Mud Songs

The 5-hour version of Fanny and Alexander, not the meagre 3-hour theatrical cut. It’s a “slow paced human drama told with an artisan’s voice,” one that isn’t depressing or disturbing — which is nice for an Ingmar Bergman film. It focuses on the lives of a large affluent family in Sweden, particularly the pains and joys of two children in the family. It’s strange, funny, surreal at times, philosophical here and there, entertaining and compelling. Definitely one of Bergman’s happier films.

Ingmar Bergman’s films are hit-and-miss with me. He’s made cinematic masterpieces that bore me into a stupor. But sometimes when he comes in close, like he does in Persona, the result is so psychologically intimate, I sit back and marvel at the accomplishment.