Fanny och Alexander (1982)

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 1982 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

Tagline:

En film av Ingmar Bergman

Plot:

The title characters are children in the exuberant and colorful Ekdahl household in a Swedish town early in the twentieth century...

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Bishop | Theater | Period Piece | Dinner

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Pernilla Allwin	...	Ekdahlska huset - Fanny Ekdahl
Bertil Guve	...	Ekdahlska huset - Alexander Ekdahl
Börje Ahlstedt	...	Ekdahlska huset - Carl Ekdahl
Allan Edwall	...	Ekdahlska huset - Oscar Ekdahl
Ewa Fröling	...	Ekdahlska huset - Emilie Ekdahl
Gunn Wållgren	...	Ekdahlska huset - Helena Ekdahl (as Gun Wållgren)
Jarl Kulle	...	Ekdahlska huset - Gustav Adolf Ekdahl
Jan Malmsjö	...	Biskopsgården - Bishop Edvard Vergerus
Christina Schollin	...	Ekdahlska huset - Lydia Ekdahl
Kerstin Tidelius	...	Biskopsgården - Henrietta Vergerus
Emelie Werkö	...	Ekdahlska huset - Jenny Ekdahl
Marianne Aminoff	...	Biskopsgården - Blenda Vergérus
Sonya Hedenbratt	...	Ekdahlska huset - Aunt Emma
Svea Holst	...	Ekdahlska huset - Miss Ester
Kristina Adolphson	...	Ekdahlska huset - Siri
Kristian Almgren	...	Ekdahlska huset - Putte Ekdahl
Carl Billquist	...	Ekdahlska huset - Police Superintendent Jespersson
Axel Düberg	...	Ekdahlska huset - Witness to Bishop's death
Siv Ericks	...	Ekdahlska huset - Alida
Patricia Gélin	...	Ekdahlska huset - Statue (as Patricia Gelin)
Majlis Granlund	...	Ekdahlska huset - Miss Vega
Maria Granlund	...	Ekdahlska huset - Petra Ekdahl
Eva von Hanno	...	Ekdahlska huset - Berta
Olle Hilding	...	Ekdahlska huset - Old Clergyman
Käbi Laretei	...	Ekdahlska huset - Aunt Anna von Bohlen
Mona Malm	...	Ekdahlska huset - Alma Ekdahl
Lena Olin	...	Ekdahlska huset - Rosa
Gösta Prüzelius	...	Ekdahlska huset - Doctor Fürstenberg
Hans Strååt	...	Ekdahlska huset - Clergyman at Wedding
Pernilla August	...	Ekdahlska huset - Maj (as Pernilla Wallgren)
Inga Ålenius	...	Ekdahlska huset - Lisen
Harriet Andersson	...	Biskopsgården - Justina
Mona Andersson	...	Biskopsgården - Karna (Maid)
Hans Henrik Lerfeldt	...	Biskopsgården - Elsa Bergius
Marianne Nielsen	...	Biskopsgården - Selma (Maid)
Marrit Ohlsson	...	Biskopsgården - Malla Tander (Cook) (as Marrit Olsson)
Anna Bergman	...	Teatern - Hanna Schwartz
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Teatern - Filip Landahl
Nils Brandt	...	Teatern - Mr. Morsing (actor)
Lars-Owe Carlberg	...	Teatern - Glee Singer
Gus Dahlström	...	Teatern - Props Man
Ernst Günther	...	Teatern - Rector Magnificus
Hugo Hasslo	...	Teatern - Glee Singer
Heinz Hopf	...	Teatern - Tomas Graal (actor)
Maud Hyttenberg	...	Teatern -Miss Sinclair (Actress) (as Maud Hyttenberg-Bartoletti)
Sven-Erik Jacobsson	...	Teatern - Glee Singer
Marianne Karlbeck	...	Teatern - Miss Palmgren
Kerstin Karte	...	Teatern - Prompter
Tore Karte	...	Teatern - Office Manager
Åke Lagergren	...	Teatern -Johan Armfeldt (Actor)
Sune Mangs	...	Teatern - Mr. Salenius (Actor)
Per Mattsson	...	Teatern- Mikael Bergman (Actor)
Lickå Sjöman	...	Teatern - Grete Holm (Actress)
Runo Wallin	...	Teatern
Georg Årlin	...	Teatern - Colonel
Daniel Bell	...	Teaterorkestern
Gunnar Djerf	...	Teaterorkestern
Folke Eng	...	Teaterorkestern
Ebbe Eng	...	Teaterorkestern
Evert Hallmarken	...	Teaterorkestern
Nils Kyndel	...	Teaterorkestern
Ulf Lagerwall	...	Teaterorkestern
Börje Mårelius	...	Teaterorkestern
Karl Nilheim	...	Teaterorkestern
Erland Josephson	...	Jacobis hus - Isak Jacobi
Stina Ekblad	...	Jacobis hus - Ismael Retzinsky
Mats Bergman	...	Jacobis hus - Aron Retzinsky
Viola Aberlé	...	Jacobis hus - Japanese Woman
Gerd Andersson	...	Jacobis hus - Japanese Woman
Ann-Louise Bergström	...	Jacobis hus - Japanese Woman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthias Bolliger	...	Teatern (uncredited)
Marie-Hélène Breillat	...	Jacobis hus (uncredited)
Krister Hell	...	Young man who helps Isak with coffer (uncredited)
Linda Krüger	...	Biskopsgården - Pauline (uncredited)
Marie-Louise Sid	...	Teatern - Dancer (uncredited)
Peter Stormare	...	Young man who helps Isak with coffer (uncredited)
Pernilla Wahlgren	...	Biskopsgården - Esmeralda (uncredited)

