Wild Strawberries” is a film about the self-realization of mortality, reality, love and forgiveness materializing in the mind of one Isak Borg. Borg is a 78 year old doctor and professor who is about to receive a prestigious honorary degree for his 50 year work as a doctor, researcher and professor. The movie begins as he lies in his bed content in his friendless world and looking forward to receiving his great honor. Then he has a nightmare about his own mortality that drives him into self-awareness and melancholic contemplation. This nightmare dream sequence is fascinating in its sweeping visual sense which allows us, the viewer, to feel the terror of the dream. The result of the nightmare is Borg’s decision to not fly, but drive from his home in Stockholm to Lund where he is to receive his honorary degree. It is an 8 to 10 hour drive that will take him past his beloved childhood vacation home and towards the childhood village where his aging mother still lives. Accompanied by his daughter in law and to be met by his son at his final destination, this road movie succeeds in giving us, the viewer, an in depth look at the psych of a man who was misunderstood for almost all of his life. The director of the film is the great Ingmar Bergman and he has created here a deeply poignant and passionate film by use of some of the most exquisite film techniques that succeed in combining the present, the past and the possible future, painting a detailed picture of a life of one man. That man is Borg and as portrayed by the great silent Swedish film director Victor Sjostrom, becomes not just a cold old man, but a sympathetic figure for whom we care for by the end of the film. The movie also contains no forced sentimentality to guide us. It lets us discover along with the protagonist all that made him who he is throughout his life. Bergman makes use of visual windows into memory as we see Borg watching scenes from his childhood as a 78 year old spectator during the times he visits his childhood vacation home. Borg and his daughter in law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) pick up a few hitchhikers on the way. There are three lively, full of life, young people and a middle aged couple stuck in a horrific loveless marriage. The film does not contain any superfluous characters as each person we meet has an important point to make within the life of Borg. The characters either mirror the past in his life or contain evidence on why the present is as it appears. The great Max Von Sydow has a small bit part in the film that is important as his awe of gratitude towards Borg makes us realize for the first time as to the real level of humanity found in this fascinating man. The elderly Mother gives us insight into the coldness that people see in him. The young lovers and friends mirror his vivacious youth and the middle aged couple expands on what his personal life actually became. All of this is done with an eloquent visual touch that mixes great acting in coordination with scenes of power. Bergman uses his close-ups expertly to show us the feelings of his characters. Their pain and their regret. At the beginning of the drive Marianne explains to Borg why she dislikes him. At the end of the film, she tells him that she likes him very much. That in a nutshell is the power of this movie in that it makes this change of opinion so natural and real that it allows us to discover this man and his life. To care about him and in so doing think about our own lives. This is a beautiful film that lives in the mind well past the final credits..
1001 Movies before you die 