“Therefore let us be happy while we are happy.”

- Stated during the epic Toast Scene toward the end of Fanny and Alexander

A richly layered masterwork ripe with the inevitable uncertainty of life’s experiences, charting the coming of age of two particular child observers who watch their family flourish, fall apart, and rise again, all without barely a worry in the world. Director Ingmar Bergman’s autobiographical remembrance of the glories and horrors of childhood evokes a personal nostalgia for past memories while instilling both a joy and sadness in the process. The film also displays one of the best examples of intercutting, where through a supernatural force, Alexander witnesses his greatest enemy parish. Moments like this turn out to be a blessing and a curse, brilliantly defining a certain point of view in terms of imagery and sound.