Directed by
Ingmar Bergman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ingmar Bergman		written by

Produced by
Jörn Donner	....	producer
Renzo Rossellini	....	co-producer (uncredited)
Daniel Toscan du Plantier	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Daniel Bell

Cinematography by
Sven Nykvist

Film Editing by
Sylvia Ingemarsson

Art Direction by
Anna Asp

Set Decoration by
Susanne Lingheim

Costume Design by
Marik Vos-Lundh		(as Marik Vos)

Makeup Department
Cecilia Drott	....	wig maker
Kjell Gustavsson	....	wig maker
Barbro Haugen	....	makeup artist (as Barbro H Haugen)
Anna-Lena Melin	....	makeup artist
Leif Qviström	....	makeup artist
Mariann Virdestam	....	wig maker

Production Management
Katinka Faragó	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Schildt	....	assistant director

Art Department
Gunilla Allard	....	props
Jan Andersson	....	props
Olle Berg	....	carpenter
Kenneth Blomqvist	....	carpenter
Anna Marie Davidsson	....	painter
Christer Ekelund	....	props
Tua Ekholm	....	painter
Jan Eriksson	....	carpenter
Kenth Eriksson	....	painter (as Kent Eriksson)
Annmargret Fyregård	....	assistant set decorator
Ylva Hammar	....	painter
Teddy Holm	....	painter
Johan Husberg	....	props
Cecilia Iversen	....	painter
Dick Jacobsson	....	painter
Lisbeth Jansson	....	painter
Nisse Johansson	....	carpenter
Andrew Jones	....	painter
Donald Karlsson	....	painter
Lena Karlsson	....	painter
Bengt Landegren	....	painter
Kaj Larsen	....	technical director
Berth Martinsson	....	carpenter (as Bert Martinsson)
Percy Nilsson	....	construction grip
Rolf Persson	....	head painter
Ulrika Rindegård	....	assistant set decorator
Björn Sinclair	....	carpenter
Bertil Sjölund	....	carpenter
Anna Skagerfors	....	painter
Anders Söderlund	....	carpenter
Tom Stocklassa	....	painter
Hans Strandberg	....	carpenter
Bengt Svedberg	....	painter
Jakob Tigerskiöld	....	draughtsman
Sigrid William-Olsson	....	painter

Sound Department
Björn Gunnarsson	....	sound mixer
Björn Gunnarsson	....	sound
Lars Liljeholm	....	sound mixer
Lars Liljeholm	....	sound
Bo Persson	....	sound mixer
Bo Persson	....	sound
Owe Svensson	....	sound mixer
Owe Svensson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Bengt Lundgren	....	special effects

Stunts
Johan Thorén	....	stunts (as Johan Torén)

Camera and Electrical Department
Torbjörn Andersson	....	electrician
Daniel Bergman	....	grip
Ulf Björck	....	electrician
Arne Carlsson	....	still photographer
Tony Forsberg	....	camera operator: second unit
Ragnar Hansson	....	electrician
Kent Högberg	....	electrician
Lars Karlsson	....	assistant camera
Ted Lindahl	....	electrician
Dan Myhrman	....	assistant camera
Ulf Pramfors	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ingabritt Adrianson-Ejenstam	....	costume assistant (as Ingabritt Adriansson)
Anne-Marie Broms	....	costume assistant (as Anne Marie Broms)
Wiveca Dahlström	....	tailor
Ann Katrin Edmark	....	tailor
Görel Engstrand	....	costume assistant
Solveig Eriksson	....	tailor
Rosemarie Karlsson	....	tailor
Maria Lindmark	....	costume assistant
Elsie-Britt Lindström	....	costume producer
Ann-Christin Lobråten	....	costume assistant (as Annchristin Lobråten-Hjelm)
Kristina Makroff	....	costume producer
Robert Nordlund	....	costume producer
Lena Persson	....	tailor
Kjell Sundqvist	....	costume producer
Niclas Svartengren	....	tailor
Caroline Von Rosen	....	tailor
Lenamari Wallström	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Mikael Lönndahl	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Frans Helmerson	....	musician
Marianne Jacobs	....	musician
Per Lyng	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Åke Dahlbom	....	driver

