24 replies to this topic

[Pamela Moberg]

Early this morning Ingmar Bergman passed away at his home at Fårö, a small island in the Baltic Sea where he had lived for the past years.
Last fall he had a hip operation and it is said that he never fully recovered.

He will be remembered by his many movies, theater productions and books. Without a doubt he was the greatest director of all times in Sweden. His last movie "Fanny and Alexander" is supposed to be autobiographical. In that film it was said that he tried to come to terms with the sufferings of his childhood and youth. He was born in 1918 in Uppsala, his father was a clergyman and also the official court preacher. The father was a stern Lutheran, very unforgiving  and demanding and Bergman's severe upbringing left him with scars for life.

As time went by his films became more and more filled with anguish and despair and I must admit that I was not overly fond of them. But some of his theater productions were delightful, especially his opera production of "The Magic Flute" is my own favorite.

[SanderO]

He did a charming film of the Mozart Opera the Magic Flute... Zauberflot.  It is available in Swedish with English subtitles.

He made a great contribution to the arts.

Thanks Mr Bergman, RIP.

[Alexandra]

"Seventh Seal" was the first truly grownup film I saw and I still remember it, and its images, vividly. I loved many of his films, including some of the dark ones, like "Winter Light" and "Summer Interlude" (with "Swan Lake" as its subtext). His effect on film, and the filmmakers that followed (in Sweden or anywhere) was incalculable. I've missed his filmmaking (he stopped several years ago). I'll echo SandorO's "Thanks, Mr. Bergman. RIP."

[EvilNinjaX]

Pamela Moberg, on Jul 30 2007, 04:40 AM, said:

Early this morning Ingmar Bergman passed away at his home at Fårö, a small island in the Baltic Sea where he had lived for the past years.
Last fall he had a hip operation and it is said that he never fully recovered.

He will be remembered by his many movies, theater productions and books. Without a doubt he was the greatest director of all times in Sweden. His last movie "Fanny and Alexander" is supposed to be autobiographical. In that film it was said that he tried to come to terms with the sufferings of his childhood and youth. He was born in 1918 in Uppsala, his father was a clergyman and also the official court preacher. The father was a stern Lutheran, very unforgiving  and demanding and Bergman's severe upbringing left him with scars for life.

As time went by his films became more and more filled with anguish and despair and I must admit that I was not overly fond of them. But some of his theater productions were delightful, especially his opera production of "The Magic Flute" is my own favorite.

Here's a link i read this morning
http://news.bbc.co.u...960.stm?wp_ml=0

*sigh*  but i suppose Death comes for us all at some time and at age 89... well that's not a bad life; i'm sure that there'll be a special tribute to him this year at the Oscars.

I loved WILD STRAWBERRIES, but the movie that stayed with me the most was FANNY AND ALEXANDER.  

RIP

-goro-

[sandik]

Alexandra, on Jul 30 2007, 04:25 PM, said:

"Seventh Seal" was the first truly grownup film I saw and I still remember it, and its images, vividly.

Your comment about grownup film really strikes a chord with me -- his is one of the most fully formed and mature bodies of work I can think of in almost any art form.

[papeetepatrick]

Alexandra, on Jul 30 2007, 12:25 PM, said:

"Seventh Seal" was the first truly grownup film I saw and I still remember it, and its images, vividly. I loved many of his films, including some of the dark ones, like "Winter Light" and "Summer Interlude" (with "Swan Lake" as its subtext). His effect on film, and the filmmakers that followed (in Sweden or anywhere) was incalculable. I've missed his filmmaking (he stopped several years ago). I'll echo SandorO's "Thanks, Mr. Bergman. RIP."

Thanks for mentioning the 'Seventh Seal', Alexandra, as it is one of the few major Bergman films I've not seen, and I just put in a request for it.  I've seen most of the films, from the lighter ones like 'Smiles of a Summer Night' to the dark ones, and they are all masterful, and can be quite cruel as well as moving.  Certain films like 'The Virgin Spring' are so singular you can't think of a single other film to even compare them to.  But I agree about 'Winter Light' and the other two films of that trilogy, 'Through a Glass Darkly' and 'Silence', which are all deeply moving.  I see it looks as if I've missed 'Summer Interlude' too, so must look that up now.  I also love that 'Zauberflote', and find it such a quirky thing to have done.

Edited to add:  I just saw on his wiki entry that he himself did not consider 'The Silence' 'Through a Glass Darkly' and 'Winter Light' to be a trilogy, although somehow they came to be thought of as his 'trilogy of faith.'  Also that 'Winter Light' was his favourite film.

[kfw]

Broadcast obituary notices are so instantly recognizable by style and tone of voice that I think my “aww” escaped my lips this morning before the second syllable of Bergman left the radio speakers.

I’ve never cared for the phrase “death is a part of life,” but in regards to the man who was so taken up with death and the question of God’s existence, death seems like an appropriate final act, the time when either his questions are answered or his agonized questioning is stilled.

