Fanny and Alexander (The Criterion Collection) Blu-ray

10 reviews for Fanny and Alexander (The Criterion Collection) Blu-ray

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   KG – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   A brilliant blu-ray set of a brilliant work of art

   As many already know, this magnificent Criterion blu-ray contains the film in two forms; the original,longer TV mini-series, and a version trimmed down for theatrical release.But this is a masterpiece however you cut it. Somehow, in one film, Bergman has managed to combinetragedy, broad and subtle humor, melodrama, philosophy, mystery, magical realism, kitchen sink reality,controlled performances and big bombastic performances, etc. and weave it all into an organic whole witha wonderfully (and shockingly for Bergman) positive message about the joy of life, the importance ofsavoring family, friends, passions, and the moment itself while we can.Populated by an unforgettable gallery of characters based on Bergman’s own familial history, this is anintimate epic that takes us inside the lives of an upper-class, artistic Swedish family soon after the startof the 20th century and the misfortunes and triumphs that befall them. Not quite like any other film I’veever seen – either by Bergman or anyone else. This is a child’s eye view of the world, mixed with thewisdom of an aging man looking back, with a kind eye, on life itself.It’s strange to say, perhaps blasphemy, but I actually liked the cut down feature a touch more thanthe 4 part TV version it was cut from. For me, there is something a little more focused and impactfulabout it. Perhaps that’s just because I saw it first, but much like Altman’s ‘Vincent & Theo’ (which alsowas first shown as a European mini-series) I found the extra material pulled my attention a few toomany places, and sometimes answered mysteries I liked remaining as mysteries. But I will freely admitI’m in the minority, and to be clear I LOVE both versions.While Criterion’s DVD set of the same was excellent, this was a case where I was happy to ‘double dip’.The beautiful Criterion blu-ray set is a strong step up in image quality, with greater depth, clarity,better color rendering, etc. It keeps all the important extras of the original set, and upgrades themto HD, (A thoughtful touch sometimes overlooked). If you are a “Fanny & Alexander” fan, a Bergmanfan, a film fan, or a human being fan, I’d urge you to treat yourself to this.

   10 people found this helpful
2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Andy – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   Flawless Masterpiece Is The Ultimate Ingmar Bergman Film

   In a way this is the ultimate Ingmar Bergman film- it was his intended retirement film, so he poured his heart and soul into this semi-autobiographical masterwork and it incorporates many of the intellectual, cinematic and theatrical elements and themes from several of his iconic masterpieces. This culmination of the legendary director’s illustrious career is brilliantly funny, entertaining and accessible (qualities some may not generally associate with Bergman, as this film is not much like Persona), but also a dark and haunting grand saga set in the early 1900’s, of an affluent Swedish extended family, and the joys and misfortunes that befall them. Focusing on impressionable young Alexander and his sister, Fanny, the tragic loss of their father and the drastic change the family undergoes after their mother marries a sadistic disciplinarian bishop. Charles Dickens like in scope, with a unique cast of characters, overt references to Hamlet, and plenty of classical music. Bergman creates a rich tapestry of art, music, theater, literature and storytelling- from the humble magic lantern to Mozart or Shakespeare- to showcase his decades of genius, his existential themes, complexity of faith, the importance of family, and uses his symbolism and stylistic emphasis on hands, faces, and clocks. While he gently touches the fourth wall, reminding us of the division of reality and fiction and blurs them, he never loses control over his vision. An extravagant, flawless film, superbly crafted, with a great story and acting, exquisitely written and photographed. Boasting an unforgettable magical Christmas Eve, an atmosphere of golden nostalgia and bleak storms, elegant dining scenes, chilling ghostly encounters -both comforting and terrifying, fantastic sets (most notably the surreal curio shop), and a haunting climax that is one of the greatest example of mysticism in cinema. This exceptional Criterion Collection set is a deluxe 3 disc set, and contains both the theatrical film and television version. The theatrical version runs 188 min. , is a perfect film with a complete narrative, you’d never suspect anything was missing, and the pacing keeps the film captivating even at over 3 hours. This version also has an audio commentary. The television version runs 320 min. and is presented as a four part mini-series, it is even more perfect, adding background and dimension to various aspects of the film, the Christmas scenes are more played out, and some notable scenes added includes Oskar’s bedtime story, a ghosts in the attic scene, and Isaac’s bedtime story. There is also a disc of documentaries and interviews, including a feature length film on the making of the movie. I am a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman’s work and this Oscar winning triumph is truly one of my all time favourite films and seems to get better with each viewing. Most highly recommended for those familiar with Bergman’s films, especially Cries And Whispers, Smiles Of A Summer Night, The Magician, Hour Of The Wolf, or Wild Strawberries, and even Fellini’s Amarcord. A must own.

