Fanny and Alexander

Title: Fanny och Alexander
Year: 1982 (Sweden), 1983 (US)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Writer: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Ewa Fröling, Jan Malmsjö
Music: Daniel Bell
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costume Design (1984); Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (1984); formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: wealthy kids get a nasty step-father
Length: 188 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, story and pacing) c. 2.7/4 (Good).

I actually enjoyed this movie a little, which is a big deal considering it's exactly the sort of movie I tend to hate: European surrealism AND an epic period drama, simultaneously. So it's probably pretty good. The story is basically good, but there are some significant problems with the cut. Apparently Bergman made a TV mini-series cut, which I imagine would be much better. As it is, the story seems incomplete, relationships aren't clearly explained, sub-plots are unresolved, entire characters inexplicably disappear from the story about half-way through... Besides, if the theatrical cut is over three hours long, you might as well slice it up into several bits that can each be comfortably watched in one sitting.