I recently watched Wild Strawberries (1957, Ingmar Bergman) (Smultronstället in Swedish).

This movie is about a day in the life of Isak Borg, a doctor who is traveling from his home in Stockholm to Lund to receive an honorary degree. Throughout the day he has flashbacks and dreams of his past.

This movie reminded me quite a bit of a Christmas Carol. A stuffy curmudgeon learns life lessons by visiting his past (but without the singing or ghosts!) But is is so much more than that. The movie was much deeper. We can see what triggers memories including his mother, a group of young hitchhikers and a couple that almost gets into an accident with Isak and company while driving.

This movie is serious but in a good way. It deals with existence, relationships and death. The topics are deep but the movie is very well done. Wild Strawberries is in black and white in the Swedish language.

Maybe the son won’t make the same mistakes Isak made?

A serenade by hitchhikers – a thank you and a congratulations.

This isn’t the first movie I have wrote about by Ingmar Bergman. I will keep an eye out for more of his movies as I peruse at the library.

Have you watched a good movie lately?