The Original, Uncut
Fanny and Alexander
Friday, April 25, 6:00 pm (Part One)
Sunday, April 27, 10:15 am (Part One)
Sunday, April 27, 2:15 pm (Part Two)
Wednesday, April 30, 6:00 pm (Part Two)
Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall

Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 masterpiece Fanny and Alexander is one of the late master’s warmest, most expansive, and most beautiful films. The director himself described it as “the sum total of my life as a filmmaker.” Though not strictly autobiographical, it seems to lean that way.

This popular family saga, a love letter to life and the theatre, won four Oscars in 1984, including Best Foreign Language Film. But few realize that the three-hour movie shown theatrically was a heavily-abridged version that, according to Bergman, “cut into the nerves and lifeblood of the film.”

Fanny and Alexander was originally a five-hour miniseries made for Swedish television. In April, the original, uncut movie receives its Cleveland theatrical premiere.

The two additional hours expand upon the adventures of the Ekdahls, a large theatrical family in turn-of-the-20th-century Sweden. Ten-year-old Alexander and his younger sister Fanny are forced to leave their comfortable, splendid ancestral home (and nurturing friends and relatives) to go live in the austere household of the stern local Bishop. Only love, dreams, and a bit of magic can restore them to their rightful place.

Directed by Ingmar Bergman, with Ewa Fröling, Bertil Guve, and Pernilla Allwin. (Sweden/France/W. Germany, 1982, color, subtitles, DVD, 312 min.)

The film will show in two parts. The movie can be seen in its entirety (with a one-hour lunch break) on Sunday, April 27. Admission to each part is $7, CMA members $5, seniors 65 & over $4, students $3, or one Panorama voucher. A separate ticket must be purchased for each part.

Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall

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