From concept to screenplay 

In the wake of the notorious tax imbroglio, Bergman lived in Munich between 1976 and 1982. Fanny and Alexander was to mark his return to Sweden. In 1978 he wrote in his workbook: "There is no longer any distinction between my anxiety and the reality that causes it. And yet I thing I know what kind of film I want to make next. It is far different from anything I have ever done."

The difference partly consisted in the fact that he was now about to portray life in a more idyllic way. It was his friend Kjell Grede (married at the time to Bibi Andersson) who had once asked Bergman why he always made such gloomy films when in fact he himself was a lover of life. Bergman's feelings at this juncture were in something approaching a state of flux, because when he finally made his mind up to display his lighter side, he was actually finding life rather difficult to bear. "It was the same with Smiles of a Summer Night, which also burst forth during a time of uncetainty. I think it may be because the creative juices flow faster when the soul is threatened. Sometimes such a state brings luck and insight in its wake, as in Smiles of a Summer Night, Fanny and Alexander, and in Persona. Sometimes, as in The Serpent's Egg, all goes awry."

© Sveriges Television

Yet when the screenplay began to flow, Bergman's good humour returned in abundance. The tax case against him was dropped: he was acquitted on all counts. Unlike Scenes from a Marriage, for example, which was a low-budget project right from the outset, he now set to work without worrying whether his new film would be either expensive or difficult to shoot. "As a consequence, it turned out to be extremely expensive and extremely difficult!" The number of actors he initially envisaged gave a hint of what was in store. The screenplay cast list required fifty four actors (three were removed later), so that in terms of scale alone, Fanny and Alexander was set to become Bergman's biggest production by far. In writing the screenplay Bergman was at his most prolific: scene followed scene, and the volume of material simply grew and grew. "I found a bore hole, and oil (or whatever it was) suddenly started gushing out…."

Photo: Anders Roth
© Stiftelsen Ingmar Bergman

As to the structure of the film, Bergman explained that certain parts are seen from Alexander's point of view, others more objectively. "I've changed my viewpoint whenever it has suited me. There's no real objectivity in the pattern. Nor any given style. I bring together various styles, I'm not interested in that kind of thing. I'm telling a story."

The British impresario and film producer Sir Lew Grade was the first potential source of finance for the film (he had previously provided part of the funding for Autumn Sonata). Grade gave Bergman a draft contract which stipulated that the film should be no more than two and a quarter hours long. When Bergman pointed out that it would be longer, Grade immediately pulled out. Bergman was almost relieved. "I thought it was the will of God, a hint that I shouldn't take on such an extensive project. But then along came Jörn Donner who said: 'Just make the film! I'll fix the cash!'"

Photo: Anders Roth
© Stiftelsen Ingmar Bergman

Donner, the head of the Swedish Film Institute, had been given the screenplay to read during a visit to Munich. He read it all the way through one night, and the next morning came up with what he would later call his "rash promise", given on condition that the film would be made in Sweden. This was a stipulation that Bergman at first opposed on the basis that, in the wake of the closure of Film City, there was no suitable studio in Sweden. Yet he soon gave way: Donner would scarcely be able to persuade the Film Institute to underwrite production without any benefit to workers in the Swedish film industry. A few days before the film's premiere Donner felt obliged to write an article in Svenska Dagbladet to justify his decision. The funding of the film – and the alleged lack of it – had stirred up a new debate as to whether Bergman took the bread from the mouths of his colleagues by draining the Film Institute of money. (Ten years previously, a similar debate had surrounded Cries and Whispers.)

"It is quite clear that I overstepped my authority as head of the Swedish Film Institute. My reasoning was quite simple: if the Film Institute existed to support anything, then Swedish film was the obvious candidate. Its leading artist of modern times had written a screenplay which in many respects summed up his artistic career as an auteur and filmmaker. It would be a disgrace, I thought, if that film was never made."

The financial risk was considerable, and funding the project was a complicated affair in which the Swedish Film Institute was the main producer, sharing the burden with Sandrews, Bergman's Swedish company Cinematograph, his Swiss company Personafilm, Gaumont in France and Tobis Filmkunst in Germany. The costs and risks were the principal reason why the film was released in two versions, the 5-hour TV series originally planned, and the shorter cinema version biografversionen (197 minutes) which was primarily intended for sale on the international market (see also Epilogue).

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