Fanny and Alexander (1982)

Two young Swedish children experience the many comedies and tragedies of their family, the Ekdahls.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman

Stars:

Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson

Won 4 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kristina Adolphson	...	Siri - Ekdahlska huset
Börje Ahlstedt	...	Carl Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Pernilla Allwin	...	Fanny Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Kristian Almgren	...	Putte Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Carl Billquist	...	Police Superintendent Jespersson - Ekdahlska huset
Axel Düberg	...	Witness to Bishop's Death - Ekdahlska huset
Allan Edwall	...	Oscar Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Siv Ericks	...	Alida - Ekdahlska huset
Ewa Fröling	...	Emilie Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Patricia Gélin	...	Statue - Ekdahlska huset (as Patricia Gelin)
Majlis Granlund	...	Miss Vega - Ekdahlska huset
Maria Granlund	...	Petra Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Bertil Guve	...	Alexander Ekdahl - Ekdahlska huset
Eva von Hanno	...	Berta - Ekdahlska huset
Sonya Hedenbratt	...	Aunt Emma - Ekdahlska huset

Storyline

It's the early twentieth century Sweden. Adolescent siblings Alexander and Fanny Ekdahl lead a relatively joyous and exuberant life with their well-off extended paternal family, led by the family matriarch, their grandmother, Helena Ekdahl. The openness of the family culture is exemplified by Helena's now deceased husband ending up becoming best friends with one of her lovers, a Jewish puppet maker named Isak Jacobi, and their Uncle Gustav Adolf's open liaison with one of the family maids, Maj, who everyone in the family adores, even Gustav Adolf's wife, Alma. Between the siblings, Alexander in particular has inherited the family's love of storytelling, his parents and his grandmother who are actors and who manage their own theater. Things change for Alexander and Fanny when their father, Oscar, dies shortly after Christmas 1907. Although she truly does believe she loves him, the children's mother, Emilie, decides to marry Bishop Edvard Vergérus, who she first met as the officiate at ...

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Plot Keywords:

domestic violence | grief | marriage of convenience | abusive stepfather | extramarital affair | 

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Taglines:

En film av Ingmar Bergman

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Sweden France West Germany

Language:

Swedish German Yiddish English French

Release Date:

17 December 1982 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Fanny and Alexander

Filming Locations:

Valvgatan, Uppsala, Uppsala Län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$36,365, 19 June 1983, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,971,340, 2 January 1984

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinematograph AB,Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI),Gaumont

Technical Specs

Runtime:

188 min 312 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ingmar Bergman's first draft of the script, completed in 1979, consisted of about 1,000 handwritten pages.

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Goofs

Among the Christmas decorations in the Ekdahl house, there is a garland of miniature flags of Scandinavian countries, including the Finnish flag. The Finnish flag was in fact only designed and adopted after Finnish independence in 1917, a decade after the events of the film.

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Quotes

Ekdahlska huset - Helena Ekdahl: 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.

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Alternate Versions

Theatrical version is 188 minutes long. Director's cut is 312 minutes long.

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Connections

Referenced in Oi Treis Harites: Antistrofi metrisi (1992)

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Soundtracks

A Tailor and His Wife
Sung by choir (the student friends).

User Reviews

"...Anything can happen, anything is possible. Time and space do not exist..."

"Fanny and Alexander" (1982) was announced at the time of its release as Ingmar Bergman's swan song, his last film for the big screen. It is his most optimistic and enchanting blend of romance, tragedy, comedy, fantasy, and mysticism. Set in Sweden in the beginning of the 20th century, the film follows the lives and adventures of two children, brother and sister Fanny and Alexander Edkahl.

I love Bergman in every mood and in every genre - I love him dark, bleak, harrowing ("Shame"), mysterious ("Persona"), merciless and devastating ("Scenes from a Marriage, "Face to Face", "Autumn Sonata). I love his lighter, smiling side ("Wild Strawberries", "Smiles of a Summer Night). Even for a master of Bergman's powerful talent, "Fanny and Alexander" is extraordinary - a profound film which is also one of his most accessible works.

Pablo Picasso said once, "When I was 9 years old, I could paint like Rafael; as an adult, all my life I tried to learn how to paint like a child". In his final film, one of the greatest masters of dark and sometimes morose psychological studies looks at the world with a child's eye. The words he chose to finish his film with reflect the hope, the happiness and the magic that can be fully felt only in one's childhood: "...Anything can happen, anything is possible. Time and space do not exist. ..On a flimsy ground of reality, imagination spins out and waves new patterns." --- August Strindberg's introductory notes for A Dream Play.