#0000A/#264: BERGMAN, Ingmar: The Making Of Fanny And Alexander (1982)

FANNY AND ALEXANDER BOX SET {Spine #261}

BERGMAN, Ingmar (Sweden)
The Making Of Fanny And Alexander [1982]
Spine #0000A/Spine #264
Blu-ray/DVD


The Making of Fanny and Alexander (Dokument Fanny och Alexander) is a fascinating look at the creation of a masterpiece. Directed by Ingmar Bergman himself, this feature-length documentary chronicles the methods of one of cinema's luminaries as he labors to realize his crowning production — with unforgettable glimpses of the director at work with many of his longtime collaborators. Also included in this double-disc set is a candid 1984 interview with Bergman and introductions by the director to eleven of his films.

110 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Swedish
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2004/2018
Director


Ingmar Bergman was 64 when he directed The Making of Fanny and Alexander.

Other Bergman films in the Collection:


The Film

We see Bergman at the pre-production party telling the actors that he’s completely forgotten what he has written, and the whole thing is now in their hands. (No pressure.)

This “making-of” is a delight, watching the master cineast at work — blocking actors, playfully arguing with Sven, and thinking up camera movements on the spot.

It is touching to see how he interacts with Bertil Guve (Alexander) and Pernilla Allwin (the young Fanny), because he rarely used children in such important roles in his earlier films.

A long take of Gustav Adolf Ekdahl (Jari Kulle) giving an extended speech and many takes of the dying Gunnar Björnstrand reciting a poem in the rain, with a lit candle on his head …

Film Rating (0-60):

55

The Extras

The Booklet

#264 only: Thirty-six page booklet featuring an essay by Paul Arthur.

“A flurry of publicity around Fanny and Alexander began well before the start of production. Bergman said it would be his final film, and he allowed unusual media access to the set, even welcoming a pair of journalists who wrote a diary of the seven-month shoot. The director added to the clamor by enlisting Arne Carlsson, a crew member on several earlier films, to record spontaneous impressions of the creative labors, footage that Bergman later arranged into this feature-length chronicle punctuated by candid first-person intertitles … where conventional movie supplements are driven by purely commercial considerations, here a self-conscious treatment of the relationship between cast and crew reflects the valedictory nature of the original fiction, becoming an occasion not only to document an artist’s last fling behind the camera but to meditate on core aesthetic principles.”

#0000A only:

A Bergman Tapestry (2004)

Documentary featuring several members of Fanny and Alexander’s cast and crew (39 mins.)

Cast and crew reflect on their experiences. Tapestry is a fine word to describe this great masterpiece.

#0000A/#264:

Commentary

None.

Ingmar Bergman Bids Farewell to Film

A one-hour conversation between Bergman and Nils Petter Sundgren made for Swedish television in 1984.

“In the state between being awake and falling asleep, I step into Grandma’s apartment and walk through the rooms. I see very clearly that picture hanging on the wall; that carpet, that clock, that little porcelain figure … I walk from room to room and I know exactly where all those little things are to be found. And I can recall the smells … we live in a totally different environment of sound and light today than we did back then.”

Stills gallery

Costume sketches

By Marik Vos.

Video footage

Of Anna Asp’s models for the film’s sets.

Asp’s Academy Award winning sets, in miniatures and full-size.

#264 only:

Video introductions

By Bergman, made for Swedish television in 2003.

These eleven delightful introductions are usually available as extras on each of the films, but is wonderful to have them all collected here.

Extras Rating (0-40):

34

55 + 34 =

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