   10 people found this helpful
3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Matthew A. Pagan – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   5-hour Christmas/Ghost Story

   Alexander, the child protagonist after whom Ingmar Bergman titled his 1982 film Fanny and Alexander, opens the initial scene of this festive yet eerie Swedish movie. The little boy wanders alone, room by room, through a glittering mansion. Hiding underneath an opulent oak table, a macabre vision presents itself. The marble statue in the corner dances, its white arms flailing with life like the silent, living woman it must have been carved to resemble. Behind the statue peers the grim reaper. Never does the narrative return to this statue’s haunting moment of vivacity, but the grim reaper reappears several times throughout the course of the film.Fanny and Alexander is not a short film; nor is it even a medium-length film. The theatrical release lasts 3 hours and 8 minutes. Ingmar Bergman bemoaned this cut as woefully truncated and even truculent towards his artistic vision, which could only fully find expression broken into four parts. Before the director amputated his creation for international movie theaters, Fanny and Alexander debuted as a miniseries on Swedish television. The uncut running length of all four combined episodes measures to 5 hours and 12 minutes.The first episode presents a jolly Christmas affair, gathering together the extended Ekdahl family, whose children delight in the entertaining antics of their uncles while enduring the stuffy rules of a wealthy holiday observance. In warm splendor and lively humor, the Christmas celebration scenes introduce the names and faces of this large family, including the cousins, grandmothers, and servants. Fanny and Alexander are the daughter and son of Oscar Ekdahl, the well-known manager of the community theater.Thespian sequences removed from the theatrical version quote Shakespeare’s Hamlet under sometimes slapstick conditions. During one such yuletide rehearsal, the Ekdahl family patriarch, Fanny’s and Alexander’s father, suffers a dramatic attack of poor health and dies.The subsequent family life to which Fanny and Alexander must adjust includes a new step-father, a hard and cruel bishop into whose charms their tender actress mother succumbs. For Bishop Edvard Vergérus, disciplined severity is as much a part of religious living as austere renunciation. He removes his new wife and her children from the mansion in which they grew up into smaller accommodations where his own deceased daughters once slept. The ghosts of these dead girls come to visit Alexander after one particularly tense encounter with his violent new stepfather.The sets and the photography of this film combine into a beautiful presentation. In this partially autobiographical story, the director Ingmar Bergman traces his own creative obsession with the memento mori, apparent throughout his cinematic oeuvre, back to a childhood exchange of art’s redemptive innocence for submission to dogmatism’s blood-beaten falsehoods.
4. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Richard R. Palmer – July 22, 2025

   3.0 out of 5 stars

   Three Stars

   Bought as a gift to a fan of the film. Never cottoned to this but respect the work.
5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Vuvuzela – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   best movie you can hope for

