THREE HITS

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Terrific meditation on life by an elderly professor who embarks with his family on a long road trip to pick up his last big academic award. Bitter sweet memories of youth are beautifully stitched into this fractious and melancholic journey.

The Seventh Seal (1957)

An extraordinary satire about religious extremists and faith set against the brutal Middle Ages in which a young Knight (Max von Sydow) fresh home from the Crusades plays chess with the spectre of Death. Bergman at his most powerful and bleakest.

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

An epic turn of the century family saga with tantalising whiffs of autobiography. The festive adventures and puritanical fears are seen through the eyes of a small boy. Bergman illuminates that elusive area between art and artifice.

THREE MISSES

A Ship Bound for India (1947)

Schematic melodrama about a half-blind tugboat captain alienated by his family and tortured by dreams of escape.

The Virgin Spring (1959)

For reasons beyond anyone’s ken, Bergman won his first Oscar for this cruel but plodding allegory about rape and pillage in 14th century Sweden. It reeked of “this is good for you” worthiness.

The Silence (1963)

Wrist-slittingly depressing study of loneliness and obsession. Two febrile sisters book into a hotel whose only other guests are a troupe of dwarf entertainers. An allegory about sex and death that is stretched beyond snapping point.

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