Other crew
Ingrid Bergman	....	administrator
Mildred Brandt	....	hostess
Lars-Owe Carlberg	....	administrator
Kerstin Eriksdotter	....	script supervisor
Berit Gullberg	....	press officer
Arne Högsander	....	dolls
Hellen Igler	....	accountant
Eva Ivarsson	....	location manager
Benita Lundqvist	....	production secretary
Nils Melander	....	laboratory technician
Marie Rechlin	....	teacher
Fredrik Von Rosen	....	administrator
Brita Werkmäster	....	location manager
Christian Wirsén	....	laterna magica
Mercedes Björlin	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cinematograph AB (as Cinematograph)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (for)
• Gaumont (for)
• Personafilm (for)
• SVT Drama (for) (as SVT 1)
• Tobis Filmkunst (for) (as Tofisfilm)

Distributors

• Sandrew Film & Teater (1982) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Gaumont (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1983) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Walhalla (1983) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (1983) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ifa Argentina (1984) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Sveriges Television (SVT) (1984) (Sweden) (TV) (director's cut)
• Nelson Entertainment (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Suomen Kunnallispalvelu (1992) (Finland) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1995) (Finland) (TV)
• Finn Innovation Products (1998) (Finland) (VHS)
• Artificial Eye (2002) (UK) (DVD) (TV version)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Homescreen (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• Sandrews (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• FS Film Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2008) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2008) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Belgium) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Forum Film (19??) (Finland) (VHS)
• Pole Vídeo Comunicações Ltda. (Brazil) (VHS)
• Rosebud (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Zima Entertainment (2005) (Mexico) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Freskkvartetten  orchestra
• Stockholms Regionmusikkår  orchestra

Also Known As:

Fanny and Alexander (UK) (USA)
Fanny et Alexandre (France)
Fanny und Alexander (West Germany)

Runtime:

188 min | Sweden:312 min (director's cut)

Country:

Sweden | France | West Germany

Language:

Swedish | German | Yiddish | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:T | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Norway:16 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Europa Studios, Bromma, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Cinematograph AB

Trivia:

Last theatrical movie directed by Ingmar Bergman.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the theatre scene, early in the movie, Georg Årlin, who plays a high ranking military man, is seen whispering with a person sitting next to him. The next shot shows other people talking, and then Årlin is seen behind them at the left corner, in conversation with no one, staring into space in front of him.

Quotes:

Ekdahlska huset - Gustav Adolf Ekdahl: The world is a den of thieves and night is falling. Evil breaks its chains and runs through the world like a mad dog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.33)" (2005)

(review of the 5-hour cut) A total, un-abashed work of art that you'll love or hate. I loved it, and it's likely one of the great epics I'll ever see

As Ingmar Bergman's "swan song" (which wasn't necessarily the case once After the Rehearsal and the recent Saraband were released), Fanny and Alexander was a film I saw many months ago, in its truncated, 3-hour version. I knew I had witnessed something special, something life-affirming, and above all a work that contained enough poetry, passion, and humanity for two movies. But I also felt as if there was something missing here and there. So, once the complete TV version was released, as with Scenes from a Marriage, I jumped at the opportunity to view it in its entirety. Broken up here into 5 Acts, Bergman takes another semi-autobiographical approach to his storytelling, and it's a sumptuous tale of a turn of the 20th Century family (the Ekdahls, comprising of Oscar and Emilie, the parents, Fanny and Alexander, the kids- Alexander being mostly the driving force behind the story- and also the other relatives Carl and Gustov Adolf, brothers of Oscar, Helena, Alma, Lydia, and also the housemaid Maj) who own a theater company.

