Staff Pick: Fanny and Alexander: Television Version

Zora’s Staff Pick!

Ingmar Bergman intended Fanny and Alexander to be his final film, what he called “the sum
total of my life as a filmmaker.” Though Bergman made a few more movies in the 90s,
according to many, including the director himself, Fanny and Alexander remains his best and
culminating work. Presented here in its glorious, full-length form, it is 312 minutes of cinematic
perfection—visually and narratively rich, immersive, and stirring. In this epic masterpiece,
Bergman transports his audience into the semi-autobiographical life of ten-year-old Alexander
Ekdahl, a melancholy and imaginative Swedish boy who, like many of us, is haunted by death
and complex crises of faith. And yet, despite (or because of) this inescapable dread and
loneliness, through Alexander and the Ekdahls, we experience the full potential of life—in all its
(un)holy humanity, infectious joy, vibrant color, and fantastic unreality. The shortened, theatrical
cut of the film, though more accessible and therefore more often screened, loses much of this
magic. Bergman himself said of the cutting process: “it was extremely troublesome, as I had to
cut into the nerves and lifeblood of the film.” An opportunity to see this masterpiece as its author
envisioned it—unmarred, on the big screen, surrounded by fellow lovers of movies and livers of
life—is a rare experience, too precious to miss.

Please note: Fanny and Alexander will be shown in two parts with a 20-minute intermission.