Wild Strawberries captures the thoughtful and compassionate side of Ingmar Bergman rarely seen in his films. It is the story of an aging man's introspective journey on the meaning of his life, and inevitability of death. He rescues a stranded, verbally abusive husband and his suffering wife, who undoubtedly reflect his cruelty to his late wife. In the course of their journey, he confronts his past failures, and reconciles with his life, and mortality.
Allegorical dreams are integral to the film's theme.
Professor Borg's runaway carriage dream is similar to the dream sequence in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, signifying the burden of life, guilt, and inescapability of death. The dream is obscure and surreal, as if the mind is in denial of its fate. In contrast, the summer cottage dream is lucid, nostalgic, and melancholy. Professor Borg reluctanly awakens from it with a profound sense of loss and regret. His most unsettling dream occurs in a lecture hall because it is a place that has defined his existence.