Wild Straberries Theme

A philosophy of life that seemed to ring true through "Wild Strawberries" was that existence is only as good as the sum of its parts and equality among these parts is essential in living a fulfilled life. The movie, which was written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, tells the tale of a prudish old man named Professor Isak Borg whom only found success in the academics of his life. The man comes to the realisation of his faults and ends with a profound understanding of what the true gems of existence really are. The creative use of symbols and cinematography are what lead the thoughts and themes of the movie clearly to the viewer.

The first dream sequence lays the groundwork for understanding the life of Isak, and it does this through the use of symbolism. The emptiness of the streets Isak walks in his first dream sequence is trying to illustrate the vacancy of his social life, and symbolic of his loneliness in the world. Overall I believe the dream sequence is trying to convey what Isak has left in his existence, nothingness. As Isak walks down the sidewalk in his dream his attention becomes glued to the street clock which bares no hands. A clock with no hands, is a clock with no time, and I believe this is representative of the fact he himself also has no time. No time to fix the faults in his life that he has placed there himself through his heartless actions and blatant disregard for others. After Isak views the clock a horse pulled carriage rides by carrying a coffin, but not before another Isak inside the coffin tries to pull the real Isak into it. This is a turning point in the way Isak thinks. He is faced with the option of giving up and letting himself get pulled into the coffin, symbolising the fact he will never improve his situation, or fighting back and attempting to fix the faults in his life before he is inevitably pulled into the coffin. He fights off his counter self and awakens from the nightmare. Further symbolism is placed upon characters throughout the movie, all representative of past figures in Isak's life. For instance he meets a lady named Sara at his summer house where he used to go when he was a kid. This girl symbolised, ironically, another girl named Sara whom he was engaged to in his younger years. To Isak, this woman represents 'the one that got away'. The

...