#smultronstallet

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Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) | 1957 | Ingmar Bergman | Sweden

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Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället, Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

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Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) (1957) Ingmar Bergman

December 10th 2022

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On March 20, 1959 Wild Strawberries debuted in Finland.

[nowheregoingtime]

I can’t think of anything worse than growing old.

smultronstallet

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Smultronstallet (Wild Strawberries) (1957)

A journey to accept an honourary degree takes a doctor on a trip to examine his past and learn more about himself.

It was interesting to examine the parallels between the people met on the road and the lives of the main characters. As one of the few films to ever depict nice hitchhikers, it was unusual and endearing. The did have one fight but went away from the car to have it and it was treated as high spirits rather than anything serious.

Much of the narrative had an air of futility around it since the main character is of advanced age, even constantly stating how little time he felt he has left. It’s also heavy in terms of subject matter, despite the whimsical imagery, since there’s little chance of any happy endings for any of the characters, only sad development.

The characters felt realistic and deep enough to influence the journey believably. Even the aged mother showed a disregard for some of her children, suggesting that the iciness of the lead was the result of her favouritism. It was particularly satisfying when the bickering couple were told to leave the car and left behind.

Overall, it was a rather slow ride even for an average-length film and few of the characters were nice enough to relate to, the fortunate exceptions being the two male hitchhikers and the daughter-in-law. The ending was necessarily vague although the implied reconciliation between the daughter-in-law who has boundaries, and the persistently nihilistic husband wasn’t one that the audience should have been routing for.

3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

[schlock-luster-video]

On October 13, 1958, Wild Strawberries premiered in Mexico City, Mexico.

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On July 21, 1961, Wild Strawberries debuted in West Germany.