Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
Bergman talks about the meaning of life and the pass of time.
Great cast, that will repeat in several of Bergman's movies and remarkable performances from Ingrid Thulin and Victor Sjöström....
There's a great scene near the start of this film that sees an horse-drawn hearse get it's wheel caught between the kerb and a lamp-post. The horses persist in moving forward, the wheel comes off and we have a coffin exposed in the middle of a deserted street. A passer-by approaches the coffin only to find it's occupant still alive - and, worse still, it's him! It's "Dr. Borg" (Victor Sjöström). Is it portentous? Well it made me smile anyway, as does quite a lot of this thought-provoking drama. It centres around this learned man who is to travel to Lund next day to receive a great honour for...