Wild
Strawberries (
Smultronstallet), 1957,
Black and White,
Swedish,
subtitled, is a film
written and directed by
Swedish movie god
Ingmar Bergman.
It follows a 14 hour road trip taken by Isak Borg (played by Victor Sjostrom) to go receive an honorary doctorate. On the drive you are taken through Borgs' dreams, memories and relationships with his daughter in law (played by Ingrid Thulin) and the travellers (think Chaucer) that he picks up. The main theme of the film is Borgs' overwhelming feeling of inadequacy and fear that as he nears death he has lived a empty and vapid life. It is a heavy movie that takes a bit of time to settle into but once it gets going (not to imply the movie ever moves at a quick pace) it's an incredible movie that deals with existential issues in a very direct, funny and matter of fact manner. The dialogue in the film is incredible and you find yourself excited between scenes to see what will be tackled next. Definitely ahead of its time and our time as well.