Emerges as a sumptuously produced period piece that is also a rich tapestry of childhood memoirs and moods, fear and fancy, employing all the manners and means of the best of cinematic theatrical from high and low comedy to darkest tragedy with detours into the gothic, the ghostly and the gruesome. (Review of Original Release)
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A masterpiece.
100
Boston Globe
Boston Globe
One of his (Bergman's) most life-affirming films.
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is astonishingly beautiful. The cinematography is by Bergman's longtime collaborator Sven Nykvist.
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
If the uncut Fanny and Alexander is Bergman's greatest work, as I think, it's because it's his most inclusive. He shows almost everything: all his moods, conflicts, styles and many of his favorite actors.
90
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
The results are quite frightening and far superior to the lengthy gloom and doom that fill many earlier Bergman films. A magical movie, Fanny and Alexander is likely to be the achievement for which Bergman will be most remembered. (Review of Original Release)
90
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Bergman locates a generosity and élan that make F&A feel like his youngest film.