Following a great career that began in the 1950s, Ingmar Bergman directed several landmark films for his native Sweden that brought the country international attention. His films often had questions about existentialism, spirituality and such. In the 1960s, Bergman was a hit in the U.S. art houses through films like Jungfrukallan (The Virgin Spring) and Sasom I en Spegel (Through a Glass Darkly) that both won him Oscars while other films like Persona, Viskningar och Rop (Cries and Whispers), Scener ur ett Aktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage), and Hostsonaten (Autumn Sonata) continued his international prestige. Then in 1982, Bergman created one of his greatest films that would win him his third Best Foreign Film Oscar while at the time, he announced it would be his last entitled Fanny och Alexander (Fanny & Alexander).

Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, Fanny och Alexander tells the story of two kids dealing with the death of their father as well as their mother's marriage to a bishop. A complex story about family dynamics and the changes from the observation of children in the early 20th Century reveals Bergman's direction style at its peak. Featuring a huge cast that includes regulars Harriet Andersson, Erland Josephson, and Gunnar Bjornstrand in a cameo. Fanny och Alexander is a sprawling, haunting masterpiece from Ingmar Bergman.

It's Christmas in 1907 at a small town in Sweden that is the home of the rich, idyllic Ekdahl family. Leading the family is a retired actress named Helena (Gunn Wallgren), who is a widowed yet loving grandmother who has respect for everyone including her servants. She has three sons including the philandering yet joyful Gustav Adolf (Jarl Kulle) with his wife Alma (Mona Malm) and eldest daughter Petra (Maria Granlund). The second is a failed professor named Carl (Borje Ahlstedt) with his German wife Lydia (Christina Schollin). The third and eldest is a successful theater owner and actor named Oscar (Allan Edwall) with his loving wife/actress Emilie (Ewa Froling) and their children, the 10-year old Alexander (Bertil Guve) and 7-year old Fanny (Pernilla Allwin).

Everyone is spending a big Christmas dinner following a play held by Oscar that was a success. Joining the family are a large group of servants including the young maid Maj (Pernilla August) who adores the children while being seduced by Gustav in one occasion. It was a great moment despite the tension and flaws as Carl is going through financial problems while the family has contempt for his wife. One of the visitors arriving at the party is a Jewish friend of Helena's husband named Isak Jacobi (Erland Josephson) who the grandchildren often calls as their uncle. Despite her loneliness, Helena always found great company in Isak whom she considers to be her lover and was always beloved by the family. The night ends with mass in the church as the idyllic life that the Ekdahls known seem to go on forever.

Then a few months later during theater rehearsal, Oscar falls ill as the family watch in crisis. The sight of his father collapsing has shocked Alexander and having to see him on his deathbed with his grandmother, mother, and sister was overwhelming to the point that he didn't know what to do. Fanny tries to comfort him as the children know their life will never be the same again. Months later, Emilie has found a new suitor in a handsome bishop named Edvard (Jan Malmsjo) who has decided to marry Emilie and give the family a new life. Alexander isn't sure about the idea since and Fanny often see the ghost of their father. The family are having thoughts about this new marriage and are more concerned about the children.

Having to leave the idyllic life of the home they lived with so much love, Emilie, Fanny, and Alexander arrive at Edvard's home at a nearby sea that is surrounded with little furniture or paintings. Just crosses and such while they’re watched by a maid named Justina (Harriet Andersson) and Edvard's strict sister Henrietta (Kerstin Tidelius). The home also includes Edvard's large, immobile aunt Blenda (Marianne Aminoff). Back at the Ekdahls home, the presence of the missing children has affected them as Helena begins to see the ghost of her late son. She also notices that Maj is pregnant with Gustav's child and is being given a cafe in her name for her to work as she seeks independence. The Ekdahls try to move on as Helena confronts Gustav over his behavior while becoming aware that something isn't right about Edvard.

The new home that the pregnant Emilie and her children live proved to be the opposite of their old home as Emilie realizes she's made a mistake. Realizing their prisoners in their new home, Emilie tells Helena during a trip that she wants out but the bribes and everything wouldn't work. Plus, Edvard tries to break Alexander's spirit after learning a story Alexander told Justina about Edvard's previous life with his wife and two daughters who were mysteriously killed. When Emilie returns to find out what has happened to Alexander, she knows that they're in trouble. When Isak decides to attempt to make an escape for the children, he gets help from his nephew Aron (Mats Bergman) where Alexander would make an encounter with Aron's brother Ismael (Stina Ekbald) about the future.

