Fanny och Alexander / Fanny and Alexander / Fanny und Alexander

The film opens in 1907, as theatre matriarch Helena Ekdahl throws a glittering Christmas party for her three sons and their families. Shortly thereafter, son Oscar, who managed the theatre, dies. His widow, Emilie, then marries the helpful bishop Edvard Vergérus, who is soon revealed to be a cruel tyrant. Young Alexander in particular suffers from the brutal educational methods employed by his stepfather … Opulent family celebrations provide the narrative framework for Ingmar Bergman’s intricately wrought later film, with autobiographical references to the director as a pastor’s son and theatre maven. Borrowing from Shakespeare and Strindberg, and using theatrical rigging and the magic lantern, he created a glorious "dream play", in which a liberal, enlightened bourgeoisie, unworldly Christianity, and secretive Judaism vie for the soul of a child – and, in the end, the "small world" of the family wins. Whereby, as film historian Thomas Koebner wrote in 2009, "it is about an idealistic understanding of family, not to be confused with the concept of family in, for instance, Thomas Mann’s family novel".