Today, I would like to look back again at one of my favourite artists and filmmakers, Ingmar Bergman. With the help of an excellent article from the site: About Bergman. On this well-done site, we can find everything we want to know!
I have always become stunned by how Bergman began his movies. I think he had permanently tried to dig inside the soul of humans, ours, to reflect.
For example, in his movie; Winter Light from 1962, it begins so: In the final moments of Pastor Tomas Ericsson’s noon service, only a handful of people are in attendance, including fisherman Jonas Persson and his pregnant wife Karin, and Tomas’s ex-mistress, the atheist Märta. After the service, though coming down with a cold, Tomas prepares for his three o’clock service in another town. Before he leaves, however, the Perssons arrive to speak to him. Jonas has become morose after hearing that China is developing an Atomic bomb, and the children are starving!
PS: Sorry, it is only possible to watch it on YouTube, though it is worth seeing it. 🙏
Or in the movie: “Through a Glass Darkly“, the scene begins with a happy, playful family who celebrates in the garden, and suddenly one (the father) goes into the house, gets into the sitting room and weeps terribly.
His other work and in my opinion; one of his masterworks, Wild Strawberries, it begins with a dream of an aged professor (played by Victor Sjöström, one of the pioneers in cinema) who has a lot of corners and edges in his life to confront with. Interestingly, when the great artists share their memories in their works, they mostly are well accomplished—for example, Woody Allen’s Radio Days or Federico Fellini’s Amarcord.
By Åke Blomquist
Please let me once again share this fascinating dream scene with an excellent narration about this dream. PS(2): My efforts to find some scenes to share it seem only this way; watching on YouTube! Thanks for your understanding. 🙏😁
Following the books, the movies have significantly influenced my life. Of course, I am talking about the good ones! They have taught me much and expanded my view of life towards the world. And Ingmar Bergman is one of them. Here is a part of the article about his life. Thank you for being here. 🙏💖🙏
Ernst Ingmar Bergman, born on the 14th of July, 1918 in Uppsala, died on the 30th of July, 2007 on Fårö, was a Swedish film and theatre director, writer, theatre manager dramatist and author. Ingmar Bergman wrote or directed more than 60 films and 170 theatrical productions and authored over a hundred books and articles. Among his best-known works are the films The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and Persona, as well as his autobiography The Magic Lantern.
Throughout Bergman’s many works, one finds variations on a central theme: dysfunctional families, blood-sucking failed artists and an absent Almighty all become manifestations of our collective inability to communicate with each other.
Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen, and Strindberg were all enormously essential influences on Bergman, not only in his theatrical work but indeed the entirety of his artistic career.
Bergman’s films are set almost exclusively in Sweden, and starting with 1961’s Through a Glass Darkly, they were filmed primarily on the small island of Fårö, northeast of Gotland. The international reception of Bergman’s films reflects a not inconsiderable fascination with a Scandinavian exoticism: inscrutable language, primaeval nature and flaxen-haired women. In Bergman’s films, the depiction of nudity and “natural” sexuality contributed to their success.
Looking over Bergman’s career, another hallmark of his work for stage and film is the recurrent company of loyal collaborators. Some notable examples from this ensemble include the cinematographer Sven Nykvist, the actors: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson, and the costume designer Mago.
The relationship between the artist’s life and works (despite the tendency of biographical analyses to fall victim to the cult of genius) is in the case of Ingmar Bergman as inextricably tangled as it is compelling. In countless interviews and artistic representations, and especially in The Magic Lantern, Bergman repeatedly referred to his childhood and its importance for his artistic vision. A number of his relatives were also creative colleagues. Here
Sources:
lampmagician 
Classic cinema. They don’t make them like that any more.
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Sad but true! Therefore I watch them so often. 😉🤗🙏💖
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Sadly I am not too familiar with this great filmmaker! The title of his autobiography, “The Magic Lantern” reminds me of the name of your site. Is that an influence? Also, why did he name his autobiography that? Which of his movies would you recommend I watch first?
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Thank you for your praises, dear mate. I think that you, one of the hopes in the future of cinema, as I believe in, should know such masters. Therefore, with thanks, try to give you a list: Wilde Strawberries is a must, followed by Persona, Seventh Seal (highly recommended), The Silence, and Cries & Whispers. I am sure you will search further for yourself. 🤗👍
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I will start with Wilde Strawberries if possible, or Persona or Seventh Seal. I must experience this director to earn your praises! Thanks so much for sharing, my friend.
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I watched Ingmar’s “Seventh Seal” I loved it. – The shakespearean comedic style… So many great lines of dialogue, and psychological / philosophical motiefs throughout (Like The Knight’s ongoing chess match with Death. (On his borrowed time to live))… Being set during a plague, when death was particularly a subject on people’s minds. I found this made it even more relatable to today, actually. Very Great recommendation, my friend🙏
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My fav character is The visionary husband (Of the Joker couple with the baby. The dreamer who see angels and devils, and his wife advises him to keep quiet or people will think he’s crazy). But In the end he is able to save his family from death (viral plague) BECAUSE he is able to see death. He forsees it, kind of. And he tells his wife and they leave the rest of the pack in the night. If I remember correctly… Sometimes I misinterpret.
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Well said again. 🤗👍🙏
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I am happy to know that you liked this and understood it perfectly: Shakespearean comedic style, well said! 👍
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Yes, classic cinema from my college days. He was considered “hip” and I thought so, too. I remember seeing “Wild Strawberries” with Vic and we were fans of Bergman. I also loved ‘Persona’ and ‘Fanny and Alexander, although the details haven’t stayed in memory. Thank you for reviewing his genius..
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They are also my favourites, dear Elaine. And I enjoy watching them now and then. I think pure art is always worth it. Grateful as ever 🙏
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I’m jotting the movie titles down to watch soon, my friend. Thank you!
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You’ll like it, I’m sure. I appreciate your interest, dearest Lara. 🤗🙏💖
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Bergman was a genius, a wonderfully sensitive filmmaker. I worked as still photographer with Sven Nykvist in Bergamo, where he was the camera man on Margarete v. Trotta’s film ‘Strohfeuer,’ I have a photograph of Nykvist with Volker Schlondorf from that time. Must post it sometime.
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Indeed he’s! And I would very much like to see your photos. 😊🙏💖
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Must find an occasion. Can’t post images here.
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