Bergman's Wild Strawberries

I had never seen this movie so I bought the Criterion DVD a few months ago. Finally got a chance to watch it last night. WOW. What a beautiful and profound movie. I really like Bergman, don't know why I hadn't ever seen this one, but, better late than never, I guess.

I don't recall the source of the quote "The unexamined life is not worth living", but it is oh so true. We all have things in our lives that we look back on fondly, and things that we regret. Isak Borg, closing in on the end of his life, finally realizes this and undertakes a mental, as well as a physical, journey through his past. The results frequently aren't what he would have expected, but he does reach some measure of self realization, and, subsequently, contentment, as well as acceptance of his impending demise. This doesn't do justice to Bergman's poetic visual sense, but who could. Anyway, sorry to ramble a bit, but this movie had a big effect on me, and I highly recommend it to those who haven't been fortunate enough to see it. BTW, the Criterion DVD is excellent, as are most of their DVDs.

Jeff

 

By the way... that's one of Steve Hoffman's favorite movies!

 

Weird, I just got through watching the first half of this movie. I had to take it back to the library though. Looks like I will have to check it out again to watch the second half. It was pretty good though. I got to the part where they drop off the rude couple because of all the yelling etc. Looked like an interesting film.