Search - Wild Strawberries [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1957 DVD Release: 09/09/2008 Format: DVD - Black and White Audio Tracks: Swedish Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 31 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 18 Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Reunion Films See Also: Wild Strawberries [Criterion Collection]

After exploring his disillusionment with religion in his previous films, Ingmar Bergman adopted a humanistic approach for this classic study in isolationism. Legendary Scandinavian director Victor Sjöström stars as Isak Borg, an aging medical professor who reassesses his life while journeying to his former university to receive an honorary degree. Borg travels with his estranged daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) and revisits many of the landmarks of his past, conjuring up memories of his family and of his onetime sweetheart Sara (Bibi Andersson). Returning to the present, he meets a teenage girl who resembles the long-departed Sara. She hitches a ride with the professor and Marianne, as do a ceaselessly bickering married couple. These new characters eventually become intertwined with Borg's hazy flashbacks and fantasies, as the old man recalls the disappointments and disillusionments that have left him cold and guilt-ridden, attributes emphasized when he encounters his equally cold and resentful son. Bookending Borg's odyssey of self-discovery are a series of symbolic images at the beginning of the film (a clock without hands, a man without a face) and a hauntingly beautiful finale, in which professor is beckoned back to the "perfect" world he left behind so many years earlier. This classic art movie remains one of Bergman's most accessible films and one of the most influential European art movies of its generation. Its intense focus on one man's thoughts, regrets, and memories set the tone for innumerable psychological character studies in its wake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Victor Sjöström - Professor Isak Borg
Bibi Andersson - Sara
Ingrid Thulin - Marianne Borg
Gunnar Björnstrand - Evald Borg
Folke Sundquist - Anders

Ingmar Bergman's brilliant portrait of an elderly man coming to terms with age and mortality receives a simple but respectful presentation on this DVD from the Criterion Collection. Wild Strawberries has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the image quality is excellent, reproducing the nuances of Gunnar Fischer's camerawork with impressive accuracy. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, and the fidelity is outstanding for a film shot in the mid-1950s. The dialogue is in Swedish, with optional English subtitles but no multiple language options. Beyond a short essay by Michael Koresky in the accompanying booklet, no bonus materials are included with this release. (This same disc has been included with a pair of box sets from Criterion, =Essential Art House Vol. 1 and =Essential Art House: Fifty Years of Janus Films, and the same transfer is available with a richer collection of bonus features in a deluxe edition from Criterion.) While this DVD doesn't offer much in the way of supplements, the presentation of one of Bergman's finest films is excellent, and is a fine value for budget-minded film enthusiasts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide