The movie "Wild Strawberry", the title sounds fresh and sweet. The protagonist, however, is a dying old man, Isaac Polge, with the people and events he encounters while driving to receive an honorary degree from the Catholic University, and his unsweetened memories.
The actor who plays Isaac is Viktor Sjostrom, a famous Swedish silent film director, screenwriter and actor. He was seventy-eight years old when the film was made. This is what I learned after watching the movie and searching for relevant information.
What impressed me the most about the film were the two short passages in which Isaac's hair was blown by the wind.
One is a dream that Isaac falls into at the beginning of the movie.
After Isaac lost his way, he walked alone on the empty street, and the light footsteps "clicked" sounded. He saw a clock without hands hanging by the roadside, with a pair of drawn eyes hanging below. The background sounded like a heartbeat. When Isaac took out his pocket watch, what to check. A pocket watch that also has no hands is a crisp "click" when opened, and a dull "click" when closed. At the same time, the background sound gradually became stronger, and the tempo became faster, becoming "boom-boom" and "boom-boom". He was walking back and forth on the street in confusion. When he turned around for the second time, the old man was leaning against the sparse white hair on his scalp. A few strands of white hair were blown up by the wind, like withered reeds, weak and weak. At this time, there was a neatly dressed man standing in front of him, and the man's facial features were closed and looking back, Isaac was horrified. After a little "boom loose", with a "praise", the slumped body turned into a pool of blood. The death knell of "clang" and "clang" sounded. The old man's footsteps were weaker, but he still staggered forward. The driverless carriage “clack” and “clack” came from the corner. The rear wheel of the carriage caught the street lamp, and after the loud metal crash of "bang", "bang", "bang", the rear wheel "crawl" brushed Isaac's body, and "bang bang bang bang" on the wall Smashed to pieces. And the carriage that lost a round made a harsh "Eaaaaah", a coffin slid to the ground from behind with a "dong dong", and the carriage left. A stiff hand rested on the edge of the open coffin. Everything fell silent, Isaac stood against the wall, the first group of shots switched between the old man and his hand, and the second group of shots zoomed in and switched again to see Isaac's slightly trembling brow. The monotonous music followed, until Isaac got close to the coffin and was grabbed by the arm. A man who tried to open his eyes until the blue veins burst out of his forehead, who looked exactly like him, had his tightly pursed mouth slightly open. Approach him. And Isaac was terrified, and dense drum beats sounded. The old man woke up from his dream.
The whole dreamscape, rhythm control and camera transitions are just amazing. There is not a single line in this paragraph, except for the last struggle, the facial expression of the old man in the camera hardly fluctuates much. Most of them are monotonous voices, sharp, heavy, gentle, eager, sticky, smooth... Various voices express Isaac's different emotions. Isaac, whose hair was ruffled by the wind, was desolate and pitiful, and his helpless appearance made people sad. The elapsed time devoured a lot of important things. Isaac was confused, pursued, and lost. He watched the object being hit and damaged in front of his eyes. He was approaching death unknowingly, and faced his own fear, longing and refusing to go. The unease of knowing what...
There is also a dream that Isaac had in the car as he continued on the road after visiting his indifferent mother.
Sara, his young lover, mocked his old age and frailty, and clearly stated that he wanted to stay with his brother. Isaac, who could only smile wryly in the mirror, felt pain in his heart. Sarah abandoned him, ran into the forest, picked up the child from the crib under the big tree like a mother, put her arms around her chest, and gently comforted him that she would hug and accompany him, and would not put him in danger. Isaac came to the empty crib and looked in the direction Sarah had left. The evening sky was grey and gloomy, the birds circling and chirping, and the veil-wrapped crib was blown away by the wind under the rough pine trees. The tail of Isaac's sideburns fluttered up and down in the wind like a chick's feathers.
Salak, who was chasing away, saw Sarah and his wife who were humming together. When he wanted to knock on the door to enter, he was injured by a nail. Then he was invited by the invigilator into the classroom to take the exam. He couldn't see clearly under the microscope and again misdiagnosed the patient. He tried to excuse himself by being old and sick. He was charged with negligence, recklessness, selfishness and disrespect. In the woods he saw a woman flirting with someone in the distance, his wife who had died 30 years ago. His wife spoke of his hypocrisy and ruthlessness. He was sentenced to "loneliness" by the invigilator. He tried to intercede and was rejected. The dream wakes up.
In the dream, Sarah is young and beautiful, kind and loving to her children, and loves and relies on her husband. She is the perfect incarnation of women in Isaac's mind, but she mocks him, leaves him, abandons him, makes him unavailable, and hurts him. In the evening wind, Isaac took one step at a time to the crib. The crib in the wild trees is like his childhood without affection, cold and desolate. The silhouette with no expression in the wind, looking far away, is even more lonely and sad. And another woman in the dream, his wife betrayed him, laughed at him, and accused him. Isaac tortured his wife ruthlessly in his life until death took her away. The love he longed to protect was denied by his indifference, and he was unwilling to admit that it was his fault. In loneliness, the reason for being punished for revenge made him feel afraid and panic.
The lack of love in childhood leaves children without the ability to love others. Can't draw warmth from others, can't give warmth to others. Those who are hurt, in order not to suffer similar injuries, will be too careful, like the youthful Isaac to Sarah. But this hesitant feeling is too light. Isaac is empathized by his lover. When his wife becomes the second woman who has changed her mind and suffers the same injury repeatedly, then the malice of revenge can easily breed. Isaac became a real cold man, and he treated his wife like a psychopath. even affect the next generation. Isaac was the victim of an indifferent mother, and his son, who had the same fate as him, was also an indifferent person. At the end of the film, Isaac sees his son and daughter-in-law choosing to live together, and he also sees his parents in a dream and wakes up smiling. Such a little beauty has become a dream that is not a dream. It's just that after being filled with loneliness like his mother, she longs for family affection. But the feelings that have cooled, how can it change overnight.
Emotion is the strangest thing. It can't be touched, but it can warm people and hurt people. Many people want such a double-edged sword, and many people throw it away. Those who say it is priceless are worthless. There are also those with money. It's just that we all prefer to take rather than give.
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