esrosedotblog

AUTOBIO

We compensated for an empty house (after our visitor had gone) by watching a NYTimes Best Film.

Fanny and Alexander (1982) is a big sprawling three hour film with very rich detail and a full range of emotional connection.

It is not strictly autobiographical but it is certainly about Bergman and it is clear that he is Alexander.

The kids grow up in a happy extended theater family and then the dad dies and the mom gets involved with a stern clergyman who turns out to be a little more weird and austere than she bargained for. He catches her on the widow's rebound.

We enjoyed all the pieces. There is a lot of funny stuff. There is some scary stuff. And always always always Bergman plays with fantasy and magical stuff especially in the mind's eye of Alexander.

For example, he sees his father for a long time after his death and finally says goodbye to him.

The mom and kids escape the clergyman after some edge of the seat moments and, by the end, all is well.

But no one gets out without some scar tissue. Ebert thinks this is an artistic autobiography showing us the young artist full of life and then the austere middle life where big issues loom.

Finally we are shown the small canvas artist who is interested in rich detail on a microscopic scale. Big issues still abound but in the context of simple people and situations. And that is just where the film ends.

It is pretty good. Well more than pretty good. A 5 out of Netflix5.