I love movies...a lot. I've seen thousands of movies (that's not an exaggeration) and I've tried to see all the "important" films critics rave about. Some of them HAVE been great but others like "Wild Strawberries" and this are just meandering, depressing and ultimately pointless. Seriously--what's so great about this? We see a man becoming completely destroyed and humiliated in front of his son. And the point is...? It was just depressing and also boring. The acting was nothing special (it's obvious they used amateurs) and the story is just so frustrating. What happened to the bicycle? Who has it? Why are we not told? Yes, I know life is like that but I don't need a movie to tell me that! Sometimes you want a movie to forgot about your troubles and worries. This one makes things worse. The ultimate message here seems to be that life is terrible and you can't do a thing about it. Does THAT make it a classic? I don't think so.<br /><br />It's another one of those films that was wildly overpraised and, I suppose, at the time of its release it was revolutionary. However not all movies become classics forever and ever. Time has not been kind to this one. I think critics and people keep praising it for one of two reasons: they don't understand it and think they're missing something (but don't want to admit it) OR don't want to rock the boat of critical opinions from the 1940s. Overrated, depressing and ultimately pointless.