FILM: Wild Strawberries (1957)

Where on earth did this Ingmar Bergman film get its prestigious reputation? I liked The Seventh Seal just fine, but found the bleak poetry missing from Wild Strawberries. Here the black-and-white palette appears restrictive instead of lyrical. So much backstory is left unexplored (what, not a single scene of interaction between Isak and his late wife?). Worst, [SPOILER] the movie ends abruptly after a series of implausible reconciliations. I'm all for exploring the psyches of flawed and unpopular protagonists, but this was not an interesting exploration.