Justin Peterson’s review published on Letterboxd:
Criterion Collection Spine #262
(Foreign language film - Sweden)
(Five-hour Television Version)
(🎄Christmas Movie Fest 2020🎄)
Legendary Swedish Director Ingmar Bergman presents the joys, hardships, and mysteries of the world through the eyes of a young boy.
"Everything is alive. And everything is God, or God's intention. Not only the good things, but the cruelest and worst. What do you think? ... If there is a God, he's a shit and piss God, that I'd like to kick in the arse."
I first learned about Ingmar Bergman when I did a report on him for a Swedish culture course I took during my study abroad. When I got back home I wanted to check out one of his films and watched the theatrical version of Fanny and Alexander. So all these years later after having seen 7 more of his films, I finally decided to check out the full television version of this Bergman domestic epic.
(Quick Hits) ... Spoilers:
(Part 1)
- I'm not sure why he decided to call this Fanny and Alexander, since it is mostly just focused on Alexander
- This is easily the most enjoyable part as we are introduced to Alexander's family and see them celebrating Christmas Swedish style. I have had that song they sing as they all dance around in a line through the house stuck in my head for days
- We get an early look at the possibility of the supernatural or Alexander's very active imagination when he sees a statue move, and the grim reaper spying on him
- Wow, that is one horny uncle!
- The set design of the home feels so authentic and lived in, and I would feel so nervous leaving lit candles on a Christmas tree
(Part 2)
- We get a huge shift in tone as Alexander's father passes away, and the children awake to hear their mother cry out in agony over his passing
- I really felt the extra length of the television cut here with how slowly paced it was
- Alexander sees his ghost father watching him
- His mother tries to fill the father's place by marrying a Bishop ... big mistake! Where Alexander's family's home was filled with so much joy and life before, the Bishop's home is totally devoid of that as they put an emphasis on making the kids work, stunting creativity, and locking Fanny and Alexander in their room
(Part 3)
- "Alexander does not wish the Bishop a good night."
- This is the shortest episode and also a downer as we see the kids deal with the hardships of being held captive in the Bishop's home
- That maid was especially cruel with how she gets Alexander to tell her a ghost story, and then tells the Bishop on him which results in him giving Alexander a brutal spanking in order to break him and force a confession
- Finally, the eerie scene of the ghosts of the Bishop's deceased family coming to Alexander and one even vomiting on him
(Part 4)
- The final part picks the tone back up quickly as a Jewish friend of the family named Isak Jacobi helps the children escape in a trunk. The rescue is a close one, and he has to apparently use magic to trick the Bishop into thinking the kids were still in their room
"Everything can happen. Everything is possible and probable. Time and space do not exist. On a flimsy framework of reality, the imagination spins, weaving new patterns."
- The kids have a very interesting talk from Isak Jacobi, that I could tell was filled with many subtle but significant points and I am curious to analyze it further at some point
- The kid's uncle's have a very testy gentlemen's negotiation with the Bishop to release the kids and their mother, but he does not budge
- Did Alexander just pee in a random container in Jacobi's home?
- Jacobi's mysterious home filled with theater items like puppets further adds to the mysterious nature of the story. Alexander is shown their breathing mummy, and one of Jacobi's eerie nephews who is apparently locked up in a room helps Alexander dream up the death of his foe the Bishop
- This results in the Bishop's decrepit Aunt knocking over a lamp which results in her becoming engulfed in flames, and the Bishop is killed from significant burns during this incident
- For the epilogue, there is a celebration of two newborn babies in the family including Fanny and Alexander's new sibling, and the baby their horny uncle fathered with the maid ... and his actual wife seems to be cool with it
"Therefore let us be happy while we are happy. Let us be kind, generous, affectionate and good. It is necessary and not at all shameful to take pleasure in the little world."
Fanny and Alexander is a relatively simple story, so splitting it up into 4 episodes does turn it into a very long haul. But In doing so you really get immersed into this world of an aristocratic theater family in 1907 Sweden. Now I am really curious to check out the theatrical cut again to see how essential all those extra moments feel in the overall experience of Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander.
Thanks for reading.
Happy holiday movie watching ... Skål!