"Ingmar Bergman's films utterly depressing" -- Ingmar Bergman

http://www.ingmarbergman.se/

I decided in the end that "The Fast Show" just starting on BBC2 would be more valuable for me culture-wise..... Meh.......

that's disappointing.

i don't know, bergman having occasionally questionable taste is something i don't care too much about, it's bergman recklessly insulting other filmmakers that seems a bit gauche. also anyone making common cause with john simon is pretty suspect.

"For me he's just a hoax. It's empty. It's not interesting. It's dead. Citizen Kane, which I have a copy of— is all the critics' darling, always at the top of every poll taken, but I think it's a total bore. Above all, the performances are worthless. The amount of respect that movie's got is absolutely unbelievable."

He doesn't look very glamorous in that link.

RIP :-(

8( have just watched 'Persona' and 'Sawdust And Tinsel' and 'Journey into Autumn' and those two documentaries about him on bbc4 in the last couple of weeks. Seventh Seal has just been re-released in cinemas here too, i must find out where it's on.

rip

Damn. Damn. Damn.

was going to see transformers today but now feel kind of guilty.

actually, watching the film with an overwhelming feeling of guilt might be the most fitting tribute to bergman i can think of.

:-(

Robots Is Pissguys

RIP, though, really, and I'll go and see transformers

Ingmar Bergman R.I.P.

Gukbe OTM.

So, can somebody explain to me what made Persona a parable about the Vietnam conflict? I've heard this mentioned several times, and beyond the self-immolation fragment in the opening montage I don't understand the connection. Answers appreciated, this has been bothering me for some time and Film Four's Bergman season means its bothering me again.

The parallel is made by zealous film professors.

Yeah but based on what? It's always puzzled me, I can't even see it in a tenuous way

I'll keep this in mind if I stay up during Film Four's screening tomorrow night.

Doubt I'll stay with it...

No it's really gripping all the way through, esp once they get to the house, but Vietnam?

my Bergman prof didn't mention vietnam. Just a lot of stuff about the opening montage being a summation of the history of cinema and the rest the film discussed in terms of "psychological vampirism".

see now, that's what I got

Finally watched Seventh Seal last night...sort of a duty-to-the-classic-canon thing rather than because I really wanted to watch it. But I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I saw it just now and it'sastoundingly brilliant. Fucking funny, sad, human, triumphant, frightening study of death and the unknowability of the divine. With a truly inspired ensemble cast, and that one scene with the eating of wild strawberries ("I will never forget this moment") which almost had me weeping for joy

so, was amateurist joking when he said he never saw a bergman film in 2004?

if he wasn't, i am really fucking stunned!

Persona has to be one of the 10 greatest, no doubt in my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGFo2WI2aw

Orson Welles also saw Hitler speak at a young age and his takeaway was "the only remarkable thing about him was how utterly unremarkable he was".

Anyway, I agree with Josh.

Yeah can totally believe it really (I knew he was a bit mean to actors but other than that), never wondered because there isn't much direct political commentary in his films, but hardly surprising.

Amazing interview, Skarsgard is really funny on von Trier.

Tarkovsky on Bergman (one of his idols):

15 September, Stockholm, I saw Bergman for the first time in person today. He had a meeting with young people at the Filminstitutet where he was presenting the documentary about the making of Fanny and Alexander, and providing a running commentary. Then he answered questions. He made an odd impression on me. Self-centered, cold, superficial, both toward the children and the audience.

He added: “I love the man, I love the work, and that doesn’t mean I agree with everything he does. You don’t agree with everything your wife does, either. [Before ‘Nymphomaniac’] he called me, saying: ‘My next film will be a porno. I went: ‘Ok, Lars.’

xp

Ingmar Makes a Porno

I once had a convo w/ a guy who thought Nymphomaniac got a rough reception due to false expectations - "ppl thought it was going to be this sexy erotic film" and I was like "no, absolutely no one expected that from a Lars Von Trier film". Guess the man himself did!

Unsourced quote from Wiki:

In response to claims that he had merely created a "porn film", Skarsgård stated "... if you look at this film, it's actually a really bad porn movie, even if you fast forward. And after a while you find you don't even react to the explicit scenes. They become as natural as seeing someone eating a bowl of cereal."

Anyway, Lars did try!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzy_Power

Puzzy Power (also known as HotMale) is a Danish film company started in 1997 as a subsidiary to Lars von Trier's company Zentropa, with the goal of producing hardcore pornographic films for women. It is the only time ever a mainstream film company has openly produced hardcore pornographic films.

He was a so-called inspector of the film school

That's a job?

I assume that means, like, an advisor or something like that.

Kubrick adored Bergman

or rather, the films of Bergman

Well, Kubrick sure knew cold.

Looking forward to Skarsgard's Oscar campaign for Sentimental Value

Nymphomaniac is one of the decade's great comedies.

"great"

the thing about Ingmar Bergman - I think he'd be the first to admit being a crummy human being. He's said so much about his parenting, how he treated his spouse and lovers, he was an egomaniac and control freak. We just have less tolerance these days for fawning over these kind of 'genius' filmmakers who are shitty humans.. Woody Allen, etc.
But Skarsgård is right - there are a few great films in there, some good ones, and some dumb ones... he wasn't beholden to box office success as they were largely gov't funded

Bergman's films remain unique among the era's uh auteurs: obv built on stage dramaturgy, beholden to Strindberg, many great women parts despite leaning towards Woman As Mystical Soul Force or Woman As Fascinating Crazy Person.

but was he a rockist

When I was in college in the mid 70s he was all the rage, maybe because my fellow students were interested in his earnest search for meaning, regardless of how bleak. It was a very earnest era

I think his warmest film is Wild Strawberries (1957) and it is one of my favorites

it's a great film, undeniably

^^^Later remade/ripped-off/homaged by Woody Allen as Deconstructing Harry.

#BecauseBergmanNeededMoreBlowJobJokes

He was a so-called inspector of the film school

That's a job?

― jmm, Friday, 11 July 2025 bookmarkflaglink

I assume that means, like, an advisor or something like that.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 11 July 2025 bookmarkflaglink

Sounds like he was basically given a lot of power to make and break ppl in a very small scene, because of the international success he had. Its appalling.

Really tenuous rubbish. Visconti? Lol

pic.twitter.com/kyYPp5t6X7

— Uchimama (@Uchimamalul) July 11, 2025

«Inspektør», which is the Scandinavian language term, would translate better with “supervisor”. Basically it’s a common word for a (mid-to high) leadership position at a school, below rector/dean, and typically oriented towards student counseling. While it would undoubtedly give a guy like Bergman a lot of influence (and why wouldn’t he have at a Swedish film school in the 60s and 70s?) the position itself was likely an ordinary one for a educational institution.

xpost

Really tenuous rubbish. Visconti? Lol

The Ozu one made me laugh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasujir%C5%8D_Ozu#Wartime

Details Ozu's involvement in war crimes! Not really blaming him tbh, I'm sure he'd rather have been making films back in Japan.

Yeah, without getting into the nitty gritty of which individuals could reasonably be blamed for what, on a macro level the Japanese film industry def didn't struggle with its fascist legacy in the way the German and Italian ones did.

I saw a counterpoint to Ozu as Kobayashi, who served and supported but supposedly refused advancement in protest, fwiw.