Despite its grand settings and substantial cast, Ingmar Bergman’s final – and most expensive – film for the cinema is also among his most personal and intimate.
Mystical, joyous, dark, at times exuberant and at others doomladen, Fanny and Alexander follows the transformation of the young Ekdahl children’s fortunes after the death of their easygoing father and their mother’s remarriage to a joyless local bishop.
The director draws on his own childhood as well as Dickensian elements and festive fairytales to create a moving, magical portrait of family and childhood.
✭✭✭✭✭ The Guardian
✭✭✭✭✭ Empire
Extras
Fanny and Alexander (1984, 321 mins): acknowledged by Bergman as his truest vision for the film, this five episode made-for-television version is the source from which the theatrical release was cut and contains entire scenes that were omitted from the film seen in cinemas
Theatrical trailer (2022)
Fully illustrated booklet featuring an essay on both versions of Fanny and Alexander by Philip Kemp
