutes or so) could have been left out in the extended version without having affected the story line, but all shots are nevertheless enchantingly beautiful. Bergman has said that this film (apparently his last for cinema) sums up all his work as a director, and I have no doubt that his career in film couldn't have ended on a higher note. The movie is flawless and powerful, plus on DVD we'll be able to watch it in the widescreen format!

Two Releases of Fanny and Alexander Coming This Fall
The Criterion Collection is currently working on two separate editions of the Ingmar Bergman masterpiece Fanny and Alexander. The theatrical edition ($29.95) presents the Academy Award-winning 188-minute version of the film in a two-disc set with audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie, a collection of introductions by Bergman to eleven of his films, and an assortment of trailers. The special-edition five-disc boxed set ($59.95) includes the complete contents of the theatrical edition as well as the five-hour director's cut of the film, Bergman's own feature-length documentary The Making of Fanny and Alexander, a new 40-minute video of exclusive interviews with cast and crew, and Ingmar Bergman Bids Farewell to Film-a one-hour filmed interview with the famed director. Look for both editions of Fanny and Alexander in November!