hyped garbage

Fresh and Exciting

Beautiful, moving film.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

I just recently watched this movie. It was filmed in 1982. I normally don't like old movies like Fellini etc. but this one is okay. It's quite slow however it's quite nicely done. I like that the movie effortlessly blend in supernatural and reality.Give it a try. It's a little dated but you can see that's very well directed and written.

Clocking in at 3 hours this is a long movie and it is rambling as well. Ingmar Bergman with his cinematographer Sven Nyqvist has made a gorgeous looking film, the art and set direction is exemplary.The film is set in a Swedish town in the early years of the 20th Century. The focus is on the Ekdahl household, a theatrical and gregarious family, there is warmth and bawdiness.Fanny and Alexander have a seemingly idyllic family life but things change when their father Oscar dies from a stroke. Now the children become more important in the film, almost soon their mother Emilie marries the Bishop Edvard, who lives an austere lifestyle with his family. The children are not happy under this stern household which is a contrast to the warmth and love that had previously existed.In its kernel, the film is not that far departed from David Copperfield. The priest is really Mr Murdstone, who has charmed the beautiful widow but has a heart of darkness that Alexander immediately senses. As Edvard cannot gain the children's respect he becomes a brute. The film also borrows from magical realism especially in the latter part as a Jewish family comes to the rescue of the children and revenge is taken against Edvard who refuses to let their mother go.The film is leisurely paced, the second half is more interesting plot wise, although you end up shouting at the screen at Emilie. Why does she want to marry so soon and accepts Edvard's conditions. She really did not care for her children's well being at all and puts them all at risk.In some ways this is Bergman's most accessible film, light and darkness but it is also too long, even self indulgent.

I've seen this movie twice in my life. The first time I was 18 years old, I came home an afternoon after school and Fanny and Alexander was on TV. Having heard of it endlessly throughout my childhood (pretty much unavoidable as a Swede), I was intrigued. After a few minutes, I decided I couldn't stop watching. I was completely mesmerized. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I had never seen anything like it before. I ended up watching the whole three hours (cinematic release, unfortunately) and postponing whatever plans I had. And it stayed with me. Fastforward a few years and last week, I watched this movie again, this time of older age, having seen several other Bergman movies, having read books about him and with an education in film studies. And how I cried. There is something about Ingmar Bergman that has an amazing capacity to mediate and depict feelings and thoughts I never knew how to put word to. This masterpiece, as the climactic final chapter to Ingmar Bergmans magnificent directing career, has everything. It leads you through life and death, through love and hate, through magic and disbelief, through hope and despair. Bergman has a reputation of being difficult and slow, and rightfully so (although many of his other films are fantastic too). But Fanny and Alexander is easier than his others, yet also more graceful and whole. Only once before have I experienced characters in a film resonating profound feelings and emotions of mine, and that was in Persona, another Bergman movie. Seeing so many of his actors once again on screen, this time of old age, many today deceased, join together because "everything must carry on as usual". I experienced a chilling encounter with life, mortality but also the hope in spirituality and beauty. Having dived into the great well of beautiful art that is Bergmans life and career, I am of course biased. But even before having inserted myself in his works, I found this movie absolutely magnificent. And I hope you might too.

This movie won Oscar for best foreign movie , for the set and cinematography for good reason.The cinematography and the set of this movie is really gorgeous. But still I hate Ingmar Bergman as a writer.I rated 6/10 The only Ingmar Bergman movie that is an OK film, his other movie is over-rated philosophical crap. This one is still crap but beautifully shot. The actors are good but if the director (and writer) is suck, you end up with this kind of movie.Let's face it Ingmar Bergman story with religious hint is so outdated nowadays. The question about the meaning of life and death is not interesting subject anymore. The fact that 4 of his movies are still in top 250 films IMDb is kinda upsetting for me, because his movie is really boring after half way through.The thing I really hate about all of his movie, is that he never put any soundtrack in it..... yeah not a melody...PS: As writer, Bergman is better in Persona