Wild Strawberries

One of the more profound road trip movies of yesteryear, Ingmar Bergman's 1957 Wild Strawberries stars Victor Sjöström (in a marvelous performance) as 78-year-old Professor Isak Borg, an emotionally cold academic who revisits his past (both literally, while stopping off at the family summer home of his young adulthood, and figuratively, during daydreams, nightmares, and mental flashbacks) as his daughter-in-law shares driving duties on a trip to a university where Borg will accept an honorary doctorate. At each station of the cross-country journey of self-exploration--recalling lost love, giving a ride to an ebullient trio of young hitchhikers, confronting betrayal in his past--Isak is forced to pick emotional scabs long since crusted over, and in so doing, eventually comes to understand (as do we) the tortured evolutionary process which has turned his once-warm beating heart into a merely metronomic stone. Once again, Criterion has produced a scintillatingly gorgeous transfer that beautifully showcases Erik Nordgren's expressive b&w cinematography. Not only does the disc include an illuminating commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie, but Bergman buffs will also be delighted with Jörn Donner's 90-minute documentary Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work, an engaging life and career encompassing talk in which Bergman assesses his work (in a great understatement: "I produce goods for everyday use") and reveals that even today, after hundreds of films and plays, he is plagued by anxious, sleepless nights before opening rehearsals. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—June 4, 2013—Criterion, 92 min., in Swedish w/English subtitles, not rated, $39.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1957's Wild Strawberries features an excellent transfer and an uncompressed mono soundtrack. Extras include audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie, an introduction by director Ingmar Bergman (4 min.), Jörn Donner's 1998 documentary Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work (91 min.), behind-the-scenes footage (17 min.), and a booklet featuring an essay by film writer Mark Le Fanu. Bottom line: Bergman's classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]