I have been wanting to write about the novels of Ingmar Bergman for many years now –– I think the idea came at the time of this death, in 2007 –– but I have never been able to discover the right outlet, and now I have it! Pre-Christmas, then, a little dive into the oeuvre of the master of existential despair, including but not limited to a screening of Fanny and Alexander, which I have shamefully never seen.

No, not Bergman –– this is my xmas card.
A snippet from his obit:
“In 1982, Mr. Bergman announced that he had just made his last theatrical film, Fanny and Alexander, a look at high society in a Swedish town early in the 19th century that was in part inspired by his own childhood.
‘Making Fanny and Alexander was such a joy that I thought that feeling will never come back,’ he told Ms. Kakutani. ‘I will try to explain: When I was at university many years ago, we were all in love with this extremely beautiful girl. She said no to all of us, and we didn’t understand. She had had a love affair with a prince from Egypt and, for her, everything after this love affair had to be a failure. So she rejected all our proposals. I would like to say the same thing. The time with ‘Fanny and Alexander’ was so wonderful that I decided it was time to stop. I have had my prince of Egypt.’
Fanny and Alexander won four Oscars, including the Academy Award for best foreign film in 1984.”
God Jul!
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