6. Fanny och Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1982)

Bergman belongs to the handful of directors (that numbers 4-5 directors) whose masterpieces are not accidental. You can remember Nicholas Roeg whose Don't Look Now is his only great film. Also Carol Reed with The Third Man, Laurent Bouttonat with Giorgino, etc. But Bergman is undoubtedly one of the greatest directors: he created many masterpieces which will remain forever in cinema history. Fanny och Alexander is his last flawless masterpiece, that could be the great final "accord" of his filmography. I always thought that this film is absolutely perfect, but it's only a short version of TV series, eh? When I saw TV-version (all series in the row) I was blown away. My God, what a captivating, charming film, absolutely not overextended. In the film-version the director cut out the plotline of Isak Jacobi masterfully performed by Erland Josephson. Paradoxically it says about Bergman's great confidence in the actor who can only darkly be present at the screen bringing in calm and peace in the tearing apart world of Ekdahl. But nonetheless the movie - short version - is still one of the greatest works in cinema history. 

Fanny och Alexander is the Bergman's journey to the past (actually he's told the story of his family), similar to the mental journey of Professor Isak Borg in Wild Strawberries, another Bergman's flawless masterpiece. This story about love and death, religion and faith strikes with its filigree directing, meticulous portrayal of the athmosphere of the days of old. It contains inner charm and simultaneously break-down of past childhood period. There weren't another epic cinema novel with such an emotional power and spiritual depth in cinema history. Magic of cinema in the movie captivates every viewer like Alexander in the beginning of the film...