Fanny and Alexander

Bergman has directed over 40 movies and his career spans 7 decades. He is a movie force to be reckoned with. Fanny and Alexander is a tale of growing up in turn of the century Sweden. Multiple generations partaking in happy Christmas rituals at a well-to-do family's gathering are shown in gorgeous warm candlelit glow. The details of the house's holiday decorations are particularly enjoyable. We are treated to a closeup look at the goings on behind closed doors and an intimate portrait of a family. The first two hours of this movie progress rather conventionally. At first we wondered where the trademark Bergman closeups and bizarre Seventh Seal segues were. However as the characters' lives unfold before us, we are brought gently into Bergman's supernatural world. The final hour is a wonderful mix of brilliant and shocking scene transitions, ghosts and dreams, insane characters and the wonder of a child's imagination.