Mud Songs

The Sacrifice is the last film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and, as is the case with most of his films, it’s an interesting but extremely slow and challenging film for most audiences. I like it but only recommend it for fans of Tarkovsky. From Ebert’s review: The Sacrifice “is about a man who learns, or dreams, that the bombers have gone on their way to unleash World War III. He offers his own life as a sacrifice, if only his family can be spared… [Tarkovsky] uses a great many long shots — both long in duration, and with great distances between the camera and the subjects. Long shots inspire thoughtfulness from the audience. We are not so close that we are required to identify with a character. We stand back, and see everything, and have time to think about it.”

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.