Description:

Through the wide eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve), we witness the great delights and conflicts of the Ekdahl family—a sprawling, convivial bourgeois clan living in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Intended as Ingmar Bergman’s swan song, Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) is the legendary filmmaker's warmest and most autobiographical film, a triumph that combines his trademark melancholy and emotional rigor with immense joyfulness and sensuality. The Criterion Collection is proud to present not only the theatrical version—winner of the 1984 Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film—but also, for the first time on home video in the U.S., the original five-hour television version, together in a single boxed set. Also included is Bergman's own feature-length documentary, The Making of Fanny and Alexander (Dokument Fanny och Alexander), offering a unique glimpse into his creative process and a candid behind-the-scenes look at a monumental film in the making.

Special Features:

• New high-definition digital transfers of both the television and theatrical versions, with restored image and sound, enhanced for widescreen televisions
• Optional English-dubbed soundtrack on the theatrical version
• Ingmar Bergman’s feature-length documentary The Making of Fanny and Alexander, presented here for the first time on DVD in a new high-definition digital transfer
• Ingmar Bergman Bids Farewell to Film, a 60-minute conversation between Bergman and Nils Petter Sundgren made for Swedish television in 1984
• Audio commentary on the theatrical version by film scholar Peter Cowie
• New video interviews with producer Jörn Donner, production manager Katinka Farago, art director Anna Asp, assistant director Peter Schildt, and actors Bertil Guve, Ewa Fröling, Pernilla August, and Erland Josephson
• Introductions by Bergman to eleven of his films
• A selection of Bergman theatrical trailers
• Costume sketches and video footage of the models for the film’s sets
• Stills gallery
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer editions
• Plus: a booklet featuring new essays by novelist Rick Moody, documentarian and film historian Stig Björkman, and film scholar Paul Arthur