Wild Strawberry is superb in selecting movie performance bridges. Maybe you have met someone who is always self-sufficient, replaces inner acceptance with tolerance on the corner of his mouth, replaces sad or happy true disposition with hypocritical upbringing, replaces real life with imaginary life. If you want to show his repentance of his attitude towards life, what better way to start than from an old man who has already achieved fruitful results with a lifetime of hard work and is nearing the end of his life? Bergman intercepts a time and space: the old man's path to receive his society's highest honor. On the one hand, this is a journey for Isaac to gain social recognition from the life philosophy he relies on, and on the other hand, it is a reflection on life by an old man who is about to say goodbye to life. The journey from home to Toronto is exactly how Isaac retraces his own teenage years. The road is always moving forward in the physical sense, and the old man's mental journey is indeed retrospective. The way is upward, but the way of the mind is downward. There is a wonderful tension in the middle. This also makes the plot of the film both compact and fully developed. It is only a short journey in time and space, but it enriches and extends the space for narrative and character emotional changes by means of past events and revisiting old places. The whole film is fully and properly developed.
Perhaps it is because the object of the portrayal is such an old man who is not long in the world. The footage in the film has a touch of caress and tolerance, no merciless irony, but the pain of indifference and remorse is vividly portrayed. His girlfriend Sarah's questioning, his daughter-in-law Marian's accusation against him, his son Elwad's hatred for him, his wife's betrayal, is such a life really enough to be a life worth remembering? So, he kept recalling the warmth of a teenager. The fluttering white dresses of the girls, the exuberant nature in summer, and the lively family gatherings are the warmth that cannot be regained in one's life. Ten years is but a shadow, neither weight nor shape. In the dream, the youthful first love and the aging self, Bergman's close-up of Isaac's eyes is enough to show the pain that Isaac has tasted. This is enough, and the author does not need to criticize any more. Therefore, this is also a reason other than a large number of inner monologues, and this kind of film that focuses on excavating the hearts of the characters is classified as an author's film. The other exists, but here the other does not criticize, but silently watches. Bergman also tried to present the stage of dense life meditation from the early comedy films.
The means used by the film are also very rich. First is the dream. What does the watch that has appeared twice without hands represent? Does that blank dial also mean the meaningless passage of time in his life. From the breath of death to the insensitivity of time, the clock seems so oppressive and frightening. An inexperienced fear, if the inevitable passage of time causes grief, then the wastage of time is a panic about the powerlessness of life. Another important dream is a conversation with Sarah. At this time, Isaac's tearful laugh and aching heart have clearly shown the cruelty of time. He is an honorary professor of medicine, but he can't cure his heart. The second is the empty lens. Bergman likes to use it. The meaning of the moon walking in the dark clouds is completely different from that in "Summer's Smile". The past transition also shows that time is like flowing water at this time, and life is really like what his mother said: a dream. The birds flying across the sky in large swaths are not only a slicing of dreams and reality, but also an external object of Isaac's heavy emotions.
Wild strawberries, summer, in this plump nature and life, what have we experienced? Is what Bergman inquired about also what each of us is after? Bergman has created a film with layers of depth and unfolding - like a full fruit, the viewer feels a juice-like life experience. And we watch, just trying to drive away the shriveled life.
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