   So I don’t pretend to be an expert on Bergman or movies in general. But I know a good movie when I see one, and this one is one of the most beautiful, perhaps THE most beautiful, movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a family-type drama, not a action movie or a thriller, for those of you who like me know darn little about Bergman’s films. It is truly a piece of art, and I can’t say that about 99.9 percent of all movies I’ve ever seen. Every frame, movement of the camera, set, actor, costume, line of dialogue is almost faultless. The editing is perfect. At times it is breathtaking. And it’s not “dark” or filled with horror. There are no murders or rapes. There is one scene of physical abuse, over quickly. The perpetrator gets his comeupance. The ending is satisfying and leaves the viewer happy. Parts of it are even funny, despite some critics noting that there is not much humor in Berman films. There is at least a little bit of humor in this one. Some of the lines made me laugh out loud even reading them in captioned English. It’s about human life, and finding joy in life despite the inevitable pain, including death, that occurs in every life. It’s beautifully written. It invites speculation on the why’s and wherefores of existence and pain, but doesn’t posit answers, which is more than fine by me. It is more a capturing and presentation of the human condition, than an exposition on why things are this way or that. Personally I resent heavy moral messages from script=writers who probably know less than most about such matters. I can figure that stuff out for myself, even if the answer is that there is no answer. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes a really good film.I watched the full-length blu-ray disc, not the 3-hour version that comes with the package, which is the cut-down version released to theaters after the longer version was shown in episodes on Swedish TV. It didn’t drag at all for me. I was absorbed throughout; not bored one second.The video quality of the blu ray itself is superb, almost HD quality. the color is rich. the sound is excellent. Criterion did a great job with this one. It also comes with a third disk, by Berman, on the making of the movie, and, a nice little booklet with three short, thoughtful essays on Bergman and this movie in particular, written by critics and movie experts. I hesitated because this blu ray is two or three times what I normally pay, but, it is worth every penny. I’m sure I will watch this several more times in the months and years to come. It’s one I’m proud to have on my shelf.

   12 people found this helpful
6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Peter Green – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   The best film I’ve ever watched

   I have no doubt that this is the best movie Bergman made, and I could and mostly would argue that it may be the best film anyone ever made. It has all the elements: tragedy from the Greek gods, magic from the near east (and native Scandinavia), a multi-generational family saga, romance of all kinds, and most important, the magic of childhood as seen through magical childrens’ eyes. The scenery, and framing of each scene as a work of art, is of course due to the longtime collaboration of Bergman and his cameraman Sven Nykvist, and most of the stable of star actors who worked regularly with Bergman are in this film. By all means you must first watch the longer made-for-TV version. Too much is cut for the theatre film, and there wasn’t a lot of waste in Ingmar Bergman’s oeuvre. Oh, and by the way, there is little-to-nothing about that depressive, dark, Nordic Death stuff here. Against all odds, the captive, and cruelly treated children are saved, with pure unadulterated magic, by a Norwegian Rabbi. Nothing but happy endings here. You, reader, potential viewer, must go right to the Order Button and get yourself the newest set of the film (and extra materials) immediately, and make no other plans for the next 10 hours (you’ll want to watch both versions).

   5 people found this helpful
7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   vodk – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   An Ingmar Bergman Masterpiece. One of the Greatest Films Ever Made!

   I’ve been meaning to comment on this film for a few days now, but I haven’t had the time or the energy (been really busy lately) to do so. Maybe it was Sven Nykvist’s recent passing (btw, his Oscar-winning work in this film is one of unparalleled magnificence and beauty) that inspired me to write about it. There are so many things I want to say about this film that I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll start by saying that this has been the shortest 5 hours I’ve spent watching a film. At first I had planned to watch it in parts as the film is divided in acts, but I was so instantly taken, engrossed and fascinated, that I just felt like watching the whole thing in one sitting. I know that a 5-hour long film can sound very intimidating and exhausting, but the film is specifically divided in 5 distinguishable acts that make it more digestible, and believe me, it’s so absorbing that you will barely notice you spent all that time watching it; it’s that good. I’ve skimmed through the 3-hour theatrical version, and while it is a great film, some of my favorite parts are either shortened or completely cut from the film, which for me, lessens the impact the whole 5-hour extended TV version has. Both versions work, of course, but if you want to get a greater understanding of Bergman’s vision, I totally recommend the extended version.Now onto the film itself. What can I say? It’s magnificent. A grand, rich and glorious tapestry of life, family, love, hate, imagination, art, fantasy, reality, religion, magic, death, faith, spirituality, God, despair, redemption, youth, innocence, maturity, old age and the supernatural. Fanny and Alexander is all of these things and even more. I don’t want to go into much plot detail, but point out what I liked so much about the film by mentioning some of my favorite scenes and commenting on them. And in this film there are plenty. Rarely I’ve felt the sense of familial warmth and love in a film or elsewhere as I have with Fanny and Alexander. The first act shows us a Christmas dinner family celebration, and it is instantly intoxicating and beguiling, and you’re instantly drawn to these flawed-yet-loving and caring characters that constitute this large, happy family and Bergman’s direction is so vivid that you totally feel the joy in sharing and the affection and love. One of my favorite scenes in this part is Oscar’s (the family patriarch and owner of the family theater)heartfelt and candid speech about the importance of the theater, this “little world” as it is referred to, and how art can reflect the “big world” and help us have a greater endurance during bad times. This theme is more thoroughly explored in an enchanting and beautiful scene in which Oscar explains to Fanny and Alexander through the simple story of a chair how art is connected to life, how important and essential art is in enriching our lives, helping us have a deeper awareness and appreciation of the world at large, and how there is more to what meets the eye, an inner life lying underneath the surface of things. Bergman was raised within a very strict and opressive family, and I’m pretty sure that the Ekdahls is the kind of family (Loving, supportive, encouraging, freethinkers) he would’ve liked to be raised in. I echo his (likely) sentiment. Likewise, if I got a profound sense of love and family in the first act, when tragedy strikes in the second act, I got a great sense of suffering and despair. One of the most strikingly moving scenes in the film involves Oscar’s wife, Emilie, giving these primal, animal cries of grief over her dead husband; the scene is simply heartwrenching. Similarly engrossing, is the open and penetrating conversation between Emilie and the bishop about her faith and her spiritual confusion and longing. But in the third and fourth acts is when the characters’ resilience are really put to the test. None of the pain, humiliation and the frailty of the human heart throughout the film is better illustrated in a scene of tremendous impact in which Alexander is severely punished by the bishop and Fanny has no other option but to stand and watch as her brother is being physically abused, only moments later to see her defiantly turn down the bishop’s affections. Another favorite scene during this act is Helena’s – the family matriarch – beautiful and eloquent soliloquy to her son Oscar about the joys and pains in life, the futility of fighting against its forces and just living it as it comes. It is what it is. Another standout is Isak Jacobi’s (a family friend and magician) metaphorical story that encapsulates the importance and at the same time the futility of searching for meaning in life. Some of the film’s most intriguing, revealing and fantastical moments are in this act. In what’s probably the greatest moment in a film full of great moments, is Alexander’s encounter with a mysterious character named Ismael. I think this scene is the climax of the film as it brings closure to Alexander’s arch. There’s also a deep sense of the supernatural as it is suggested that everything, fantasy and reality, the logical and unexplainable, the material and the etheral, the good and even the bad, is a manifestation of God. I feel that with those statements, Bergman is telling us that he probably managed to finally exorcise the demons that had been haunting him throughout his life, or at least come to terms with them, as his onscreen alterego Alexander has as well. All of this told, detailed and presented with the skill of a master storyteller.I was fully enraptured by this film. I love the way it beautifully conveyed the relevance of art and imagination and how they’re actually essential for humanity. I loved how it showed life in all its joyful, fantastical, realistic, tragic, resigned and ultimately hopeful glory. I loved its sense of completeness yet also leaving the viewer with an air of mystery that implies the endless possibilities of life. A masterpiece and easily one of my favorite films ever.

   46 people found this helpful
8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Frederick Baptist – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   Bergman’s Latter Day Masterpiece Now Given the Criterion Treatment in Blu Ray!

