The Scrivener: Fanny And Alexander - 2
…The sequence of doors, the different rooms, the theatre-like settings, the happenings, the magic, the watchful eyes of the gentle boy, are all symbolic of what we are about to see as the story of one year in the life of Fanny and Alexander slowly unfolds…
Brian Barratt continues his literary tribute to Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Fanny and Alexander’’, one of the greatest films ever made.
This is the second of eight articles about the film. Watch out for further treats!
And do please visit Brian’s engaging Web site The Brain Rummager www.alphalink.com.au/~umbidas/
The Magic Of The Prologue
On the Artificial Eye set of DVD's, there are four episodes which include a total of seven acts, or parts, in the 5-hour version of Ingmar Bergman's absorbing film 'Fanny and Alexander’. The parts are:
- Prologue.
- 1. The Ekdahl family celebrates Christmas.
- 2. The Ghost.
- 3. Break-up.
- 4. The events of summer.
- 5. Demons.
- Epilogue.
In the short Prologue, 10-year-old Alexander Ekdahl relaxes after playing with his toy theatre, gazes around him, and then wanders through the rooms of the house, the Ekdahl family home. Each step of these opening scenes is quietly symbolic of how the story will develop. How much is 'real' and how much is in his imagination is for the viewer to work out.
He goes through a door and we see the sumptuous furnishings, ornate decorations and rich colours of the rooms. The indoor setting is structured like two or three stage sets, one leading into another, the wide openings in the walls acting as theatre prosceniums. Working from memories of his own boyhood, Bergman makes direct and indirect references to the theatre throughout this story.
Alexander calls out, 'Fanny?', wondering if his younger sister is somewhere near. He goes through another door. The setting changes to a long view of rooms leading to the kitchen, a significant gathering place for the family. He calls the names of two of the servants, Siri and Maj. We'll learn later in the film that he and his Uncle Gustav Adolf have special, though very different, relationships with the lively Maj.
Through a third door, the setting changes and Alexander throws himself onto a large bed. He is now calling out for his Grandmama, Helena Eckdahl. She is the matriarch of the clan, playing a strong linking role through the whole story. Like many of the other characters, she has had her share of romantic, perhaps illicit, affairs.
There is yet a fourth door, through which we see the boy sitting on the (closed) seat of the toilet, acting out some role from a play in his imagination, declaring like an actor on stage, 'I am the king of seventeen lands'. What follows could also be in the realm of his imagination. It is the first indication of the 'magic' that appears in various parts of the film and about which reviewers have differing opinions.
Alexander returns to the gloriously appointed living rooms where a classical statue in the corner comes to life. The partially but discreetly dressed young lady is transformed from marble to whitened flesh, and seems to beckon to him. Immediately following, we briefly see The Grim Reaper surreptitiously disappearing behind a large leafed pot-plant. Whether these passing visions are magic or in the boy's imagination is left for us to work out, but magic does seem to play a significant role in Bergman's films.
There is a sudden crash. We are brought back to the present, to real life, to the actual household. A servant is pouring coal into a large heating stove. Grandmama has come into view. She asks Alexander if he would like to play cards, but he positions himself on a high-backed chair where he stays, simply observing.
The sequence of doors, the different rooms, the theatre-like settings, the happenings, the magic, the watchful eyes of the gentle boy, are all symbolic of what we are about to see as the story of one year in the life of Fanny and Alexander slowly unfolds.
© Copyright Brian Barratt 2008
