Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 film, originally conceived as a five-part television miniseries before being released, was partly inspired by his childhood with his sister Margarita and his father Eric Bergman, a strict Lutheran pastor. But before marital conflict unfolds and ghosts appear, the film lingers on a 1907 nativity play and a sumptuous Christmas feast that includes some of the most colorful and joyous moments in Bergman’s work.
Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection
Do you remember a Christmas gift you dreamed of as a child? In my millennium world, it’s all about the Nintendo DS, but for 9-year-old Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), it’s “the official Red Ryder carbine, 200 rounds of ammunition, a range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing that tells the time.” A unique, unhinged Generation X relic that’s definitely worth revisiting.
Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection




