Wild Strawberries (1957)

Desserted town and the handless clock

Victor Sjöström is a natural as Dr Isak Borg in this Bergman classic. He is a retired doctor set with his daily routines, he has his housekeeper to look after him, is free from marital responsibilities, no longer bothers with tiresome people,  he has his chess, and so on. He is all done up and living in the peripheries of life. All except for his untidy lose ends: his son has no children, his immediate family think he is cold and distant and he has dreams that are more real than real life. On a road trip to Lund to pick up his honorary degree he rediscovers his humanity through a series of experiences. This film is memorable largely for it's dream sequences and Bergman's cinematic technique of walking into a scene from a past memory - Woody Allen borrowed this technique for his own films too.
I loved the early dream scenes best, with the hearse and handle-less clock, though some of Isak's recollections with the twin sisters who compose a song for his deaf uncle were good for light relief. This is a great film but I must admit it doesn't rank as high with me as it did before. The acting is good as is the casting and the whole dream thing some of it bordering on nightmare is great. But...I think it needed something else, to lift it to the status it occupies, that of "Best film of all time" or some such accolade. Maybe just a touch more of dramatic tension might have helped. For example, at the beginning I did not feel the aloofness Dr Isak was supposed to have and did not believe he was some kind of insensitive monster. Maybe there should have been more scenes showing what a brute he was. Later when we find that he had been ditched by his 'true' love for his brother you know he is a sensitive man done wrong. Yet his daughter-in-law who doesn't strike one as a warm caring sort accuses him of being a dead insensitive type or something like that. But we feel he is not such bad man, maybe through his face. The garage attendant seals that view when he gives Isak the petrol for free for all he had done for them. So, not much drama but a very interesting road movie with many symbolisms if you want to find them and an uplifting resolution in the end. Victor Sjöström is great  and the film would be lesser without him. Moreover, Wild strawberries is a fantastic title for any film.