What makes Fanny and Alexander work as a major achievement, if anything else for my money is that all the elements seem balanced out over the acts, with story and characters, each sharply defined. The first act unfolds with attention to the little details and the more prevalent ones in a family gathering. A key speech made by Oscar is a haunting bit of foreshadowing before they set off for the family dinner. This scene, involving more or less two dozen people, is sometimes very funny, sometimes a little unnerving, and towards the end depressing. But scenes such as these reveal how wonderful and exciting Bergman can be with his material and actors- despite it taking place in 1907, you can see these people in modern settings just as easily. There's also the scene involving Oscar with his children before they go to sleep, in which he tells them a story, which ranks as one of the more memorable, touching scenes of the film - from here, we can understand how this brings to Alexander (Bertil Guve, in a performance that is touching by being so straightforward with the innocence of child-hood) to the state he's in for much of the rest of the picture.

Then the second and third acts come around, and the tragedy unfolds as penetrating as I've seen in any film, much less from Bergman. It wouldn't spoil it to say that Oscar succumbs to an illness, and passes away. From here, Emilie (Ewa Fröling, a performance meant for Liv Ullman, which she fits just as well) tries to go on as usual, and it just doesn't feel the same. She seeks counsel from the village bishop, Edvard Vergerus (Jan Malmsjo, previously in Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage), and subsequently falls in love with him, or at least thinks she does. They get married, and the children are forced into leaving (almost) everything behind to live at his dreary, caged residence, a far cry from where they once lived, a place lush with colors and life in the rooms. Both of these assets are provided by an Oscar winning production design team, and the foundations of how these two, including as well the theater, display how period-perfect some of this can be.

The last two acts are when things get rough, which is a standard Bergman is known for. This kind of standard, if I could call it such, includes his personal connection to the Christian church, in particular with his father being a Lutheran priest. I'm not guessing on how fact based Bishop Vergerus is to Bergman's life, and I really don't want to either. One of the things I loved about the film (than some likely hated on it's original release- I know, for example, that my father was devastated after watching this film) is how the good and the bad, or what could be seen as good and bad, are paired off, and how the middle-ground is just as clear or un-clear. Emilie is a good person, wanting the best for her children and for herself, but she doesn't know how to do that without someone to bring guidance when she cannot after grieving for her dead husband (who appears sometimes to Alexander, which is another matter). Alexander, who is a child raised with all the enthusiasm to express himself as such by his uncles and particularly his theatrical father Oscar, is good but lending himself to not being too firm on what's real and what is not.

The Bishop, on the other hand, is one who, as he says at one point "has only one mask". His is a puritanical approach, who sees imagination in only one strict aspect, and has terms of love that are by his code of living and understanding of people. Veregus, along with his family that live in fear and suffering (Harriet Andersson's character, and with the character of the heavy, ill aunt), know little is anything about how the Ekdahls have lived. What ends up happening, even from the get-go of the third act, in the fourth and fifth acts Bergman reveals Bishop Veregus to be an immense antagonist, one that allows just enough sympathy in one or two spots to not throw something at the TV, but with the kind of language that only the most terrifying of movie characters possess. Bottom line, this character, whether you like the film or not, is one of Bergman's greatest creations, and is pulled off by Malmjso with icy, disturbing perfection; it's one of the most memorable of the kind in film I can think of, right up there with Nurse Ratched, HAL 9000, and Darth Vader.

But what torment and anguish the characters, as well as much of the audience, seem to endure in the fourth/fifth acts; there also comes revelatory moments of sheer beauty and enchantment. A couple of scenes involving Alexander in the puppet shop, for example, display a level of artistry that goes between Bunuel and Disney. And a particular, long soliloquy by Isak (Erland Josephsson, not under-used at all) to the children is a poem unto itself that gives me an idea that Bergman had he not gone into theater and film, would've been one of the great poets of the 20th century. As the catharsis comes, it comes with a kind of justice that works in the only way it satisfyingly could have. With the fates of the Bishop, Emilie, and Alexander and Fanny brought to a close, as with the Grandmother, the uncles and aunts, and so on, it's all very symbolic, metaphorical, and real, and it gels together.

One last note- Sven Nykvist, who one his second Oscar with Bergman for this film, creates the kinds of shots that some could only have in their dreams. When he visualizes something for Bergman with the forces of light and dark, with the subtlety and nuance, it's all the better. To put this all in another way, I could go on and on about this huge, heart-rendering work, but it all comes down to this- as an emotional, intellectual, and spiritual (surprisingly for me, who sees religion as a kind of fantasy) sort of film-viewing experience, Fanny and Alexander is one of the most profound I've ever had. Some may feel the same; some may want to forget they ever experienced it. But one thing the film does is stick with you, if only for a little while, and that's really what a film can and should do....by the way, the 5-hour version, at least in America, is only available on a high-priced special edition DVD pack from Criterion, but for the viewer who's already a fan of the film, it makes for a great holiday gift. A++