FANNY AND ALEXANDER

Sweden | 1982 | 35mm | 188 min. | Swedish with English subtitles
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Jan Malmsjö
At the twilight of his illustrious career, Bergman mined his own childhood memories for this moving family drama told on a grand scale. When the patriarch of the Ekdahls, a Swedish family of actors in the early twentieth century, dies suddenly, the children (Allwin and Guve) must adjust to life under Bishop Edvard (Malmsjö), their mother’s cruel new husband. Bergman’s austere mood and signature existential meditations here exist in tandem with moments of warmth and joy, including an extended sequence chronicling the family’s annual Christmas party. A 35mm print of the film’s theatrical version will be screened. (JM)