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A Film Review of “Wild Strawberries” By Matthew Holden

Igmar Bergaman is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all, and is extremely prolific, directing 49 feature length films. Among these films there are a handful of standouts, chief among them  being his 1957 masterpiece “Wild Strawberries”.  “Wild Strawberries” earned this prestige by being deeply philosophical and engaging. 

The film is iconic for the philosophical questions it highlights and even more so for the device it uses to highlight these questions, that device being dreams . Throughout the film the main character, Isaac Borg takes a trip via car to the town of Lund and during this trip he falls asleep multiple times, the film takes this opportunity to showcase some of the most beautiful and interesting dream sequences in cinema. These dreams elicit a wide range of emotions,  such as an intense intense fear of death or a bitter sweet childhood nostalgia. By the end of all the dream sequences the main character is a world through a series of difficult questions and traumas of an existential nature. However he is not alone in this, the film also walks its audience members through the same journey, allowing its viewers to feel a warm comforting nostalgia and an acceptance of death. Making this film extremely therapeutic in nature.

The dreams are definitely the main focus of the film but the rest of the plot should not be overlooked. For example the dialogue used between characters is also beautiful, each relationship can be deeply understood by the nuances of their diction . This exploration of personal relationships , especially ones between family members is another shining star among the themes explored in this film, and can only be seen outside the dream sequences.

Igmar Bergman's “Wild Strawberries”  is a stand out film among a masters filmography, its iconic dream sequences are legendary and powerful, but the film is not a one trick pony, every moment of this film elicits deep and profound emotions from its viewers.     

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A film review of Tokyo Story by Matthew Holden

Yasujiro Ozu is a director that cannot be ignored when considering the history of cinema, and his 1953 masterpiece “Tokyo Story” is a film that can be argued to not only be one the greatest Japanese films ever made, but rather one of the greatest films ever made. The most striking aspect of this film to an everyday audience member is its pacing and its plot, or lack thereof. The most accurate way to describe the pacing and the plot would be to say” nothing really happens rather slowly”. The film forces its audience to breathe and take in the mundane. This may sound unattractive, but it is the opposite. Once you submit to the film a whole new world is opened.  

The film delves deep into the intricate and beautiful relationships between family members. The scenes in this film feel deeply personal and private, and are often shot from an extremely low camera angle, making the audience feel as though they are a child who has wandered into a private adult conversation. The film constantly hits the viewer with a feeling that they should not be allowed to see this, but also leaves them with the inability to look away. 

Every piece of dialogue in this film seems carefully chosen, instead of pushing a story forward every sentence is used to hint at the personality and backstory of the speaker. When the old men talk, their words are dripping with loss and nostalgia, however the children's words exude mischief and youth. The dialogue certainly is beautiful, but in terms of storytelling it takes a back seat to the cinematography, composition and blocking used in the film. Most of the shots in this film take place indoors. In rooms carefully planned out to create intricate and detailed stories through composition, it feels as if given enough time, you can glean the life story of a character through a shot of their room. This is also true for how the characters are blocked in the scene. Often in scenes with two or more characters, you can immediately grasp the delicate details of the characters' relationships with one another, just by looking at where and how they stand.   

“Tokyo Story”  is a beautiful intimate film that reveals the most private parts of a family, with scenes so intricate and bursting with subtle information that they are impossible to understand in the moment, but also memorable enough to figure out.

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A film review of Un Chien Andalou By Matthew Holden

The short surrealist film Un Chien Andalou by Luis Bunel and Salvidor Dali has truly earned its reputation as a seminal masterpiece in the history of French cinema. A staple of the film students' diet around the world, the film is infamous for the disturbing imagery that populates every moment it. Many find this imagery alluring whilst many more find it repulsive. However these two reactions are not mutually exclusive. The reason many are perturbed by the film is due to their attraction to it. The imagery of the film beckons the audience to unleash the most socially unacceptable parts of themselves. It becomes a mirror, revealing the most repressed parts of our humanity, making this film extremely unsettling.

The imagery is greatly complimented by the editing. While most of the editing is seamless, the film will occasionally take advantage of simple editing tricks such as match cuts and dissolves to highlight and amplify the most important scenes. In Fact the effectiveness of many of the most infamous points in the film owe a lot to the film's use of editing. Not only this but when compared to other seminal films, the editing is relatively fast paced, when combined with its short length, this film becomes very approachable and palatable to the everyday audience member.

The Film is devoid of any obvious traditional cause and effect narrative. However it clearly has a story to tell its audience, and that story appeals to something that exists within the human condition. This peculiar aspect of the film leaves its audience in both a state of shock and introspection. The true power of this film is only revealed after the viewing is complete. Audience members will find themselves randomly pondering the film for years to come, as if everyone who sees the film has it permanently seared into their mind. Ironically due to the short film’s, strong imagery, powerful editing and strange narrative it inhabits the mind of its viewer far longer than the majority of feature length films.  

Film review of  Un Chien Andalou(1929) by Matthew Holden