What if you could receive the adulation and respect of strangers but not from your own family-or even yourself? In Wild Strawberries (1957), Ingmar Bergman dramatizes a journey into a man’s memories, insecurities, and fears in a way that may borrow the technique of Death of a Salesman but not its final scenes or the fate of its hero. For all we hear about the bleakness of Bergman’s vision, the film is ultimately affirming. The world screams, “Physician, heal thyself”—and he does! Join us for an extended conversation that also includes how the film resembles A Christmas Carol and Casablanca.

The opening clip is Bergman talking on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971 about the final closeup of Wild Strawberries.

Admirers of Bergman’s films will want to read his autobiography, My Life in Pictures.

Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film