Fanny And Alexander on DVD (1982)

If Tolstoy made TV

A customer from Thame , 02/03/2005

Have you read Anna Korenenna or A Suitable Boy and been astonished by the humanity enclosed within these giant books - and having though before you started reading them that they might well be rather stuffy classics. (sorry if you have not read them).

This film is like that it is 5 hours long, so to be watched in parts. It is an extended parable contrasting the lives and outlook of a wealthy Theatrical Family with a highly moralistic Bishop and his household (Bergman heart sits firmly on the side of the theatrical family).

It is filmed from the perspective of 2 young children who endure the death of their father, the remarriage of their mother and the visitation of ghosts and a miriad of of odd characters.

It is a brilliant philisophical exploration of what constitutes morality and who has the right to define it - quite a big topic for what I think was originally a TV series. Bergman is exposing the hypocrasy of his religous upbringing.

It all may sound a bit dry but there is a strong story line and great culminating drama and you feel enriched by watching it.

I would thouroughly recommend getting this out.

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Ravishing

Nimrod from London , 17/06/2004

Probably Bergman's last major work, a family saga with elements of autobiography, revisiting many of Bergman's themes and obsessions from previous films - religion, death, the visionary, ghosts, art and theatre, Shakespeare and Strindberg.

"Fanny and Alexander" tells the story of the Ekdahls, a Swedish theatre family in the early 20th century. While it focuses in particular on the remarriage of the children's mother to an inflexible clergyman, the film covers several years in the life of the whole extended family.

This appears to be the 5-hour version made for Swedish TV rather than the edited version shown in cinemas and its spread over two DVDs.

The photography is absolutely ravishing; the pace leisurely, the tone varies from amusing to magical to occasional horror.

Perhaps best viewed after seeing several earlier Bergman films, this is a multilayered, multifaceted piece of work that will repay many viewings.

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Stage Hands

A customer from Cirencester , 29/05/2005

Fanny and Alexander is a very full length film running for over three hours. Is it worth three hours? Resoundingly yes.

The boy Alexander and his sister Fanny belong to an extended acting family who also run a theatre. The two children are on the screen for much of the time, but the film is the story of what happened to them rather than what they did. Alexander nudges the film is particular directions by what he says and does; Fanny usually follows on and loyally supports him. In the acting-family life is good, but the family falls apart. Mother marries the bishop and life becomes hard, hostile and hypocritical. In fact life is so unpleasant for the children that I did need to read the summary to see if it was worth persevering with the gloom. It is.

The settings are superb ? riots of colour in the ?Edwardian? family house; bleak grandeur in the bishop?s castle. The people are as varied as usual in a Bergman film ranging from the warm and encouraging to the mysterious and creepy. Every so often the story takes a fantastic turn which might, on very careful study, turn out to be deeply symbolic of something or other, but why not let the subconscious work on it, and let the film run on without interruption?

If you have doubts about Bergman as a posh director, or one purposefully difficult to understand, I think this film could persuade you that he just wants to tell us a good story in a brilliantly visual way.

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Warning!

A customer from Bournemouth, England , 13/06/2006

I rented this film and only received 1 disc, totalling about 3 hours runtime.

The full film is spread over 2 discs and runs to over 5 hours.

Buy the dvd by all means but i'd advise against renting unless you only want a 3 hour taster. (unless of course this situation has already been rectified)

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SO Good I watched it twice!

SCH from Lincoln [Highly rated reviewer] , 23/10/2007

This was the first Ingmar Bergman film I saw and I was blown away.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of world cinema, forget pre-conceived ideas about Bergman I found this a very pleasant, warm and mildly uplifting film

Is 5hrs too long?

No the 3hr 'Theatrical version' is too short!

This was originally made for TV so is split into parts with the first being the longest at 1.5hrs so it is easy to watch in stages ...

When I first watched the film I was a bit daunted by 5hrs of Bergman but I sat down and started. After a while, about 10mins or so of my reckoning I thought it was beginning to drag and I'd never sit through it,

but then I checked the clock and I had been watching for more than 1hr, not 10mins ....and I was glued. Next thing I know the films nearly over and I don't want it to end ..... so I watched it twice.

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If Tolstoy made TV

A customer from Thame , 02/03/2005

Have you read Anna Korenenna or A Suitable Boy and been astonished by the humanity enclosed within these giant books - and having though before you started reading them that they might well be rather stuffy classics. (sorry if you have not read them).

This film is like that it is 5 hours long, so to be watched in parts. It is an extended parable contrasting the lives and outlook of a wealthy Theatrical Family with a highly moralistic Bishop and his household (Bergman heart sits firmly on the side of the theatrical family).

It is filmed from the perspective of 2 young children who endure the death of their father, the remarriage of their mother and the visitation of ghosts and a miriad of of odd characters.

It is a brilliant philisophical exploration of what constitutes morality and who has the right to define it - quite a big topic for what I think was originally a TV series. Bergman is exposing the hypocrasy of his religous upbringing.

It all may sound a bit dry but there is a strong story line and great culminating drama and you feel enriched by watching it.

I would thouroughly recommend getting this out.

Read all highest rated reviews