A more personal work than some of the earlier films that Bergman made, the film is really about family, death, and faith in of complexities and spirit. Even the question of existence and how death changes the family dynamics in the most unexpected times into something that marks a transition for the Ekdahls. Bergman doesn't give answers into existentialism or anything but rather explore dynamics, relationships, and how spirituality works in mysterious ways. While the film might be slow to some audiences, even in the first hour. It's only to serve on what Bergman is trying to do which is to have the audience to get to know this unique family known as the Ekdahls. They're flawed, they don't always do the right things, and sometimes they're badly mistreated. Yet, it's a family that audiences can relate to for those flaws and how they love each other and spend time during this holiday where everyone comes together. It's in the first act where Bergman doesn't exactly tell the story but get people to relate to these fully-realized characters in all of their glory.

Then the mood of the film changes and the real story finally begins with the second act by an act of death and transition. The scene of Oscar in his deathbed surrounded by his wife, mother, and children is one of the most heartbreaking scenes to watch. Even to see Alexander's reaction in this and the funeral march as he's comforted by Fanny as he isn't sure how to respond. Even as they see the ghost of their father later on, they know that things are changing but don't know what's going to happen. When the bishop Edvard arrives into the story, Bergman is aware that the audiences will know something isn't going right but don’t know when. Bergman's script definitely sets a momentum of what is to come as once Emilie and the children arrive at Edvard's home. The mood and look of the film definitely changes. Even the Ekdahls home, full of life and color, feels amiss in something.

By the third act when Emilie and the children struggle for freedom, the aftermath is complex. After everything the family has gone through, not everyone will believe everything has gone back to normal. Even through the mind of Alexander during his encounter with Ismael in a haunting scene. While Bergman's script reveals characters going through the changes in their life and how spirituality plays into their lives. It's in Bergman's eerie, observant, and atmospheric direction that really drives the film in its unique structure and storytelling. The look and feel of the film changes through each act to let the audience know where they at and how to respond. Even in some of the film's haunting moments, Bergman captures its dread and horror simply through its emotions. It's in the direction that Bergman really holds the film together in all of its entrancing and dramatic moments.

Longtime cinematographer Sven Nykvist helps Bergman in bringing a unique vision to each act of the film. In one of the rare Bergman films in color, Nykvist's enchanting photography really brings life to the film. From the lighting and colors in the first act, the camera work is amazing and wide open with its lenses and movements. In the second act, it's grayer and there's very little light from the windows as the mood is darker with more shadows and in the Ekdahls, the artificial look starts to show with the colors still being white but lifeless. In the scene of the Jacobi home, the look of the film is even more intimate to reveal the world Fanny and Alexander are living with its puppets and darker lighting to reveal this new sense of intimacy and shelter. If Bergman's direction is given any amount of magic, it's through the amazing work of his late cinematographer Sven Nykvist.

Art director Susanne Lingheim and set decorator Anna Asp create some exquisite sets on the film's interior settings. Notably the rich colors of green, red, and earthy colors to convey the atmosphere of the Ekdahls that is contrasted to the grayish look of Edvard's home. Even the home of Jacobi is great with its array of glass objects and most of all, the puppets with help from special effects supervisor Bengt Lundgren. Costume designer Marik Vos-Lundh does some amazing work in bringing life to the costumes from the dresses filled with array of colors that would match the look of the homes the characters are in. The look of the clothes are breathtaking that complements the art direction as well as Nykvist's photography.

Editor Sylvia Ingemarsson does some great work in the film's cutting which is given an elliptical pace to build the momentum. The film also works on the perspective cuts as well as fade-outs to close each act or scene. The editing works to convey the emotions of the film. Sound mixers Bjorn Gunnarson, Lars Liljeholm, Bo Persson, and Owe Svensson also do great work in conveying the different atmospheres of the environment the characters live in. To the intimacy of the Ekdahl homes to the horror surrounding Edvard's home. Music composer Daniel Bell creates an amazingly rich score that captures each sequence of joy and sadness. Bell's orchestral arrangements reveal the sense of dread and tension that is surrounded in the second act while having wonderfully melodic textures to convey the richness in the first.

Finally, there's the film's large cast. Featuring small performances from then unknown actors like Lena Olin as one of the Ekdahl's maids and Peter Stormare as one of Jacobi's men. The film also includes other small but memorable performances from Kristina Adolphson, Majlis Granlund, and Svea Holst as the loyal Ekdahl maids, Anna Bergman and Bergman regular Gunnar Bjornstrand in small cameos as theater patrons, Marianne Aminoff as Edvard's sick aunt Blenda, and Maria Granlund as Gustav's daughter Petra. In the role of Ekdahl's nephews, Mats Bergman is great as the charming, puppet-loving Aron while actress Stina Ekbald gives a haunting performance as Aron's psychic brother Ismael. Kerstin Tidelius is great as the strict, intimidating Henrietta while Bergman regular Harriet Andersson is also amazing as Justina, Edvard's spy who is shady and complex in retrieving some information from Alexander.

