DVDs in Review

Fanny and Alexander

Title: Fanny and Alexander (1982)

Release date: November 16 2009

Certificate: 15

Format: DVD

DVD RRP: £19.99

Rating: 4.5/5

When the legendary Ingmar Bergman starting pre-production on 'Fanny and Alexander', he intended it to be his final film. Thankfully, he was lured back to directing on television later, but what this masterwork feels like is a beautifully orchestrated, sumptuously detailed and intimate epic - a near perfect swansong.

There were two versions released of 'Fanny and Alexander': a television version which stretches over 300 minutes and the three-hour theatrical version (presented here, remastered by Palisades Tartan).

Both were critically acclaimed, with this version scooping the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and the Golden Globe equivalent. Still, it isn't Bergman's most accessible work.

The notoriously bleak and strikingly visual director certainly isn't everyone's idea of a good time, and at over three hours this could be just a bit too grim for introductory audiences - 'Persona', 'The Seventh Seal' or 'Cries and Whispers' are shorter, more concise blasts of melancholy that should perhaps be watched first.

Regardless, 'Fanny and Alexander' is a very intriguing film. It tells the tale of family strife and the roles of acting and drama juxtaposed with religion and faith, as seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Alexander (a brilliant Bertil Guve) and his younger sister, Fanny (Pernilla Alwin) in early 20th century provincial Sweden.  

While the title may refer to both siblings, this is mostly about Alexander and is said to be highly autobiographical for the prolific writer/director himself. The plot sees their father die suddenly, only for the mother to go off and marry the local bishop and, in doing so, strip them from their rich, privileged life and thrust them into a world of strict order and cold faith.

The smaller house that the children and their widowed mother move into is much smaller, bleak and quite possibly haunted, while the new husband's firm religious beliefs only tighten the claustrophobic grip on the already fractured family unit. 

'Fanny and Alexander' is given numerous opportunities to be highly melodramatic and over the top but Bergman's direction has always been more wrenchingly psychological and visually arresting to ever fall into that trap.

This film plays like a dream of 10-year-old reminisced by an older man who can piece the puzzle together for what it is. We see adult characters act they do in the eyes of youth, ranging from both being silly and childlike to looking overbearing and strict. Things amaze the children; other things scare them - little is understood but plenty is undertaken. Much is the same for the audience.