Dvd Release

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday April 8, 2006

SACHA MOLITORISZ

Wild Strawberries

Hopscotch Entertainment

Rated PG

"THE THEATRE is like a faithful wife," Ingmar Bergman once said. "The film is the great adventure - the costly, exacting mistress."

Now 87, Bergman has retired from filmmaking to be with his "faithful wife", but his films made him one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century and are being resurrected on DVD.

Hopscotch has released three Bergman classics, following on from three issued in November (including The Seventh Seal), and another three scheduled for release later this year.

Wild Strawberries (1957) is a black-and-white road movie that earned Woody Allen's favourite filmmaker his first Oscar nomination (best screenplay) in 1960. The protagonist is Isak Borg, a grumpy old professor who travels to Lund to accept an honorary degree. En route, he must endure the company of his daughter-in-law, Marianne, and three naive hitchhikers.

At the summer house where he spent his boyhood, Borg has a vision of his childhood sweetheart; then, after he calls on his reclusive 100-year-old mother (she's alive), Borg's wife (she's dead) is frustrated by his coldness.

Punctuated by surreal dream sequences, the narrative is cleverly layered and includes Bergman trademarks such as profound, witty dialogue, themes of mortality, and pretty Swedish blondes.

Peter Cowie's 100-page book is included as an extra and he provides an excellent audio commentary.