7/14/15
3/4
I didn't quite give Wild Strawberries its deserved attention, but I am able to see that this is a different Bergman film, and one I can enjoy but probably could never love. The film is a conglomeration of tones, ideas and techniques. It is one of his earliest acclaimed pieces, so it would seem that he's a young artist in total creative exploration, like Woody Allen in Annie Hall, were it not for The Seventh Seal, with which it shares 1957. Indeed, I felt a strong Annie Hall rhythm coming off of this scattered, motion-oriented picture. Odd characters and situations flew by without having the weight that they have in real life; dark philosophies were interrupted by nonsensical whimsy, giving the film the light tone that Annie Hall had despite both films' absurdist, isolated, nihilistic convictions. This wasn't as funny as Annie Hall, but seeing any humor in a Bergman film would be a surprise.
While I don't trust that I grasped the overall objective of the film well, I did enjoy the non-stop flurry of ideas from Bergman, and appreciated the atmosphere for what it was. I suppose it's closer to Crimes and Misdemeanors, with its aging lead character and scenes of darkness. There were some good-quality unsettling moments; specifically, the dream early in the film blew me away. It showcased Bergman's psychological skill, with how well he created an atmosphere despite his era's primitivity.
This is a strange movie, one that is hard to fully "get" -- and there is no better word -- due to its choppy pacing and collection of ideas. However, the ideas were there, and there was significant skill exhibited by the auter; the reason I could probably never love this is because of its lack of great characters, but the movie was of solid enjoyability and reward.
No comments:
Post a Comment