   This release is a challenge to get through at one sitting given the theatrical release is over 3 hours long and the television series over 5 hours long but for Bergman fans getting through either version is just a great joy. I personally prefer the television series which fully realises the director’s vision and even if you need to watch this in installments like any classic film this rewards repeated viewings by the patient viewer. Did everything actually happen as shown or are parts simply elements of Alexander’s dream? What does the world appear to be like from the point of view of a 10-year old growing up in times of happiness and of hardship, of tenderness and abuse, and how scary and frightening it must be to a child in a world of adults both benevolent and malevolent? For those with the misfortune of having grown up in the latter scenario where the selfishness of adults led to abuses physical, sexual, mental and emotional will identify closely with this film while the rest will appreciate the blessings of growing up in a relatively safer environment. Children are so vulnerable without responsible adults about to watch over them and as this film shows abuse can come from the most surprising and unexpected of places.Bergman made many classic films in his lifetime and many took a while before the critics came around to seeing them as classics too and “Fanny & Alexander” is no exception. Having watched and enjoyed many of his films I can safely say that this (television version) together with “The Seventh Seal” and “Persona” rank among my all-time favourites. This Criterion release is a real treat as it contains both theatrical and television versions although the latter version is still the best way to watch this as well as the making-of documentary. Also included is a 36-page booklet containing essays on the film and the director. Both the picture and sound qualities are very good as well. If you’ve got an afternoon to spare just sit back and enjoy; you’ll not even notice the 5 hours go by as this film is just that good.Very highly recommended for fans of serious film!

   2 people found this helpful
9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Christopher Greffin – July 22, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   A Spectacular Set on Blu ray.

   Any serious film buff has to consider the master Ingmar Bergman one of the greatest movie directors who has ever lived. He has made great film after great film, and I think Fanny and Alexander ranks among his top three finest achievements (along with The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries). It differs interestingly from every other movie of his I’ve seen in its taking in large part a child’s point of view. This wasn’t only rare for Bergman but it’s rare to see a movie made by anyone that shows children, in their viewing of the adult world around them, in such a realistic and interesting way, involving both trauma and joy in these young lives. Yet the children (Alexander being more prominent than Fanny of the titles characters) don’t get in the way of showing the great dynamics and complexities of the adult world as well. And these two worlds–those of children and adults–interact in pleasant and somewhat grim ways.From the start with Alexander alone in his grandmothers apartment, through an extravagant Christmas party, to the richness of the theater, to the much darker residence of the next chapter of this family’s life, the movie is simply an exquisite piece of artistic beauty of early 20th Century Sweden. On a visual level Bergman has always been a master, but here he showed a more lively and ambitious side than he had before. The performances are all terrific, and I’m particularly fond of Bertil Guv as Alexander, Gun Wallgren as his reserved grandmother, and Jarl Kulle as his boisterous uncle.The movie, in spite of some quite dark elements, is quite a bit more upbeat than typical Bergman film. Those that may have admired his earlier works but felt them a little overbearing and depressing will likely welcome this ride with the great peaks and valleys of this family. Whether Alexander really has some power to see these images or if it’s only a child’s vivid imagination leaves room for exploration.My rating is for the whole package but is based primarily on the over five hour version of the film. The two separate versions of the movie are both great experiences, with slightly different moods and emphasis, though I prefer the longer television one and that’s the one I will look forward to seeing more times in the future. I understand they wanted to get a reasonable length for the theaters, but for me the shortened version lacks a lot of the richness of the other, removing great scenes especially from the back half of the film. Though either way you view it it’s very emotionally involving as a work of art and a must see.Fanny and Alexander, the three disk Criterion Collection blu-ray, is simply put spectacular. Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece gets the treatment it deserves and then some, both in picture and sound quality and with great extra content. One disk contains the five-hour version, a second the three hour theatrical version, and a third has an impressive array of special features. The documentary “The Making of Fanny and Alexander” in particular is fascinating (and feels surprisingly personal), as is the film commentary which is unfortunately only on the theatrical version. Make no mistake this is one Criterion worth every penny and more.

