MOVIE REVIEW : 1957 Bergman Classic Relates Inner Journey

Dreaming is emblematic of Ingmar Bergman’s “Wild Strawberries.” This masterful Swedish director at first submerges us in his old hero’s nightmare, and later, the film finds its own dimension where reality is often enveloped by fantasy.

The first scenes set the tone and course for this 1957 movie, screening tonight at UC Irvine. Hallucinatory is one way to describe the beginning, as we’re introduced to Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom), a 78-year-old doctor known for his toughness. He’s lying in bed, having a dream that eventually becomes a nightmare.

In it, Isak is wandering down a street. Everything seems calm, but then Bergman lays out a series of metaphors--timepieces without hands; a rushing, out-of-control hearse drawn by black horses; a pervading isolation that comes from the deserted town square.

When the hearse crashes, a coffin falls out. The corpse, suddenly alive, reaches out to Isak, who sees that it’s he who is dead. He wakes up with thoughts of his mortality and decides to drive instead of fly to a distant university where he will be given an honorary degree.

Isak takes along his lovely daughter-in-law (Ingrid Thulin) and picks up three young hitchhikers (Bibi Andersson, Bjorn Bjelvenstam and Folke Sundquist) after they stop at his boyhood home. All three, especially the girl among them, are spirited, and their presence revitalizes Isak.

Isak and his companions are now traveling in the real world, but Isak can’t escape the earlier dream. The foreshadowing becomes overshadowing as Bergman thrusts Isak into several dreamlike reveries, juxtaposing the present with his uneasy past. The trip becomes an odyssey of self-revelation, regret and grudging acceptance.

Like “The Seventh Seal,” which was released a year before, “Wild Strawberries” initially baffled many critics, who found the symbolism too personal and arcane. It did poorly in limited release in America but soon became a favorite of the art houses. Bergman’s early films, like those of Fellini, were the first international cult movies.

The critics’ complaints seem odd now. Bergman’s vision is unique, but there’s a universal sweep to Isak’s self-absorption and the way the director describes it that speaks to everyone who has considered the path of their lives.

This is, to be sure, a film of great melancholy and introspection without a happy or heroic resolution. At times, all the pondering freezes the action, requiring our patience and attention. “Wild Strawberries,” a true classic, is as far away from an easy Hollywood movie as you can get.

It has much to offer, from Bergman’s exploration of the narrative form to the script’s reliance on the subconscious for inspiration. On a scholarly level, the film displays Bergman’s career-long preoccupations with death, spiritual truth and rejuvenation. They’ve become his signatures.

Ingmar Bergman’s “Wild Strawberries” will be screened tonight at 7 and 9 at UC Irvine’s Student Center Crystal Cove Auditorium as part of the UCI Film Society Directors’ Personal Portraits series. Tickets: $2 to $4. (714) 856-6379.