#59 Wild Strawberries: I lost my way among empty streets

1957. dir. Ingmar Bergman, starring Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin. Swedish with subtitles.

Seen it before? No.

Victor Sjöström plays Professor Isak Borg, who is a 75 years old. He is alone with his maid, and it seems like nobody likes him. He is traveling to receive an honorary degree, and he brings his daughter-in-law with him. Along the way:

• He stops by his boyhood summer home, and confronts old memories of his cousin (?) whom I guess he was in love with (!?)
• Picks up some teenage hitchhikers: A girl, and her two boyfriends. heh.
• Almost gets into an accident with a bickering couple, whom the daughter-in-law kicks out of the car.
• They have lunch... drink some wine...
• Borg visits his mother, who is 95. Full of piss and vinegar. She has a box of his old things.
• Borg falls asleep and has weird dreams about loneliness and failure.

It's a meditation on loneliness and aging. This was Victor Sjöström's last movie so that adds a layer of... something, I don't know. Bergman's use of imagery and flashback gives the whole movie this dream-like quality. It's deep and thought-provoking. Great movie.

Position on the list: 152
Seriously? Cousins? Sara ends up marrying one of Isak's brothers. Did they really mean "cousin", or did they just screw up the translation?