the audience applauded

Absolutely the worst movie.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

(Flash Review)Dr. Borg has reached that point in life, at age 78, where he reflects upon and realizes he has dug many emotional voids. During a long car trip, along with his daughter in-law, to where he is to receive an honorary degree he reminisces about his past decisions. Through flash backs and dream scenes there is much symbolism to punctuate the choices made. The emotional journey the man takes involves soul searching and may lead to potential healing of past relationships he has soured. The film has a rather expected story arc and for me lacks striking cinematography or shot framing. There are many quiet symbolic moments that would be ideal to analyze in a film class as they aren't obviously apparent. Overall, I know this is a Bergman, but it didn't mesmerize me visually aside from the clever editing and the poetic storytelling was lessened by an unsurprising story arc.

Dr. Isak Borg, 78, is a renowned physician and researcher. His life's experiences have left him cold, distant and uncaring. Now he is traveling to be awarded an honorary degree by a university, a reward for his life's work. Driving with his daughter-in-law Marianne, currently estranged from his son Ewald (whose personality seems to be following that of his father's), he finds himself reminiscing about his past, especially his 20s. He has also been having strange dreams, dreams that remind him of the person he has become, and potentially what lies ahead for him.Incredibly thought-provoking and emotional movie. A metaphor for life and what you make of it. As someone who could understand how Isak could get that way, and even endorse how he feels, this was an eye- opening, and potentially life-changing, movie.While many of Bergman's movies are sombre and depressing, this, having started that way, turns it all around, channeling the negativity to find something positive. A very nostalgic and uplifting movie. Also, not that predictable in its positivity. The upliftment sneaks up on you...Wonderful film.

Grouchy, stubborn and egotistical Professor Isak Borg is a widowed 78- year-old physician who specialized in bacteriology. Before specializing he served as general practitioner in rural Sweden. He sets out on a long car ride from Stockholm to Lund to be awarded the degree of Doctor Jubilaris 50 years after he received his doctorate from Lund University. He is accompanied by his pregnant daughter-in-law Marianne who does not much like her father-in-law and is planning to separate from her husband, Evald, Isak's only son, who does not want her to have the baby, their first.During the trip, Isak is forced by nightmares, daydreams, old age and impending death to reevaluate his life. He meets a series of hitchhikers, each of whom sets off dreams or reveries into Borg's troubled past. The first group consists of two young men and their companion, a woman named Sara who is adored by both men. Sara is a double for the love of Isak's youth. The first group remains with him throughout his journey. Next Isak and Marianne pick up an embittered middle-aged couple, the Almans, whose vehicle has nearly collided with theirs. The pair exchanges such terrible vitriol and venom that Marianne stops the car and demands that they leave. The couple reminds Isak of his own unhappy marriage. In a dream sequence, Isak is asked by Sten Alman, now the examiner, to read "foreign" letters on the blackboard. He cannot. So, Alman reads it for him: "A doctor's first duty is to ask forgiveness," from which he concludes, "You are guilty of guilt."

Everyone must have a film they have seen, a bit like 'the red balloon', that often comes back to them in a dream like quality. This is certainly the case here, with images from the film returning to mind alongside ordinary nostalgia, only, somehow, sharper in focus. How it manages this is completely unknown. Some form of alchemy is in play here. I can only recommend that, and am envious of, the first time viewer.I approached this movie, purely as someone who wanted to know what the Bergman fuss was all about. Little knowing the effect it would have on my psyche and world view.