Arts and Faith #29: Wild Strawberries

Scott's introductory comments about the Arts and Faith top 100 films list
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Arts and Faith top 100: #29

There are certain milestones in life that evoke memories of the past.  My 20th high school reunion was held earlier this month; and while I did not attend, it did lead me to reminisce about former classmates and friendships.  Family reunions and funerals are other times when we reflect deeply upon our relationships with others.  Pride, regret, and remorse are feelings that become stirred in our consciousness at these memories, which reveal our human successes and frailties.

In the 1957 film Wild Strawberries, Isak Borg is one such person who has reached a milestone.  A professor of medicine, Isak is scheduled to receive an award to commemorate his many years of teaching excellence. He embarks on a road trip, accompanied by his daughter-in-law (Marianne).  Along the way they stop at locations that evoke powerful memories of his youth.  At one stop Isak visits the summer home where he spent many years in the prime of his life.  He recalls a time when his fiancee leaves him for his brother.  We begin to discover that Isak is, and always has been, a cold and isolated person.

During the road trip, Isak and Marianne encounter a number of fellow travelers, each of whom seem to remind Isak of his past. Sara, Anders, and Viktor are twenty-something hitchhikers who come along for much of the film.  Sara is enamored with both of the men, despite their significant differences.  One of the men wants to become a minister, while the other is an atheist and science student.  Their argument leads them into a fistfight that Sara has to break up.  She reminds Isak of his former fiancee, whose name was also Sara.

Wild Strawberries is a subtle film.  Bergman holds his cards close to the vest, leaving the audience to wonder exactly what message he wants to convey about the human condition. Isak dreams about death, and reflects upon his past at a time when he is being honored for his former work.  He has, at best, a distant relationship with his one son, Evald.  Evald has grown into the mirror image of his father.  He, too, is distant from his nearest relatives.  And when Marianne announces her pregnancy, Evald wants nothing to do with bringing another life into this world.  Near the end of the film, Isak attempts to offer Evald advice about his marriage.  But the son brushes off the father, in what may be the saddest moment of the entire movie filled with sad moments. In this sense, Wild Strawberries is A Christmas Carol, if Dickens had stopped writing after the visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past. Memory and reflection can be helpful aids in moving us towards maturity and the health of the soul.  But if we wait until our final moments to engage in such work, then we will have missed out on the gifts of God.