So my sadness is mixed with hope. May the writer and director of “The Seventh Seal” and “Cries and Whispers” enjoy for eternity the joy and peace he was denied on Earth, and may the man who gave us “Fanny and Alexander” enjoy an eternity of wonder and play.

[bart]

Thanks for your message, kfw.

My first Bergman film was at a classic film series when I was in college.  (This was only a few years after the film's  premiere, but it was already on the list of "classics.")  

The film was "Wild Strawberries."  I recall being astonished by how much identification I felt for the old professor, nearing the end of his life, who finds that the line separating past and present has become blurred.  I've always thought that this story -- and the imagery from the film --  would make a stunning ballet in the "Lilac Garden" manner.

My favorite Bergman films -- "Wild Strawberries," "Virgin Spring," "Seveth Seal," "The Magician," "Fanny and Alexander" -- all deal with the importance of memory, the lack of boundaries between past and present, and the way that  Death -- serene, implacable, inevitable -- is always present in the midst of life.  Many are set in a mesmerizing version of the historical past.  And then there's the way he nurtured such a fantastic company of actors:  Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin, Harriet Andersson, and Liv Ulmann among them.

We continue to lose the greatest of 20th century artists.  Bergman is fortunate to have been survived by his films.  So are we.

[dirac]

Thanks, Pamela, for posting, and to those who've commented so far.

One of the great artists of the last century has died.  He made some films that were less than great, but even his failures are worth looking at.  I was overcome by “Persona” and “The Seventh Seal,” (both obvious choices but what can I do).

From the Times obituary:

Quote

Once, when asked by the critic Andrew Sarris why he did what he did, Mr. Bergman told the story of the rebuilding of Chartres Cathedral in the Middle Ages by thousands of anonymous artisans.

“I want to be one of the artists of the cathedral that rises on the plain,” he said. “I want to occupy myself by carving out of stone the head of a dragon, an angel or a demon, or perhaps a saint; it doesn’t matter; I will find the same joy in any case. Whether I am a believer or an unbeliever, Christian or pagan, I work with all the world to build a cathedral because I am artist and artisan, and because I have learned to draw faces, limbs, and bodies out of stone. I will never worry about the judgment of posterity or of my contemporaries; my name is carved nowhere and will disappear with me. But a little part of myself will survive in the anonymous and triumphant totality. A dragon or a demon, or perhaps a saint, it doesn’t matter!”

Quote

May the writer and director of “The Seventh Seal” and “Cries and Whispers” enjoy for eternity the joy and peace he was denied on Earth

Bergman had his doubts, troubles, and torments but he did manage to enjoy many of life’s joys and pleasures, sometimes at the expense of others.  

I rented his last picture, Sarabande, on DVD and on the ‘making of the film’ extra segment he appeared to be the liveliest and most vital person on the set; I thought he was good for years.

[kfw]

dirac, on Jul 30 2007, 02:10 PM, said:

Bergman had his doubts, troubles, and torments but he did manage to enjoy many of life’s joys and pleasures, sometimes at the expense of others.  

I rented his last picture, Sarabande, on DVD and on the ‘making of the film’ extra segment he appeared to be the liveliest and most vital person on the set; I thought he was good for years.

Oh that's good to hear! I'll have to rent that one.

[Ray]

Smiles of a Summer Night (A Little Night Music was based on it) remains one of my favorites.  Not "major" Bergman, but very, very fresh and touching with early performances by Bergman's stock players.  Viewers familiar with Fanny and Alexander will recognize a similar scene in Smiles involving memories evoked by old photographs--making each the more poignant.  

Also, Fanny and Alexander was the first time I ever heard Schumann's Piano Quartet (Op. 44, second movement, the one Mark Morris uses in V).

[kfw]

The NY Times has an interesting piece today entitled Bergman, Antonioni and the Religiously Inclined:

Quote

It is an interesting question why so many people serious about religion, believers in particular, feel such a loss at the death of Bergman. His view of religion was anything but benign. He recalled his ultimate loss of faith with great relief. His personal life was not a model. Nor did his films respect proprieties.

Also, Virginia Hefferman's Screen-Arts blog in the Times mentions a 1968 Bergman spoof called De Duva. It's available for viewing there, and for downloading for free elsewhere online. I didn't find it as amusing as I'd expected, but the mock Swedish alone is a hoot.

[Helene]

It took me several minutes before I realized that the "De Duva" was not in Swedish  

[bart]

Thanks, kfw.  That film has perfect pitch.  And I don't mean "dee pitcha blacka" into which Death plans to draw us all,  "zoona or layta".  

[bart]

Apologies for responding to my own post, but I should have added that De Duva, wickedly wonderful though it is, does not undermine the value of the film style it is parodying.  Nor is it meant to do so..

Some artistic statements  cannot survive parody.  Anna Russell, et al.,  pretty much demolished the image of Brunhilde in horned helmet  along with the entire traditional way in which Wagner's world was once imagined.  

But then there are the artistic statements seem to coexist quite happily with their own parodies.  The power of the parody seems actually to enhance, in such cases, the perceived value and effectiveness of the original work.  Making fun of Bergman seems to fit into this second category.

"Lung leeva Bergman!"