Borje Ahlstedt is excellent as the frustrated Carl who doesn't seem to be loved as much as his other brothers while Christina Schollin is great as his wife who tries to be supportive despite the contempt she receives from his family. Jarl Kulle is great as the fun, loving, philandering Gustav Adolf who seems to love a lot of women including the maid Maj while trying to maintain the role as the man of the house after his brother Oscar died. Mona Malm is also good as Gustav's wife Alma who understands her husband's philandering but knows it will always get the best of him. Pernilla August, known to American filmgoers as Shmi Skywalker of the Star Wars prequels, is great as the maid Maj who loves Alexander and is given a chance to lead a life but has trouble seeking her own individualism without hurting anyone.

Bergman regular Erland Josephson is great as the elderly yet magical Isak Jacobi who brings companionship to the widowed Helena while using magic to help out the children in their escape. Gunn Wallgren is great as the family’s leading patriarch Helena who is essentially, the glue of the family who keeps everyone together and on-line while being the one to comfort them and knowing what value family has. Allan Edwall is great as Oscar, the loving father who had it all until his death when he's forced to see things go wrong after his death including a heartbreaking scene with his mother about what happened. Jan Malmsjo is also great as the disciplined bishop Edvard who may seem charming and loving but underneath is a man who has dark intentions in ways of breaking Alexander's spirit. Ewa Froling is also good as Emilie, the wife who lost the love of her life only to be desperate for a new love. Froling’s performance is excellent in its development from being a desperate woman to someone trying to gain freedom and ends up playing a new role.

In the respective title roles of Fanny and Alexander, Pernilla Allwin and Bertil Guve are great in the performances they give. While Allwin doesn't have a lot of scenes in the film, her character is importance as the observer of all and like her grandmother, carries a unique sense of strength and comfort to her older brother. Allwin's performance is subdued and entrancing for someone of that age as it's one of the great performances captured on film. Bertil Guve is amazing as Alexander with the way he surrounds himself in this life he knew. When he's forced to make new changes, Guve's natural performance reveals the pain of the changes and how he's nearly broken down by his stepfather. Even when he's forced to confront his own father’s death, he has trouble understanding things revealing his anger and dissolution towards God. It's these performances where the heart of the film lies.

When the film was released in December of 1982 in its native Sweden, it was hailed as a masterpiece with critics while months later, it reached the U.S. where the film eventually won four Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Cinematography to Sven Nykvist. It was also the end of an era for filmgoers as Ingmar Bergman announced that this film would be his last theatrical film. In the years since, Bergman continued to do plays and TV for such projects like 1984's Efter Repetitionen (After the Rehearsal) that featured Bertil Guve, Erland Josephson, Lena Olin, and Bergman regular Ingrid Thulin; and 1997's Lamar och Org Sig Till (In the Presence of a Clown) with Erland Josephson, Borje Ahlstedt, Peter Stormare, Pernilla August, and Marie Richardson.

Then in 2003, Bergman made another film that was for Swedish TV called Saraband, a sequel-of-sorts to his 1973 classic film Scener ur ett Aktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage) starring Erland Josephson and Liv Ullmann in their respective roles with Borje Ahlstedt in a supporting role. Saraband then gained a worldwide theatrical release in 2005 where it was an arthouse hit in the U.S. Around the time Saraband came out in theaters, Fanny och Alexander was also released in Criterion in a 5-DVD disc boxset that included the five-hour TV version of the film itself. The timing proved to be right as Bergman was gaining new generation of fans despite the fact that he has no intentions of making new films.

While Fanny och Alexander isn't as plot-driven or heavy as other, earlier films, it's still one of Ingmar Bergman's masterpieces. Anyone who wants to see an intelligent yet enduring film about family will enjoy this. For a film about family, it is a great family that is suggested by Mia Farrow who recommends this film months ago on Turner Classic Movies. While it may be slow at first, it pays off right in the middle and towards the end. For anyone wanting to see a great film by Ingmar Bergman or a magical family film, Fanny och Alexander is the film to see.

Ingmar Bergman Reviews: Smiles of a Summer Night - The Seventh Seal - Wild Strawberries - The Virgin Spring - (The Silence)- Persona - (Hour of the Wolf) - (The Passion of Anna) - Cries and Whispers - (Scenes from a Marriage) - (Saraband)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older