   16 people found this helpful
10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    James McDonald – July 22, 2025

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Alexander loves the happiness of Christmas, but not the New Year.

    ***FOR MATURE ADULTS ONLY*** Do not allow young children to see this film, but older teenagers could watch it. Contains partial nudity and adult sexual situations. Includes some scenes of emotional and mental abuse of children and some physical abuse of smacking the back of a child’s head and one scene of spanking.I have seen Fanny and Alexander (1982) many times throughout my life during different ages. Like fine wine, it gets better. I enjoy the First Act of Christmas in the Ekdakl home. This review originally was for the VHS 2-tape edition, Rated “R”. I have now added the DVD set

    Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set) – Criterion Collection

    to this comment. Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander (1982). The very best from Ingmar Bergman. Directed and written by Ingmar Bergman. This film is perfectly cast with actors and actresses you will not soon forget. Very memorable film from Sweden.Won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, nominated for Best Director – Motion Picture.Won Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Best Costume. Nominated for Best Director, Best Writing – Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.Won BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Costume Design.Filmed in Uppsala Ian and Stockholm Ian, Sweden. In the United States of America, only the 3 hour, 08 minute version had been seen in movie theaters and on KCET (then with PBS) television station. Originally shown as a television mini-series on SVT 1 in Sweden in 1983. As of 2005, for the first time ever, the entire 5 hours, 11 minutes version is now available in this DVD set. This movie plays through the eyes of 10-year old “Alexander Ekdahl” (Bertil Guve). It is Christmas Eve 1907. The Ekdahl family owns a theatre playhouse and for many years they have put on a Christmas play with the family group and respectful actors. Tonight is the annual family Christmas dinner in the Ekdahl estate. It is a big manor with Christmas decorations from room to room, floor to floor. It will be a lively house filled with many people and children to run around. This house is an excellent place for Alexander and his sister Fanny (Pernilla Allwin). The matriarch of the family, the grandmother, is Helena Ekdahl (Gunn Wallgren). Her husband has past previously. This Christmas she is depressed and sits with her husband’s friend, Isak Jacobi (Erland Josephson), whom she has secretly courted. Attending the family Christmas gathering is: Emilie (Ewa Froling) and Oscar Ekdahl (Allan Edwall): the parents of Fanny & Alexander. Oscar, the owner of the playhouse has not been feeling well. Alexander (Bertil Guve) is a 9-year old boy full of excitement and wonder. He performs in the family stage productions, but he loves Christmas in his grandmother’s mansion.He likes to hide under a table for security and indulges in fantasy, sometimes he listens to adults talking. He likes the comfort from his grandmother, Helena. Alma (Mona Malm) and Gustav Ekdahl (Jarl Kulle): Alma and Emilie are wonderful sister-in-laws and they enjoy each other’s company. Alma’s husband, Gustav, is a delightful family man with a good business-sense, but is oversexed with Alma and is also philandering with a young maid, Maj (Pernilla August [Wallgren]). Maj is naughty with Gustav, who wants to buy her a cafe to run. Alma and Gustav have a daughter, Petra (Maria Granlund). Carl Ekdahl (Borje Ahlstedt) and his wife, Lydia (Christina Scholin): Carl drinks, but has insomnia and depression. He also has a temper and disrespects his wife. He degrades her. As a Christmas present to the Swedish kids, he likes to walk up and down the stairs quickly with his pants off (is still clothed underneath with long-johns) and provokes farting. With the candles nearby, he can make “fireworks”. The children laugh. It is a lovely Christmas for all. Two months later, Oscar has a spell while performing on stage. He dies leaving Emilie in a great amount of grief. Alexander is scared of the death of his father. However, he and Fanny see their father again as a ghost (ironically what he has played on stage). Oscar as a ghost appears standing around the Ekdahl mansion and other places wishing to protect Fanny & Alexander.On the day of the funeral, Emilie is comforted by Bishop Edvard Vergerus (Jan Malmsjo), a theatre patron, and later decides to marry him. Emilie becomes too firm with saddened Alexander and the Bishop is very tough on him and abusive as a stepfather. The Bishop is overbearing and possessive to Emilie as well. Can the children ever return to their happy life again in the Ekdahl estate? Mats Bergman is Ingmar Bergman’s son. He plays “Aron Retzinsky”, the puppet-maker and assistant to “Isak Jacobi” (Erland Josephson).Bertil Guve gives an excellent and memorable performance as “Alexander”. His last film was Ingmar Bergman’s After the Rehearsal (1984-tv) where he made a cameo appearance. He kept in contact with director Ingmar Bergman through the years.Pernilla Allwin is a beautiful, decent girl in this film. She plays “Fanny” with strength. Pernilla only did one more tv-movie, Ett hjarta av guld (1982-tv). Like Bertil Guve, she decided not to continue acting in movies.I thought Jarl Kulle was delightful in this movie, a scene stealer. Sorry to hear of his passing in 1997 due to bone cancer. Gunn Walgren is perhaps the grandmother we would like to have. I enjoyed her performance and she brightens up every scene she is in. She passed away six month’s after this film was first shown on Sweden television. She was ill with cancer during filming, but never said a word about it. I thought this movie was perfectly cast with a great ensemble cast, Jarl Kulle, Mona Malm, Ewa Froling, Gunn Wallgren with Bertil Guve and Pernilla Allwin. Lena Olin plays “Rosa”. If you are new to this film, I would recommend seeing the widely-seen theatrical 3 hours, 08 minute version first. The story gets to the point rather quickly. Objectionable adult scenes are still included. I would suggest an English-dubbed version instead of an English subtitled version. Then, if you really like the movie, go ahead and see the rarely-seen 5 hour version.

    Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set) – Criterion Collection

    Jarl Kulle, Mona Malm, Harriet Andersson and Gunnar Bjornstrand worked together 27 years earlier in Ingmar Bergman’s

    Smiles Of A Summer Night – Criterion Collection

    (1955). Jarl Kulle and Mona Malm were also in Last Pair Out (aka Last Couple Out (1956)),

    All These Women [PAL Import

    ] (1964). Pernilla August appeared in

    Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

    (1999) and

    Star Wars – Episode II, Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition)

    .

    Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set) – Criterion Collection

    contains the 3 hours, 08 min. theatrical version and the 5 hours, 11 min. Swedish television version. Their is also The Making of Fanny & Alexander included on 2 discs.The 3.08 version DVD, shown in full-screen on one disc, includes the option of the original Swedish language or English language dubbed. Also the option of English subtitles, on or off. It’s your choice. Audio Commentary in English is by Film Scholar Peter Cowie. The print of this film is in beautiful color like I have never seen it before. Restored, it looks fresh and new right out of the can.The 5.11 version contains over 2 hours of footage rarely seen in the USA. 2 discs with all four episodes, five acts. Only the Swedish language with English subtitles is available for this version. However, if you have already seen the 3 hours, 08 min. version, it should not be a problem. You may turn the English subtitles on or off. You also get a 34-page booklet with this set. Their is no audio commentary for this version.Disc 2 contains episodes 3 & 4.Disc 2 also has a featurette, “A Bergman Tapestry” with 2004 interviews with: Actress Ewa Froling, executive producer Jorn Donner, production mananger Katinka Farago, Actor Erland Josephson, art director Anna Asp, Actress Pernilla (Wallgren) August, Actor Bertil Guve, assistant director Peter Schildt.If the Christmas scenes are your favorite in the 3.08 version, you will be happy to know that the 5.11 version contains so much more, in fact, the entire episodes.The interior set of Grandmother Helena’s home I was quite taken by. Oh to be a boy and roam around that house especially at Christmas time. Bravo to the imagination of the artists, set constructors and set decorators. Every Fanny och Alexander fan will enjoy The Criterion Collection 5-disc set.

    Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set) – Criterion Collection

    18 people found this helpful