Day 14: “Fanny and Alexander”

Director: Ingmar Bergman 1983
A well-to-do theatrical family in turn-of-the-century Sweden deals with life, death, love, God, ghosts and magic—mostly seen through the eyes of a young boy. There is a wonderful Christmas celebration, a stern and creepy bishop (who becomes stepfather to Fanny and Alexander), truly human characters--and terrific performances from all. Obviously autobiographical in places (although the movie is set eleven years before Bergman’s birth in 1918), “Fanny and Alexander” is so mesmerizing that its three-hours pass quickly. I would have stayed in the hyperbaric chamber to see the end, but had to get out after two-and-a-half hours. The Time Out Film Guide says Bergman’s TV version, which clocks in at five hours, is even better.