Fanny and Alexander
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| Fanny and Alexander | |
 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 Lena Olin Harriet Andersson Anna Bergman Erland Josephson Mats Bergman |
| Music by | Daniel Bell |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Editing by | Sylvia Ingemarsson |
| Distributed by | Sandrew |
| Release date(s) |  December 17, 1982 17 June 1983 |
| Running time | Theatrical cut: 188 min. TV version: 312 min. |
| Language | Swedish German Yiddish English |
Fanny and Alexander (Swedish: Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 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 188 minutes was created later for cinematic release. The TV version has since been released as a one-part film.
Bergman 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 summary
The story is set in 1907-08 Uppsala, Sweden and deals with a young boy named Alexander, his sister Fanny, and their well-to-do family, the Ekdahls. The siblings' parents 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 nephew, Ismael Retzinsky, 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 Alexander's uncle, Gustav Ekdahl; but Alexander encounters the bishop's ghost, signalling that he will never be completely free of him.
[edit] Themes and background
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. Scenes such as Alexander's late night encounter with Aron Retzinsky echo and even mock the film's climax, only this time drawing attention to 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.
The sunny and joyous Ekdahl household sequences are said to have been inspired by the works of Swedish painter and interior designer Carl Larsson (1853-1919). The exotic and supernatural elements in the storyline derive from the stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann.
[edit] Cast
- 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
- Kristian Almgren - Putte 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:[1]
- Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Director Ingmar Bergman)
- 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, save for the Original Screenplay for Faithless directed by Liv Ullmann in 2000. The film also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.
Uma Thurman was also listed as appearing in this 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 has released two DVD editions of the film: a five-disc set that includes the theatrical version, the television version, and a behind-the-scenes film, The Making of Fanny and Alexander as well as other supplements; and a two-disc set that includes only the 188 minute theatrical version and fewer supplements. The Criterion release marked the first time the television version of Fanny and Alexander had been available in North America.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ "NY Times: Fanny and Alexander". NY Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/16747/Fanny-and-Alexander/awards. Retrieved on 2009-01-01.
- ^ Criterion Collection Website - Fanny and Alexander Theatrical Edition
[edit] External links
- Fanny and Alexander at the Internet Movie Database
- Fanny and Alexander at Allmovie
- Criterion Collection essay by Stig Bjorkman on the television version
- Criterion Collection essay by Rick Moody on the theatrical version
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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