Although not exactly my favorite, I always appreciated Wild Strawberries for having an incredible tone. It's optimistic, dreary, crabby, fun, and painful all at once. Any time you have an old man thinking about his life, I feel like we're on a shaky path to depression but Wild Strawberries never actually feels sad while still being filled with sadness. I had only seen it once a very long time ago and was struck with how nice it felt to watch. Borg is the perfect old man, he's a curmudgeon but one that we want to watch, one we feel for, but I never find myself pitying him. I never feel like I'm watching a sad old man surrounded by youth, lingering on his own. There's a kind of peaceful acceptance of his place. One thing that I forgot (and I'm surprised that I did) was the dream sequence in the beginning, which is pitch-perfect. I always forget that Bergman masters the disorientation of a dream. They are not chock full of strange and disturbing imagery, but we feel it nonetheless. Small details make up our unreality. Also Bork and his Nurse are ADORABLE! They set-up the movie so nicely! Visually, I find it less striking than... say most of his others. But it is also one of the earliest films of his that I've seen. It's easy to see why this is thought of as one of Bergman's best films. It's well-rounded and illustrative of most of what Bergman does best.
Any of you kids want my Wild Strawberries?
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