Fanny and Alexander
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| Fanny and Alexander | |
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 Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Produced by | Jörn Donner |
| Written by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Starring | Pernilla Allwin Bertil Guve Börje Ahlstedt |
| Distributed by | Sandrew |
| Release date(s) |  December 17, 1982 17 June 1983 |
| Running time | 188 min. 312 min. (TV version) |
| Language | Swedish German Yiddish English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Fanny and Alexander (Swedish: Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was originally conceived as a four part TV movie which spanned 312 minutes. A version lasting only 188 minutes was created later for cinematic release.
Along with The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander is considered by many to be one of Bergman's best films. He intended the film to be his last feature, although he wrote several screenplays afterward and directed a number of TV specials.
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[edit] Plot
The story is set in the early twentieth century in Sweden and deals with a young boy named Alexander, his sister Fanny, and their well-to-do family the Ekdahls. Fanny and Alexander's mother and father are both involved in theater and are happily married until the father's sudden death. Shortly thereafter, the mother, Emilie, finds a new suitor in the local bishop, a handsome widower, and accepts his proposal of marriage, moving into his ascetic home and putting the children under his stern and unforgiving rule. He is particularly hard on Alexander, trying to break his will by every means. The children and their mother live as virtual prisoners in the bishop's house until finally the Ekdahl family intervenes. With help from an old friend, a Jewish antiques dealer, as well as some magic, the children are smuggled out of the house, but the Ekdahls' attempts to bribe or threaten the bishop into divorce fail. Emilie, by now pregnant, slips her husband a sedative and flees as he sleeps, after which a fire breaks out and the bishop is burnt to death. In the meantime, Alexander has met the Jewish merchant's mysterious son and fantasized about his stepfather's death – it is as if Alexander's fantasy comes true as he dreams it. The story ends on a mainly happy, life-affirming note, with the christening of Emilie's and the late bishop's daughter and the illegitimate daughter of one of the Ekdahl men, but Alexander encounters the bishop's ghost, signalling that he will never be completely free of him.
In addition to its themes of Christianity, repentance, submission to authority, and the questioning of God's existence, the film deals with love, estrangement, ghosts, and the paranormal, as well as the more common Bergman theme of existentialism. Bergman also borrows some of the film's symbolism from his earlier film Through A Glass Darkly. Scene's such as Alexander's late night encounter with Aron Retzinsky echo and even in ways mock the film's climax, only this time drawing attention God's symbolism as a puppet. When the children's father suffers his fatal heart attack, he is playing the ghost of the dead King in Hamlet; the figure of the Bishop, and what happens to him, are reminiscent of Claudius' usurpation and the young Prince's final revenge.
[edit] Cast (main)
- Ewa Fröling - Emelie Ekdahl
- Bertil Guve - Alexander Ekdahl
- Pernilla Allwin - Fanny Ekdahl
- Jan Malmsjö - Bishop Edvard Vergerus
- Gunn Wållgren - The grandmother; Helena Ekdahl
- Allan Edwall - Oscar Ekdahl
- Jarl Kulle - Gustav Adolf Ekdahl
- Mona Malm - Alma Ekdahl
- Erland Josephson - Isak Jacobi
- Börje Ahlstedt - Carl Ekdahl
- Christina Schollin - Lydia Ekdahl
- Pernilla August - Maj
- Kerstin Tidelius - Henrietta Vergerus
- Harriet Andersson - Justina
- Marianne Aminoff - Blenda Vergérus
- Stina Ekblad - Ismael Retzinsky
- Mats Bergman - Aron Retzinsky
[edit] Awards
The film was released in the United States in 1983 and won four Academy Awards:
- Best Foreign Film (producer Jörn Donner)
- Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist)
- Best Art Direction (Anna Asp, Susanne Lingheim)
- Costume Design (Marik Vos-Lundh)
Bergman was nominated for both Directing and Writing Original Screenplay but was not awarded, thus ending his last chance of ever receiving a personal Oscar for a film.
The film also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.
[edit] DVD releases
The uncut TV version of the film is available in DVD editions released by Artificial Eye (in Region 2) and The Criterion Collection (in Region 1). The Criterion Collection edition is anamorphically enhanced and is released as three separate sets: the theatrical version, the television version , and a behind-the scenes film, The Making of Fanny and Alexander; these discs are also available as a 5-disc box set. The Criterion release marked the first time the television version of Fanny and Alexander had been available in North America.
[edit] External links
- Fanny and Alexander at the Internet Movie Database
- Criterion Collection essay by Stig Bjorkman on the television version
- Criterion Collection essay by Rick Moody on the theatrical version
- DVD review of film at Alternative Film Guide
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| Preceded by Begin the Beguine |
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1983 |
Succeeded by Dangerous Moves |
| Preceded by Gandhi |
Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film 1984 |
Succeeded by A Passage to India |
