Wild Strawberries is a great psychological motion picture directed by the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. The film was released in 1957, during a period of remarkable creativity for Bergman. In addition to Wild Strawberries, from 1955 to 1960 Bergman directed such classics as Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), The Magician (1958), and The Virgin Spring (1960).
The central character in Wild Strawberries is an elderly retired physician named Isak Borg. He is on his way to receive an honorary doctor’s degree from a Swedish university, the greatest honor of his career. During the day’s journey from his home to the university, Borg reflects on the meaning of his long life. Through real-life encounters, memories of his youth, and heavily symbolic dreams and nightmares, Borg reviews his life. He recognizes that he has been a cold and loveless person, spiritually cruel, and lacking in humanity and understanding.
Wild Strawberries starred Victor Sjostrom (known in the United States as Seastrom), one of the great pioneers of Swedish cinema. Sjostrom began directing and acting in films in 1912. He went to the United States in the 1920’s, where he directed several classic silent motion pictures, notably He Who Gets Slapped (1924), The Scarlet Letter (1926), and The Wind (1928). He had been in semi-retirement when Bergman cast him as Isak Borg at the age of 77.
Wild Strawberries also featured several performers who appeared in many other Bergman films. They included Bibi Andersson, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Max von Sydow, and Ingrid Thulin.
See also Bergman, Ingmar .
