Fanny and Alexander
- Director: Ingmar Bergman
- Writer: Ingmar Bergman
- Producer: Jörn Donner; Renzo Rossellini
CGiii Comment
Over 5 hours long...and, considered to be one of the finest films ever made.
Act I (92 mins): Slow and opulent. Nothing actually happens.
Act II (38 mins): Too much bad Hamlet, a protracted death scene and...some screaming. More than morose.
Act III (37 mins): Things are starting to happen - those poor kids...
Act IV (83 mins): It falls apart...a ridiculous conclusion.
It should've be called Alexander...because, there's not a lot of Fanny in it! Yes, that's meant to be a joke...sitting through this film and to be served the Epilogue is akin to having acid thrown in your face after a makeover.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
It's the early twentieth century Sweden. Adolescent siblings Alexander and Fanny Ekdahl lead a relatively joyous and exuberant life with their well-off extended paternal family, led by the family matriarch, their grandmother, Helena Ekdahl. The openness of the family culture is exemplified by Helena's now deceased husband ending up becoming best friends with one of her lovers, a Jewish puppet maker named Isak Jacobi, and their Uncle Gustav Adolf's open liaison with one of the family maids, Maj, who everyone in the family adores, even Gustav Adolf's wife, Alma. Between the siblings, Alexander in particular has inherited the family's love of storytelling, his parents and his grandmother who are actors and who manage their own theater. Things change for Alexander and Fanny when their father, Oscar, dies shortly after Christmas 1907.
Cast & Characters
Pernilla Allwin as Ekdahlska huset - Fanny Ekdahl;
Bertil Guve as Ekdahlska huset - Alexander Ekdahl;
Borje Ahlstedt as Ekdahlska huset - Carl Ekdahl;
Allan Edwall as Ekdahlska huset - Oscar Ekdahl;
Ewa Froling as Ekdahlska huset - Emilie Ekdahl;
Gunn Wallgren as Ekdahlska huset - Helena Ekdahl;
Jarl Kulle as Ekdahlska huset - Gustav Adolf Ekdahl;
Jan Malmsjo as Biskopsgarden - Bishop Edvard Vergerus;
Christina Schollin as Ekdahlska huset - Lydia Ekdahl;
Kerstin Tidelius as Biskopsgarden - Henrietta Vergerus;
Emelie Werko as Ekdahlska huset - Jenny Ekdahl;
Marianne Aminoff as Biskopsgarden - Blenda Vergerus;
Sonya Hedenbratt as Ekdahlska huset - Aunt Emma;
Svea Holst as Ekdahlska huset - Miss Ester;
Kristina Adolphson as Ekdahlska huset - Siri