Review of Wild Strawberries (2012) by Bruno S — 26 Jan 2011

Good yes. Best movie ever....well.

It's surprisingly deep for a film that is essentially about a an old man taking a car ride and having some dreams. But I should come to expect deep when watching Bergman. This film to me was about of course, life, death, existentialism, the existence of god (common Bergman so far) and our being for ourselves and of course others.

I'm always amazed how he comes out with these stories though. They seem to keep my attention when they shouldn't. Bergman was an innovator in the way stories are told on the screen, they feel so natural. His touch is very sophisticated. But maybe it's the black and white, it's mesmerizing. It could also be the babe combo of Bibi Andersson and Ingrid Thulin....wa wa wee wa.

I think all the actors did a fine job. I believe that Bergman's strength is the conviction of his actors and the way his stories so effortlessly unfold like onions. This one felt like a road trip movie, which it was. I almost always like those because in film the characters tend to find themselves during those trips, which makes for entertaining cinema for the most part. This one in particular. I love how we see the relationships form on screen, and how subtle the story is tolf through the characters and not by beating us over the head or insulting our intelligence.

(List of road trip favorites off the top of my head: National Lampoons Vacation, Little Miss Sunshine, Sideways, 28 Days Later, Children of Men....well all of these are to some extent).