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Smultronstället (1957)
A film that urges us to concern ourselves with what really counts; our personal wild strawberries
If you stay in a distance, you won't get any connection. If you don't give love, you won't get any. You won't be happy, for sure. You won't have a clue about the meaning of life, the real essence of it- the WILD STRAWBERRIES of YOUR life. To comprehend this last phrase, you will have to think of the wild strawberries as they stand in the Scandinavian countries (where this movie comes from). They are pretty rare to find. If and when you find them, they won't even put out your hunger (as any other food, easily found in your refrigerator would accomplish). You don't really need them. But that's the whole point, the true value they carry.
The film begins with Isak Borg making a trip to another town to get an award for his great achievements as a doctor. But, unexpectedly, this journey will be of a very different nature. He will pass from known places that will wake up memories well hidden in the unconscious, places which will take care for the development of this nature. He will meet personas who will play a part in this. He will go through situations that will ring a revealing bell of truth, they will be a strong reality check... for him and the audience...
Ingmar Bergman, with his flawless masterpiece, presents to us the meaning of life in something like 90 minutes. Many films, especially in the '00s, have tried to walk through this path, but we easily reach the conclusion that they have achieved very little as we watch wild strawberries. In the same time, Bergman gives us a punch in the face. It's a painful procedure; to see what really counts and then realise you haven't valued it as you should all the previous years of your life until this moment of realisation. That you have not given it the time and space that fits to it, that you have spent your time and emotional space (the only things that really belong to you in this world) in other unimportant matters (like arguing about the existence of god ;-) ).
Bergman's "wild strawberries" have a sublime flavor and during their digestion comes real personal valuation and change. I have seen hundreds of movies, but this is the one I always looked for. Thank you mr. Bergman.
10 out of 10