Wild Strawberries

A profound sadness sneaked up on me while I watched Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries. His Seventh Seal was about faith and man's desire for knowledge and the sadness of the human condition, this one is about old age and regret and the sadness of the human condition. A friend of mine said of Bergman at times you are in the mood where you think Bergman is too much, a little too depressing, too heavy handed (still miraculous to watch but just too much) and at times you are in a mood where all you can think is "this is LIFE. On that spectrum, I'd say I was a little toward the latter than the former last night.

The film follows Isak (Victor Sjostrom) on the day he is to receive an honorary degree for his years as a doctor. In a series of dream sequences and real ones, we follow Isak as he travels to the university and relives and makes revelations about his life. He is joined by his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) and at times a group of young travelers.

When we first meet Isak we think he lives quite a solitary life (and in fact he does) but soon we discover that he has not been alone per se as he has a housekeeper (and a contentious relationship with her) and his daughter-in-law has been staying with him for a month. Still as his voice-over tells us about him, there is a sad loneliness expressed. As he travels with Marianne, she reveals things to him and makes him reflect on how he has lived his life as do visions of the past that show him things he ultimately could never have known.

There is a great moment in the car when Marianne reveals how similar her husband, his son is and how both are missing something in life. It is her revelation that is great to behold. There is great stuff here, although I prefer Seventh Seal's journey of faith (mainly because faith secretly fascinates me) to this journey of understanding.

I said that a profound sadness sneaked up on me because by movie's end I was almost heart broken with despair. After the day is done and Marianne enters to say goodnight to Isak, he quietly shares the he likes her and she responds she likes him too. And I was as surprised as anyone to find a tear on my cheek. I'm sure that isn't very manly to admit but it was such a genuine moment at the end of the film.

Bergman is depressing stuff and if you aren't in the mood for it or you generally don't care for depressing then I'd say stay away but I think it works and works wonderfully.