Review of Fanny and Alexander (1982) by Tristan G — 21 Mar 2009

Now I know that many people will agree with me when I say that FANNY AND ALEXANDER is one of the greatest films ever made, so instead of talking about how good it is, I'm instead going to say why I think that it's one of the greatest films ever made.

This 312 minute film isinjected with so much personality and care for every detail of narrative importance that the fact that the film is able to depict it's storyline in a such a natural and fearless way right away makes it special.

The acting and direction the film takes is nothing less than spot of in telling this sort of story. But to really go into why this is good, I'd have to start with what the film made me feel about myself.

I understand that the film is supposed to be autobiographical, so I felt a kind of real connection to the events. The film gave me a refreshing and affirming outlook on life more than any other film ever has.

It gave me confidence, wisdom, and a much deeper understanding of what the true meaning of cinema is. The first part of the film in which the Christian family is examined and approached in an honest way allowed me to absorb a kind of perspective that I've never really been able to approach without having an opinion.

This film just moves along at a reasonable pace to which the story is easily able to keep track. When the character of Alexander is abused, I had a harder time absorbing what I was watching and wasn't really able to take it in until later on in the film in Part 2.

I had a break down. The film made me hurt, but it was still going on and there was still a lot of important plot details that I could still keep track of while continuing to view this picture. When the third part started, I had already felt the affects of the film working on me, despite being only halfway over.

The deaths in the family, the increasing amount of characters, and the situation of the boy was already illustrated in a clear cut way, but the film begins to develop supernatural elements, and by the time the forth and final part starts, it feels like a completely different kind of film then it once was.

It becomes easier to sympathize with the character's plights and situations, so instead of the film dwelling on that, it concentrates on the theme of God, and whether or not God should be taken with a grain of salt or with a real understanding.

In rediscovering all these ideal concepts that the film has built up to, it continues with these themes and allows us to keep these traits in the back of our minds before the film is able to inject a great amount of black humor that the audience can only appreciate rather than dismiss.

Theater, ghosts, and Christmas have all been common themes in film, but to allow such a natural flow of these ideas could come at a price of narrative value. Instead, it gives it all an unexpected sort of grace that doesn't deny the fairy tale elements, but doesn't allow it to get in the way.

At the end of the film, I not only felt a kind of satisfaction, but a sort of new outlook on the idea of whether or not children and religion are at all a good match. In theory, perhaps, but since none of us know who God is until it is told to us, perhaps we are all able to find more sense in these ideals than other people, but this isn't the point.

The point is that when you look at it all from these perspectives, you are already allowing these ideas to come into play with your decisions. It's completely normal to allow this to happen, but when it involves hurting or annoying people, you are not doing it in the way that is intended by it and instead allowing other people to know that you're afraid.

Being afraid is normal, but not when you question all that you've learned up until now. Talking and using actions are what allows us to champion these sorts of beliefs in a more sensible way, and so far this has not been what I've ever seen anybody do.

Instead, people decide to fight with, lie to, steal from, and hurt the feelings of other people to take advantage of what they believe is the right rationale, and nothing good can result from such carelessness.

Instead of taking advantage of being human and doing what our heart would naturally say, we are raised too strictly, and what results from the victim is a kind of distorted view of life that cannot be changed.

Instead of abusing or controlling the youth, we should allow them to form an opinion and then listen to what they have to say. This is what I feel that the film is saying, and I think that this is something that makes more sense than almost anything.

Parents exist not to recruit their children to their beliefs and groups, but instead to let their children absorb the world around them and form their own person. This film is a testament to this sort of idea and what it also is is one of the most moving and life-changing films ever made.

Not only do I recommend FANNY AND ALEXANDER, I see it as required viewing for everybody who isn't sure what to think or believe, to everybody who loves film, and to everybody who has given up hope.

Please see it. To not see it wold be to deny yourself from a truly human understanding of what the concepts of humor and horror are, and what the magic of youth can entail. To not watch this film would be to deny yourself a kind of true beauty of human existence.

To decide to not see it would be like denying yourself a kind of strength and effort that you don't see being pushed in the art and film making business. This film is the perfect example of the power of cinema.

It is perfect.