(5 stars out of five)--An enormously affecting film. The fact that this is also Ingmar Bergman's final film makes it all the more emotional. Bergman, now 87 years old, flirted with the idea of retirement back in 1982, when, with the release of Fanny and Alexander, he declared it would be his last film. Now, over two decades later, Bergman has finally given us his last film. It is a startling achievement. Bergman examines - as he has in his past films - life, death, and love. But Bergman's last opus focuses on something that hasn't always been examined in his films: himself. This is a film about the ties between parents and children, the process of aging, and the terrible feeling of long lost love. Bergman dedicates the film to his wife, who died years ago: The film opens with a simple "To Ingrid", and the title card. Simplicity is something that's always been a part of Bergman's work, a sort of deceptive simplicity. I kept thinking, as I watched the film, as I watched this great filmmaker's final film... what would be the last shot? What would be the last image he would choose...the last shot that he would ever commit to film? It seems fitting that the last image Bergman would choose to film would be of a face, in close-up, looking into the camera. It is that almost oblique thing, the human face, that Bergman has devoted his life to studying, in close-up, in his attempt to go beyond it into something more beautiful, complex, and truthful than mere words could ever express. He is the world's greatest living director, and this is a beautiful swan song...
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