Happy Birthday: Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman was born on July 14, 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden. He died on July 30, 2007, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because he was 89, but my great-grandma lived until she was 100, so 89 isn't too old in my opinion! He is widely considered one of the best directors in motion picture history. R.I.P. Ingmar and happy would have been 92nd birthday.

I've only just recently discovered Ingmar Bergman and I am highly impressed by him. I watched his film Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället 1957), which he both directed and wrote the screenplay for. It is brilliant. It is beautiful. The cinematography is stellar. It is also witty and humorous at times. It is also very interesting and intriguing. I loved the characters. The acting was remarkable. I obviously really enjoyed this film! It's a must watch!


The film is about an elderly man, Isak Borg (played by Victor Sjöström), who is a professor of medicine and an accomplished physician. He is traveling to Lund in order to receive an honorary award. His daughter-in-law comes along with him for the trip and they meet some strangers along the way who end up traveling with them. During the trip, Isak finds himself experiencing intrusive dreams and hallucinations that relate to and explore some of his past experiences in life that have affected him tremendously. From these, Isak is able to analyze his life, confront his fears, and contemplate the man that he has become. 

Ingmar inspecting a model of a shark. Not sure why...