I just realized I've never seen any of his films on the big screen. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify that someday.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 05:10 (four years ago) link
To me "showing cycles of rage and affection" is something that makes it 1st tier. Can't say I know what you mean on the direction, probably because I don't quite know how to evaluate that stuff.
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 06:42 (four years ago) link
The staging and framing are often A+; the writing too on-the-nose (probably one offscreen death too many).
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 10:27 (four years ago) link
I reckon he takes quite a lot of risks with that script, hence maybe why you feel it's on-the-nose.
It does feel like Bergman is doing a session of psychoanalysis and ends up breaking people lol.
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 10:59 (four years ago) link
was Summer With Monika really the film that made US critics/audiences recognize that Sweden had a more sexually liberated culture? if so, that’s interesting
― Dan S, Saturday, 6 July 2019 01:00 (four years ago) link
I loved Smiles of a Summer Night
― Dan S, Saturday, 13 July 2019 23:31 (four years ago) link
That was a new one to me when I got the criterion set, and it's probably my favorite find, absolutely delightful.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Sunday, 14 July 2019 04:11 (four years ago) link
his best comedy - his only good comedy? the ones I've seen (Waiting Women and All These Women) are terrible
― flappy bird, Sunday, 14 July 2019 05:16 (four years ago) link
Have never seen The Devils's Eye, is that a bad comedy too?
― Zeuhl Idol (Matt #2), Sunday, 14 July 2019 08:51 (four years ago) link
I'd like to hear any review of The Devil's Eye, one of the very few classic period Bergmans I've not seen.
HIs birthday today - 101
― Josefa, Sunday, 14 July 2019 14:22 (four years ago) link
wasn't expecting to love Wild Strawberries so much, seeing it again after decades
― Dan S, Wednesday, 7 August 2019 00:58 (four years ago) link
have been re-reading the thread. I guess you could call Wild Strawberries ‘life-affirming’. I just really liked how much of a fantasia it was, mixing absurd real events, dreams, and memories in the protagonist’s path from withdrawal to engagement. Victor Sjöström was great in it
― Dan S, Friday, 30 August 2019 23:17 (four years ago) link
thought To Joy was one of the strangest and most interesting of his early films
― Dan S, Sunday, 1 September 2019 23:52 (four years ago) link
I enjoyed seeing the 60s Bergman films that are supposed to form a trilogy - Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence.
According to Bergman “these three films deal with reduction: Through a Glass Darkly – conquered certainty; Winter Light – penetrated certainty; The Silence – God's silence, the negative imprint.”
They are very dark (The Silence also has a lot of humor), but they are all fantastic
― Dan S, Friday, 20 September 2019 02:25 (four years ago) link
thought The Silence did seem somewhat Fellini-esque as flappy bird mentioned above, mostly the sections with the the child
Those are coming up soon in my Bergman box. I haven't seen them in about 15 years, but I remember them all being brutally bleak.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Friday, 20 September 2019 02:28 (four years ago) link
they all seem to be focused on the acknowledgement of the silence of god, and the choices that the characters then have about how to live their lives: Through a Glass Darkly ultimately concluding that god is love amid the scenes of hopelessness; Winter Light, in which rational discussions of love for and belief in god and belief in human relationships reveal them to be problematic, with some hope ultimately offered for faith; The Silence, even further diminishing our confidence in faith but also maybe elevating it, offering of a huge ray of light with the character of Johan1
― Dan S, Friday, 20 September 2019 02:45 (four years ago) link
Ended up skipping over Persona, Hour of the Wolf, The Passion of Anna, and Cries and Whispers for the moment and watching Scenes from a Marriage, the theatrical version. The first time I saw it was as a teenager. It feels now like it was of its time, in a good way
― Dan S, Saturday, 5 October 2019 00:47 (four years ago) link
Gotta do the long version, it's so good
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 5 October 2019 00:49 (four years ago) link
thinking I should, maybe will wait until I work my way through the rest of his films though. It does bring up for me the question of whether to watch the mini-series version or theatrical version of Fanny and Alexander
seeing this again a lot of its appeal is in the attractiveness of the two main characters, and I can now better relate to their worry about the reality of love, about the possibility of not having loved or been loved enough
― Dan S, Saturday, 5 October 2019 00:57 (four years ago) link
It definitely hit me harder on my recent viewing than the previous one some 15 years ago. A big part of it is just their wonderful acting and all the long, long takes.
I prefer the theatrical F&A, it flows better, but both are worth watching.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 5 October 2019 01:13 (four years ago) link
I probably say it a couple times a year on this board, but you NEED to watch the full cut of F&A.
― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko), Saturday, 5 October 2019 01:46 (four years ago) link
criterion channel does have both
― Dan S, Saturday, 5 October 2019 01:52 (four years ago) link
really looking forward to seeing Persona again
― Dan S, Saturday, 5 October 2019 02:24 (four years ago) link
Cries and Whisper is intense, it feels like a culmination of his surreal psychosexual dramas
― Dan S, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 01:10 (four years ago) link
I like Ebert’s description that the camera darts and falls back as if stunned, then in other scenes doesn’t look away when you want it to, focusing on the close-up with extreme impassivity
― Dan S, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 04:27 (four years ago) link
not sure what I think of Face to Face as a film, but Liv Ullmann is an incredible force in it
“love surrounds everything, even death” is a good resolution
― Dan S, Thursday, 7 November 2019 01:21 (four years ago) link
it is kind of amazing that he allows dream scenes to take over big segments of his films
― Dan S, Thursday, 7 November 2019 02:07 (four years ago) link
Face to Face is second tier Bergman. I have trouble remembering it beyond Ullmann reaction shots (as ever).
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 November 2019 02:20 (four years ago) link
it feels like a lot of his characters even if they are tragic are willing/trying to support others
I love that about his films
― Dan S, Thursday, 7 November 2019 02:29 (four years ago) link
The Serpent's Egg definitely seems like lesser Bergman
― Dan S, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 00:07 (four years ago) link
It's the one film of his I couldn't be bothered to finish.
― Cornelius Fondue (Matt #2), Tuesday, 19 November 2019 01:09 (four years ago) link
Wild Strawberries is still my favorite of all of Bergman’s films. It is expansive and kind-hearted. It worries about the regrets we all have over the instances of rejection and distance that take place in the course of our lives but in the end it understands that compassion overrides everything. It is amazing that he made this when he was 39 years old
― Dan S, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 02:28 (four years ago) link
I've realized I've been wrong about Autumn Sonata because I've denied how closely it cuts to the bone. I know way too many mothers and daughters in this same cycle of rage and affection.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, June 4, 2019
There has always been praise for Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata, but seeing it now Liv Ullmann’s performance seems as great. They are both particularly good in their scenes with each other
― Dan S, Monday, 25 November 2019 00:25 (four years ago) link
Pretty surprised by Dreams, a masterpiece by anyone else. I know Godard was a big fan (he either reviewed it in full or in passing, but he cited it a lot in his early criticism), anyway I'm pretty sure he lifted the opening shot of Alphaville from the train sequence in Dreams. Solidly second tier Bergman imo—a movie that lingers like a dream and feels just as elusive and emotionally obscure.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 05:15 (four years ago) link
Dreams is one of the Bergman films I’ve missed, along with Sawdust and Tinsel
― Dan S, Monday, 9 December 2019 23:50 (four years ago) link
The first half of Fanny and Alexander is lovely and heartwarming, even when the events progress into sadness. The increasing cruelty of life in the Vergérus household in the second half is distressing but is made endurable because of Alexander’s optimism and bravery, and because the story is eventually overtaken by mystical events and by the return of Emilie, Fanny, and Alexander to the family
― Dan S, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 00:58 (four years ago) link
Dreams doesn't appear to be streaming or on US disc
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:17 (four years ago) link
It's in the big ol' box
― Simon H., Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:21 (four years ago) link
(aside from a massive Criterion IB collection, that is -- no stand-alone) xp
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:25 (four years ago) link
Dreams is on the Criterion Channel, as is Sawdust and Tinsel, I'm looking forward to seeing them
― Dan S, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:31 (four years ago) link
The Devil's Eye is much better than his later attempt at comedy All These Women. not great, but very good
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:33 (four years ago) link
I wonder what he made of his daughter Anna's acting career?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Bergman
Bergman mostly appeared as a performer in several British sex comedies during the late 1970s including the title role in Penelope Pulls It Off (1975), Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1976), Intimate Games (1976), Come Play with Me (1977) and What's Up Superdoc! (1978)
― AMM stands for Axe-Murdering Motherfuckers (Matt #2), Saturday, 14 December 2019 12:05 (four years ago) link
"Anna Bergman's films utterly depressing" -- Ingmar Bergman
― I've Got A Ron Wood Solo Album To Listen To (Tom D.), Saturday, 14 December 2019 12:06 (four years ago) link
"as told to an ILX reporter."
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 December 2019 12:08 (four years ago) link
"Shut UP, dad!"
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81bTOhaRUZL._SL1500_.jpg
― AMM stands for Axe-Murdering Motherfuckers (Matt #2), Saturday, 14 December 2019 12:18 (four years ago) link
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
So I finally knuckled down and watched The Seventh Seal. This film is such a piece of world cultural heritage it's really beyond criticism. But the above quote couldn't be more poignant, given the fires in Australia and Brazil, and other prominent climate changes. I suppose I really ought to take this to a politics thread.
― Life is a banquet and my invitation was lost in the mail (j.lu), Wednesday, 8 January 2020 15:11 (four years ago) link
Starting scenes from a marriage , my first bergman
― calstars, Sunday, 12 September 2021 02:05 (two years ago) link
was my first bergman too
― Dan S, Sunday, 12 September 2021 02:14 (two years ago) link
Theatrical or mini-series version?
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Sunday, 12 September 2021 03:35 (two years ago) link