Lucas Bolton Reviews - Wild Strawberries (1957)

The moment I seen Persona, I fell in love with its bizarre imagery and distributing plot. It was a film about split personalities and (like Roger Ebert said) about cinema as a whole, using various techniques, and even referencing other Bergman films like Through a Glass Darkly. I remember doing work experience in Fopp, and while I was pricing films, I seen the DVD. I was so compelled to get it. It looked like a film that would really hook me. At that moment, I became a Bergman fan, being the easily fanatical person I am.
Now I admit that I haven't watched a ton of his films, but I thoroughly enjoyed Persona, Summer Interlude, Through a Glass Darkly, Cries and Whispers, and what I have seen of Fanny oct Alexander with its dynamic characters and beautiful period setting. Two films of his that I have in my collection are finally getting a look at now. I still have yet to see Seventh Seal at time of writing, but I finally decided to take a gander at one of Bergman's most visceral films, Wild Strawberries. And I think it is the only film that I have seen of his, so far, that matches the quality of Persona. In fact, in many ways, it actually is a better film.

One thing that has always intrigued me about the film was how Bergman used Victor Sjostrom (another legendary filmmaker in Sweden, most notably for his work in the Silent cinema with titles like The Phantom Carriage, and The Wind, which is one of Lillian Gish's most potent works) as the main lead of this film. It's a beautiful marriages of modern and old in one, and that alone sold me on this film.
The story centers on a Professor who is caught up in his dreams and memories, and must confront the regrets and emptiness that was his past. He goes on a trip to a ceremony with his daughter-in-law, who considers him selfish. As he drives there, he finds the old house he grew up in, and reminisces about the days of old. As he journeys through those memories about his family, he finds a woman (played by Bibi Andersonn) and two men who go on the drive with him. It's a joy to see these characters interact, and I think Bergman does a great job of making us feel for some of these troubled characters. It's almost like they find a father figure in Sjostrom, and I just love seeing the way he observes the events happening on screen.

The film walks the line between emotionally involving, and artistically challenging, with close-ups, dream sequences, and memories that intertwine the past and present. One scene that stuck out for me is the one where the Professor's cousin, in the past, places a mirror in front of him, most likely trying to make him face all that guilt once more. The backdrop with the house is beautifully photographed with bright whites, and the mirror creates a surrealistic effect. It is utterly sublime to watch.

To be honest, it was hard to find anything wrong with this film. I think it may be better than Persona because it managed to strike a perfect balance in its storytelling, and it didn't rely on the overuse of bizarre imagery for the sake of being artsy (even though I do enjoy that about Persona). Wild Strawberries is an enticing and artistically stunning experience; one that helps you identify with the concept of old age, and the emotions associated with it. Pretty much an impeccable film if ever there were one.

Pasolini (2014)

Today I went to the Glasgow film theatre. As I was awed by the lush screen perfectly optimized for 4:3 and 16:9 presentations, a feeling of excitement rushed within me as the curtains at the back closed, and the lights dimmed. A cinematic experience awaited me. And what an experience it was.

For those of you who don't know, Abel Ferrara recently made a film about the late great Pier Paolo Pasolini. It is understandable if you have missed out on this information because the film seems to be going for a more indie feel than anything, and had it not been for BFI advertising it on Facebook, I probably wouldn't even have seen the film in all its glory today. In fact, I think that mentality of filmmaking fits perfectly with that of Paolo's. He even admits in the film that even if no one goes to see his films, the tools with which he can express his meaning are all that matter to him, and how he can navigate the meaning with the power of cinema. He was much like Ingmar Bergman and Stanley Kubrick whose meaning carried through in each of their movies. However, Paolo is very interesting in the sense that he could contradict himself pretty easily. The film even seems to draw a parallel to this fact since the project of his next film was going to be based on freedom, yet all he decried in Rome was the fact there was too much mayhem - probably caused by too much freedom, I would imagine.
Now the film basically centers around the final day of Pasolini. Almost like how The Gospel According to St. Matthew handled elements; many close ups of Pasolini's faces are exploited, and the film is not afraid to show the sexuality and brutality prevalent in his films like Decameron and Salo. The weird thing is that the film seems to jump from Italian to English on many occasions. I personally would have preferred it if Dafoe maintained an English speaking role since I think it just makes more sense. Though I can completely understand that they were probably trying to spruce up the film, and didn't want to alienate audiences who were maybe not used to Foreign films (though I highly doubt any audience watching this is unaccustomed to films like that, but I think the principle still applies). Similarly, while I did find the concept of delving into his future project interesting, keeping the desert setting alive and the overall divinity that Pasolini thrived on, the transition from reality to the dream project was not always that easy for me to follow. I occasionally thought a completely new story opened up; but then again, maybe that was deliberate, since Pasolini's film , Theorem, dealt with that kind of storytelling as well where each of the characters would follow a trance on the "guest" character played by Terrence Stamp. A very interesting, but weirdly disjointed way of telling a story. He was represented as absolutely subversive in his nature, and never afraid to say no.

Dafoe was an excellent casting choice for Pasolini. He managed to almost show the pain the man must have felt in being rejected, and dealing with it on a regular basis. But he still managed to bring to life a creative and truly challenging figure, and this was easily the strongest part of the film. Near the ending, I was on edge just watching the twists and turns, and being pulled into his universe, only to have it completely shatter in a second. The way it handled his murder (based on Homophobia) made the whole thing about his controversial nature even more interesting than I ever thought imaginable.
If you are a fan of world cinema, then you owe it to yourself to watch Ferrara's portrayal of a multifaceted human being through the lens of a single day. Though you must be warned that the film does not pull any punches with its violent and sexualised content, but without these core elements, we forget what was going through the man's mind.