{"id":36384,"date":"2016-10-18T21:22:06","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T04:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/?p=36384"},"modified":"2016-10-18T21:22:06","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T04:22:06","slug":"challenge-week-38-fanny-and-alexander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/challenge-week-38-fanny-and-alexander\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Week 38: Fanny and Alexander"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is one of my least favorite kinds of posts to write, because it’s so hard to write about beloved films from master filmmakers that I liked but didn’t strongly connect to. It’s one thing if I DISLIKE a film like this, because at least that’s something to hang a reaction on. I will say that I watched the theatrical cut because while 3 hours is doable, 5 1\/2 wasn’t really, but I would like to return and watch the television cut later on.<\/p>\n

The first half of Fanny and Alexander<\/em> places the titular siblings in a large, warm, and loving theatrical family. It’s difficult at first to tell exactly how everyone’s related to each other, but it doesn’t matter too much, because everyone loves and cares for each other – even when the children’s father has a fling with the maid, it doesn’t seem too troublesome or out of the ordinary. This half is not dissimilar to Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night<\/em>, though the addition of color and kids makes it even more light and whimsical.<\/p>\n

\"tf-familyarranged\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then their father dies suddenly, their mother decides to marry an austere pastor and suddenly we’ve switched from Smiles of a Summer Night<\/em> to Dreyer’s Day of Wrath<\/em>. Pastor Edvard is pious to a FAULT – his bare house, unsmiling family, and severe methods of discipline are a stark contrast to the flamboyant and gracious world Fanny and Alexander knew before. Actually, let’s be honest. This movie is about Alexander. Fanny is in it, but at least in the theatrical cut, she barely figures at all. The television cut might give her more to do.<\/p>\n

It’s an interesting film in Bergman’s filmography, coming much later in his life. He’s best known for being rather, well, austere himself in terms of filmmaking. He often deals with religion and a crisis or loss of faith – most notably in his faith trilogy, but also in The Seventh Seal<\/em>, The Virgin Spring<\/em>, and others. Even in his non-faith-related movies like Persona<\/em>, his films tend to be quite severe – the Edvard section of the film felt very Bermgan-esque.<\/p>\n

\"tf-austere-window\"<\/p>\n

But it’s clear that he’s siding with the theatrical folk, loves their flamboyance and their warmth. Alexander feels like a surrogate in many ways (the film may be autobiographical, I didn’t look it up). It’s not anomalous, as Smiles of a Summer Night<\/em> is also very comedic, but even that doesn’t even come near the visual sumptuousness of Fanny and Alexander<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So it’s easy to write stuff like that, because the parallels and distinctions from Bergman’s other work are easy to make. It’s definitely a good film and an interesting one, especially from Bergman. But it didn’t hit me on a personal level the way I’d hoped it would – the good news is that Bergman films often don’t, so I hope when I return to this (and the longer cut) in the future, it will grab me on a deeper level than it did this time. Still, I’m glad to get the initial viewing under my belt, as I’m sure it probably won’t be the last.<\/p>\n

\"tf-family-bed\"<\/p>\n

Stats and stuff…<\/h3>\n

1982, Sweden<\/em>
\nwritten and directed by Ingmar Bergman<\/em>
\nstarring Bertil Guve, Ewa Fr\u00c3\u00b6ling, Jan Malmsj\u00c3\u00b6<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how Fanny and Alexander<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n

Fanny and Alexander<\/b> > The Blue Angel
\nFanny and Alexander<\/b> > Boyhood
\nFanny and Alexander < The Mummy<\/b> (1999)
\nFanny and Alexander < Extraterrestrial<\/b>
\nFanny and Alexander < Barton Fink<\/b>
\nFanny and Alexander < The Iron Giant<\/b>
\nFanny and Alexander < The Miracle Woman<\/b>
\nFanny and Alexander < Why We Fight: Prelude to War<\/b>
\nFanny and Alexander<\/b> > Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
\nFanny and Alexander<\/b> > Broadway Melody of 1936
\nFanny and Alexander < 21 Grams<\/b><\/p>\n

Final #916 out of 3706 films on my chart (75%)<\/p>\n

It is now my #4 Ingmar Bergman film, my #10 Childhood Drama, my #6 Reunion film, and my #6 film of 1982.<\/p>\n

Fanny and Alexander<\/em> was recommended by Mike Seaman, a friend from the Flickcharters group on Facebook. Averaging together this #916 ranking with my #958 ranking of his other film, I’ve Loved You So Long<\/em>, gives Mike an average ranking of 936.<\/p>\n

A few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n

\"tf-playingtheatre\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-camera\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-matriarch\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-table\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-mistress\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-meeting-pastor\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-chastised\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-kidswindow\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-pastors-bed\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-kidswindow2\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-alexander\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is one of my least favorite kinds of posts to write, because it’s so hard to write about beloved films from master filmmakers that I liked but didn’t strongly connect to. It’s one thing if I DISLIKE a film like this, because at least that’s something to hang a reaction on. I will say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[1275,143],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/tf-feat-fannyalexander.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36657,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/challenge-week-52-autumn-sonata\/","url_meta":{"origin":36384,"position":0},"title":"Challenge Week 52: Autumn Sonata","author":"Jandy","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Finishing the Challenge out with a classic Bergman-Bergman film, the only one Ingmar and Ingrid ever made together, and it's a doozy. There are Ingmar Bergman films I love to bits, but I often find him a tough nut to crack, his film striking me as a bit austere and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/tf-autumn-sonata-feat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36435,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/challenge-week-42-the-phantom-carriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":36384,"position":1},"title":"Challenge Week 42: The Phantom Carriage","author":"Jandy","date":"November 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I went into this expecting an Expressionistic horror film, along the lines of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or maybe Haxan, to get that Scandinavian flavor, and there's certainly a ghostly creep factor to much of the beginning, but the film as a whole is more of a morality tale\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tf-feat-phantom-carriage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36661,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/challenge-week-52-8-women\/","url_meta":{"origin":36384,"position":2},"title":"Challenge Week 52: 8 Women","author":"Jandy","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I've kept Bas waiting WAY too long on this, plus everyone else waiting for a wrap-up of my Challenge, which was by and large a phenomenal success. More on that...later. The only Fran\u00e7ois Ozon film I'd seen prior to this was Swimming Pool, which I HATED (though I don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/tf-8women-feat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27275,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/50dmc-30-last-theatrical-movie\/","url_meta":{"origin":36384,"position":3},"title":"50DMC #30: Last Theatrical Movie","author":"Jandy","date":"September 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What's the last movie you saw in theatres? Well, the last general theatrical release I saw was Attack\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Changing-Husbands.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35387,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/the-2016-movie-challenge-a-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":36384,"position":4},"title":"The 2016 Movie Challenge: A Preview","author":"Jandy","date":"January 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I can't leave well enough alone, here's a brief rundown of (some of) what I'll be watching in 2016 for this crazy challenge. I currently have 50 people signed up to recommend me movies, and all but a handful have already chosen their picks, so this thing is scheduled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/fc-keaton.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":134,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2006\/11\/toward-a-nontheory-of-nonadaptation\/","url_meta":{"origin":36384,"position":5},"title":"Toward a (non)theory of (non)adaptation","author":"Jandy","date":"November 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote out a bunch of this last night, but then lost it just before I posted. Grr Arrgh. So this is a recreation, and I'm not sure I got it all. Anyway, these are questions that are bouncing around in my head as I work on a paper about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}