Where to watch Wild Strawberries (1957)

Trivia & production notes

• Bergman wrote Wild Strawberries while hospitalized at Karolinska Hospital for two months, being treated for stomach problems and stress in spring 1957.
• The inspiration came to Bergman while driving past his grandmother's house in Uppsala, imagining being able to walk into his childhood through a doorway and then return to reality by opening another door.
• Victor Sjöström, Bergman's childhood idol, was reluctant to take the role and required extensive persuasion despite being 78 years old and feeling misanthropic and tired.
• Producer Carl Anders Dymling told Sjöström the role would be easy, claiming he would just lie under a tree and eat wild strawberries, but in reality the 78-year-old actor appeared in all but one scene of the film.
• Early in filming, Sjöström grew so frustrated with his lines that he would retreat to a corner and beat his head against the wall hard enough to draw blood and produce bruises.
• Bergman made a pact with Ingrid Thulin to take the blame whenever anything went wrong during a scene in order to shield the elderly Sjöström from further frustration.
• The production schedule was adjusted so Sjöström could leave by 5:00 p.m. each day for his customary whisky, after which his performance improved.
• Bibi Andersson, who played Sara at age 21, was part of Bergman's repertory company and had already appeared in small roles in both Smiles of a Summer Night and The Seventh Seal.
• Filming took place over nearly two months, from July 2 to August 27, 1957, with location shooting at Saltsjöbaden and the old Stockholm district of Gamla Stan.
• American critics were divided on the film, with The New York Times' Bosley Crowther questioning whether Bergman himself understood what he was trying to say, despite praising the performances.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Wild Strawberries (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.