Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället, 1957)

I'd seen it before, but it had been a while, and wanted to see if I still felt the same way I thought I did. And though it's not my favorite Bergman film, it's definitely up there. It gets into a lot of very common themes in Bergman films, like death, contemplating life, why one is here, etc. It also has a personal ring to it, if you look at the parent figures, or the ways certain people talk about their parents, the existence of God, as well as the portrayal of a minister as quasi-violent (we see him fighting to settle a theological argument, go figure) both visually and through word of mouth. It's all anchored perfectly by Victor Sjöström, who, and I did not know this until a few days ago, had quite a hell of a career, and was a very distinguished silent film director before basically passing prime as far as directing went and moved back to become basically Bergman's mentor in Sweden, and acting in a lot of other Swedish films.

The dreams are obviously a very key part of the movie, and they could have been almost distracting (which is hard to say given Bergman's knack for camera work and lighting) had Sjöström not been able to convey the feelings of loneliness, longing, etc that are shown so masterfully throughout. Bergman's writing style is naturally evident, and in some parts, like in other Bergman films, it comes out so sweetly in the words of Bergman regular Bibi Andersson (as well as Ingrid Thulin, at times) it could be poetry.

Fantastic film, deserving of every bit of praise it gets.