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Ingmar Bergman dies at 89
Here is one obituary, here is Wikipedia. His six-hour Scenes from a Marriage is probably my favorite movie, ever (in the more common abridged version only the first installment makes sense, but it is still a knockout). The Seventh Seal is his most overrated movie; Wild Strawberries and Fanny and Alexander are also famous but not his best stuff. The dreamy Persona is the next one to try, or at 83 minutes probably the best introduction to his work. Winter Light is splendid on a big screen. Smiles of a Summer Night was my favorite movie in my thirties. The hilarious Devil's Eye -- a take-off on Faust and Don Giovanni -- is the most underrated. At least twenty of his movies are worth seeing, just dig in and keep going. I am still sorry I never saw his theatrical production of A Winter's Tale when it came to NYC.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on July 30, 2007 at 10:34 AM in Film | Permalink
Comments
I also prefer The Seventh Seal the least. I've never seen the 6-hr version of Scenes from a Marriage, either, but now will. My personal favorite is The Virgin Spring.
Posted by: jason voorhees at Jul 30, 2007 10:42:27 AM
Woody Allen, in my opinion the country's greatest and most consistent filmmaker, was hugely influenced by Bergman. Every movie he made in the 1980s - from Stardust Memories to Husbands and Wives - seemed to be either a reply to Bergman or a replication of him.
Posted by: jason voorhees at Jul 30, 2007 10:56:10 AM
I am also really sad.
His movies changed my way of looking through life. Scenes of a marriage
is the most violent movie I ever saw (he does that without any need of violence).
No one could go so deep into the feelings and contradictions of his caracters
as Bergman did.
He'll never die because he is immortal now.
Posted by: alexkossoy at Jul 30, 2007 11:39:02 AM
Yikes, his movies are so personal--it's hard to read Tyler rank them with such casualness. What's with the need to rank everthing? Do you rank family members? Why is art always a weird kind of horse race with you? "Must you stamp each piece in purple? Must you kill what you can?"
Posted by: Nate at Jul 30, 2007 12:55:39 PM
Why should a director's death be an occasion to watch his movies? Rain fell in Asia today. I think I'll watch a Bergman film for THAT reason.
Posted by: Hyde at Jul 30, 2007 12:58:41 PM
I will try not to fall into the "Tyler-trap" of rating everything, but I think that some of Bergman's movies, like have to be viewed in reference to other Swedish movies, at the time they were made. (Either as a riposte or as a nod of recognition.) Still, what to appreciate in Bergman's production always comes down to personal leanings. Wild Strawberries happen to be my favorite, because it features Bibi Andersson and Victor Sjöström, two great actors of the time, and also because the story revolves around my university city of Lund (where they are heading).
Something should also be said about the length of his movies. The full version of Fanny and Alexander is about six hours long. The main difference is that the abridged ones can be seen as introduction, where the personal elements of characters (no real protagonists seem to fit into Bergman's way of telling stories) are less evolved.
One interesting thing to notice is that many actresses (like Bergman's former wife Liv Ullman, and Pernilla August) made their big breakthrough in Bergman movies and later became much more known for their roles in movies by other directors.
Posted by: Joakim Nilsson at Jul 30, 2007 2:12:56 PM
Ah, Seventh Seal! As Death is leading his band up the hill, I tried to pass a kidney stone. Bergman symbolism on a very personal level.
Posted by: Ansel at Jul 30, 2007 4:13:36 PM
And what about Serpent´s Eggs with Carradine?.Yes, the one from Kung Fu
Liv Ullman is worldwide known as Bergman´s Muse.
She is also a director herself
Posted by: JEAN at Jul 30, 2007 6:33:10 PM
Allen on Bergman:
If the most interesting fights are being waged in the heart and mind, what to do? Bergman evolved a style to deal with the human interior, and he alone among directors has explored the soul's battlefield to the fullest.
from allen's 1988 review of Bergman's autobiography, Through a Life Darkly
Posted by: kvn at Jul 30, 2007 6:59:44 PM
Bad times for cinema .Today die Michelangelo Antonioni. His masterpice was Blow Up .Also directed Zabriski Point
Posted by: JEAN at Jul 31, 2007 2:29:24 PM
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