Wild Strawberries (1957)

After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman

Stars:

Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin

Top Rated Movies #166 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 16 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Victor Sjöström	...	Dr. Eberhard Isak Borg
Bibi Andersson	...	Sara
Ingrid Thulin	...	Marianne Borg
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Dr. Evald Borg
Jullan Kindahl	...	Agda
Folke Sundquist	...	Anders
Björn Bjelfvenstam	...	Viktor (as Björn Bjelvenstam)
Naima Wifstrand	...	Mrs. Borg - Isak's Mother
Gunnel Broström	...	Berit Alman
Gertrud Fridh	...	Karin Borg - Isak's wife
Sif Ruud	...	Aunt Olga
Gunnar Sjöberg	...	Sten Alman / The Examiner
Max von Sydow	...	Henrik Åkerman
Åke Fridell	...	Karin's lover
Yngve Nordwall	...	Uncle Aron

Storyline

With the exception of his elderly housekeeper Miss Agda who he treats almost like a surrogate platonic wife, widowed seventy-eight year old Dr. Isak Borg, a former medical doctor and professor, has retreated from any human contact, partly his own want but partly the decision of others who do not want to spend time with him because of his cold demeanor. He is traveling from his home in Stockholm to Lund to accept an honorary degree. Instead of flying as was the original plan, he decides to take the day long drive instead. Along for the ride is his daughter-in-law Marianne, who had been staying with him for the month but has now decided to go home. The many stops and encounters along the way make him reminisce about various parts of his life. Those stops which make him reminisce directly are at his childhood summer home, at the home of his equally emotionally cold mother, and at a gas station where the attendants praise him as a man for his work. But the lives of other people they ...

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Plot Keywords:

professor | nostalgia | dream | strawberry | aging | 

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Taglines:

from Ingmar Bergman...creator of "Smiles of a Summer Night" and "The Seventh Seal"

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish Latin

Release Date:

22 June 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wild Strawberries

Filming Locations:

Lund Cathedral, Lund, Skåne län, Sweden

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,524

Company Credits

Production Co:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ingmar Bergman wrote the script while he was in hospital.

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Goofs

When Isak looks up at the faceless clock, he retreats into its shadow. Next cut and there is no shadow.

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Quotes

Professor Isak Borg: The place where wild strawberries grow!
[Inner voice]
Professor Isak Borg: Perhaps I got a little sentimental. Perhaps I got tired and felt a bit sad. It's not impossible that I began to think of this and that, associated with places where I played as a child. I don't know how it happened, but the day's clear reality dissolved into the even clearer images of memory that appeared before my eyes with the strength of a true stream of events.

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Connections

Referenced in The Dick Van Dyke Show: The Lady and the Tiger and the Lawyer (1964)

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Soundtracks

KUNGLIGA SOEDERMANLANDS REGEMENTES MARSCH
(uncredited)
Music by Carl Axel Lundvall

User Reviews

exceptionally well made

Although I'm not the biggest Ingmar Bergman fan, I have really enjoyed some of his movies--especially the one that are not so pessimistic. Although the underlying theme of this movie is aging and impending death, the movie is NOT all pessimism. If it had been, it would have lost my interest early on. Instead, I really enjoyed the film--particularly the fine acting by Victor Sjöström as Professor Borg.

The professor is well-respected for his work as a doctor. However, despite his success in his career, he is a failure in his personal relationships. His emotional baggage over the years has prevented him from allowing himself to be close to those he truly loves. This theme mirrors one of the subplots of Through a Glass Darkly, where a father is being destroyed inside by his daughter's mental illness but he CANNOT allow himself to show his anguish--choosing instead to hide in his room with his tears. It is interesting that the same man playing Borg's son (Gunnar Björnstrand) plays the father only a few years later in Through a Glass Darkly.

Fortunately, unlike Through a Glass Darkly, there IS evidence that the professor is willing to change his persona, as he begins to open up more through the course of the movie. This appears to be assisted through extensive soul searching and dreams the professor has concerning his past and his own mortality--along with experiences he has during a long drive down the coast of Sweden. Because of this, even his extremely strained relationship with his son appears to hold some hope of improvement by the film's end. This hope for change lifts this movie above some Bergman films that only wallow in hopelessness.

FYI--The Criterion version of this DVD is nice due to its running commentary as well as the accompanying documentary. Get this version if you have the chance.

Also FYI--After watching many Bergman films and reading about his life, I detect quite a bit of autobiography in this film and his own stuggles with intimacy.