(Flash Review)Dr. Borg has reached that point in life, at age 78, where he reflects upon and realizes he has dug many emotional voids. During a long car trip, along with his daughter in-law, to where he is to receive an honorary degree he reminisces about his past decisions. Through flash backs and dream scenes there is much symbolism to punctuate the choices made. The emotional journey the man takes involves soul searching and may lead to potential healing of past relationships he has soured. The film has a rather expected story arc and for me lacks striking cinematography or shot framing. There are many quiet symbolic moments that would be ideal to analyze in a film class as they aren't obviously apparent. Overall, I know this is a Bergman, but it didn't mesmerize me visually aside from the clever editing and the poetic storytelling was lessened by an unsurprising story arc.

Grouchy, stubborn and egotistical Professor Isak Borg is a widowed 78- year-old physician who specialized in bacteriology. Before specializing he served as general practitioner in rural Sweden. He sets out on a long car ride from Stockholm to Lund to be awarded the degree of Doctor Jubilaris 50 years after he received his doctorate from Lund University. He is accompanied by his pregnant daughter-in-law Marianne who does not much like her father-in-law and is planning to separate from her husband, Evald, Isak's only son, who does not want her to have the baby, their first.During the trip, Isak is forced by nightmares, daydreams, old age and impending death to reevaluate his life. He meets a series of hitchhikers, each of whom sets off dreams or reveries into Borg's troubled past. The first group consists of two young men and their companion, a woman named Sara who is adored by both men. Sara is a double for the love of Isak's youth. The first group remains with him throughout his journey. Next Isak and Marianne pick up an embittered middle-aged couple, the Almans, whose vehicle has nearly collided with theirs. The pair exchanges such terrible vitriol and venom that Marianne stops the car and demands that they leave. The couple reminds Isak of his own unhappy marriage. In a dream sequence, Isak is asked by Sten Alman, now the examiner, to read "foreign" letters on the blackboard. He cannot. So, Alman reads it for him: "A doctor's first duty is to ask forgiveness," from which he concludes, "You are guilty of guilt."

"Wild Strawberries", or Smultronstället (the original title), was one of two absolute gems Ingmar Bergman wrote in 1957, the other being The Seventh Seal. In both films, we witness the journey of a disillusioned man in pursuit of life satisfaction, an explanation to their existence. We are then introduced to a series of flashbacks, which will reveal a great deal about how they have been shaped into who they have become.The story is of aging professor Dr. Isak Borg and his feelings of remorse near the end of his life compelling him to seek out answers or at least some type of meaning. "I hate resentful people" he ironically mutters, though we are given the brief impression that it is all people he despises. As he travels to Lund with his disarmingly candid daughter-in-law, Marianne, to accept an honorary degree, he will encounter both people and places that will elicit memories, both the good and the bad, of his past, as we watch his feelings of melancholy gradually morph into the affirmation of life of which he was always searching for.So much of "Wild Strawberries" is, at its core, extraordinarily nuanced, with each new experience revealing another layer of our grouchy protagonist. "The place where wild strawberries grow", he gaily reminisces about at the film's beginning. I like to believe that, like 'Rosebud' in Citizen Kane, the wild strawberries serve as an emblem of the innocence in our youth, a memory that evokes hope and sheer joy, parts of life that many people will, as they grow older, seek to regain in some form or another.This film had me in a complete lost for words. It is able to connect with you on such an emotional, profoundly deep level beyond explanation. The cinematography is done with such care, with each detail almost emerging with a consciousness of its own. There is so much life in every frame, whether it being in the forest, the wild strawberry field. The acting and direction is subtle and true-to-life, as we feel that we are witnessing the telling of a genuine life story rather than observing a film. It is, in simplest terms, pure cinematic art.

I was caught unawares by the mellifluous verbiage of the Swedish language. The guy playing Isak had a lilting, singsong voice that held one's attention. I managed to understand most of the movie, which is a direct one despite its symbolism, or rather because of the symbolism. The thing about Isak is that he doesn't seem very much sophisticated. His fear is visceral but there's no raw insight to back it up. Maybe he was a simpleton in a gentleman's clothing. I didn't understand the reason for the title though. Regardless, Wild Strawberries didn't come even close to dislodging 12 Angry Men as my favorite movie of 1957, let alone the best film of all time. Ingmar Bergman, I must say, had something new to show, but he didn't show it, he said it. That's his sin. Hope you've found this review useful.