Ingmar Bergman
Today came the news that one of the world's greatest film director had expired on 30th July 2007. Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish director, died at the age of 89.
My first encounter with a Bergman movie was at Indian Institute of Science (IISc). I was aware, listening to quizzes, about the existence of a director call Ingmar Bergman but had no clue about his works. (The only Bergman whose movies I had watched was Ingrid Bergman, the radiant beauty of such films as 'Casablanca' and 'Notorious'). When the film society at IISc screened Ingmar Begman's 'Magician', I was curious and decided to go and watch the movie. This movie is not considered amongst the best of Bergman's work but I could understand why this director was so highly regarded.
Bergman was a discovery for me. The word that instantly came to my mind to describe his style, after watching the movie 'Magician', was 'intensity'. There were scenes of great intensity in this movie, the likes of which I had not encountered earlier. There is a scene wherein the magician hypnotizes the guard of a king in believing that he is handcuffed. The guard then tries to break his handcuffs, while there really is none. Once the scene ended, I went 'OOOf'. Such was the intensity of this seemingly simple scene. It was great combination of lighting, photography, editing and acting. It was clear that a master was controlling the scene. Similarly, there is a another scene, in which the magician frightens a courtier. The scene is so frightening that it would rival the best of Hitchcock.
The intensity of his films is what gets me hooked to Bergman and it is one of the reasons I love his films. The intensity also had my friend fuming in a funny incident. One of my friends was taken in by a very beautiful girl in our campus. I had been to a movie screened by the film society and saw that this girl in the audience. That night I this information to my friend and told him that the next they were screening Bergman's 'Virgin Spring'. The possibility of the above mentioned girl turning up to see the movie were high. My friend accompanied me to the movie next day and was thrilled to see the girl amongst the audience. The film started and my friend was glancing once in a while at the girl. After some time the film's intensity increased and he got so engrossed in the movie that he didn't glance at the girl any more. Once we came out he asked me, "Why the hell was the movie so intense?". I guess that is a great tribute to the film, given that my friend hadn't come to watch the movie !!!
A similar experience happened to a colleague of mine, who was working with me in OMC Computers, Hyderabad. They showed 'Fanny and Alexander' on Doordarshan late night. Given that it was a Bergman movie I wasn't going to miss it and saw it late into the night. This colleague of mine also saw the movie, initially for different reasons. This is what he told me next day, "I started watching the movie as there were some scenes (referring to some amount of flesh shown). I thought there will be some more scenes later but slowly the movie became so engrossing that I couldnt tear myself away from the TV screen and ended up seeing the whole movie". This again from a person who had no interest in serious cinema !!
I also watched 'Wild Strawberries' at IISc. Later I bought this on DVD and watched it. For me, Bergman doesn't age. 'Wild Strawberries', which is the story of an aged professor, was as interesting after 15 years as when I saw it the first time. His other great film, 'Seventh Seal', I watched during a film society screening in Hyderabad. 'Seventh Seal' is a movie which showed me that cinema can handle very serious themes in an intellectual fashion. In this movie, Bergman asks questions about God. The story is that of a knight returning from the crusades to his village, which is in the midst of a plague. The knight's quests is to find an answer about God, Devil and Death. Questions that most of us have but answers none of us have. The question of God more relevant due to the death all around because of the plague. It takes a great effort to make a movie where such fundamental and difficult questions are asked. The movie is made of vivid images that refuse to leave you. I have watched this movie multiple times, both for its intellectual treatment of the theme and for Bergman's craft, which is amazing. The movie grabs you from the very start. At the start of the movie, the knight is waiting in a mountainous area and turns around to find a man dressed in black standing there. He asks him who he is and the man in black replies that he is death !!! Death then comes to an agreement with the knight. They will play a game of chess and if the knight loses, he will die. Else death will go away from him. Thus starts the movie. The knight playing playing chess with Death is one of the most enduring images of world cinema.
'Persona' is another movie, which is complicated and difficult to understand but which fascinates me, leading me to watch it multiple times. The acting is top notch, as in all Bergman movies and there is something indefinable in this movie which draws me back to it again and again. Definitely one of Bergman's best movies. I have also watched 'Cries and Whispers', a taut tale of three sisters, the elder one dying of cancer. 'Smiles of a Summer Night' is a very nice comedy.
I haven't watched his 'Faith Trilogy' consisting of the films, 'Silence', 'Through a Glass Darkly' and 'Winter Light'. They are supposed to be films which question the existence of God and our belief in God. I am waiting to buy them and watch them as soon as possible.
Bergman is often thought to have made dark films. The feeling is that his films are depressing and also pessimistic. I don't subscribe to this view. I find his films intellectually stimulating, his images arresting and his questions very relevant. Films like 'Smiles of a Summer Night' show his flair for comedy, though comedy is absent in many of his movies. This movie shows that the absence of comedy in Bergman's movies is deliberate since his concentration is on the subject that he has taken up. This concentration is what makes his films so intense. The last film that he made, before he went into semi-retirement, was 'Fanny and Alexander' and that turned out to be one of the warmest movies he has ever made. This again goes to show that if some movie of his was dark, it was because it was meant to be dark and not because Bergman couldn't make a brighter movie.
I also like Bergman for his craft. The way the plot develops, the way gets the actors to act, the editing and the flow of the film. Nowhere in his movies do I find scenes which are not necessary or relevant. He is a master when it comes to building the atmosphere and also a master of set pieces like the ones I described in 'Magician' or the one in the bar in 'Seventh Seal'. Very few directors could make a scene as intense as Bergman can. His two main collaborators, when it came to photography, Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist, were world class photographers and provide you one more excuse, if one is needed, to watch a Bergman movie multiple times.
Bergman's concerns were the human soul, religion, our relationship with God and Death. Infact, death is something which is present in most of his movies that I saw, be it the Professor facing his own death in 'Wild Strawberries', the ever present Death in 'Seventh Seal', the death of the father in 'Fanny and Alexander', the imminent death of the elder sister in 'Cries and Whispers', the death of the daughter in 'Virgin Spring'. In each case death is faced in a different way and the reaction to death is different. The movies also explore how the dying or the dead affect others. One probable reason why Bergman is considered grim is because death happens in so many of his movies.
Bergman is last of the great directors to pass away. Kurasowa, Ray, Tarkovsky and Fellini and passed away earlier. Losing Bergman is losing one of the greatest directors the world film scene has ever seen. His films will always be something to treasure and will be a benchmark for future directors. If you haven't seen a Bergman movie, you must see one soon.
My first encounter with a Bergman movie was at Indian Institute of Science (IISc). I was aware, listening to quizzes, about the existence of a director call Ingmar Bergman but had no clue about his works. (The only Bergman whose movies I had watched was Ingrid Bergman, the radiant beauty of such films as 'Casablanca' and 'Notorious'). When the film society at IISc screened Ingmar Begman's 'Magician', I was curious and decided to go and watch the movie. This movie is not considered amongst the best of Bergman's work but I could understand why this director was so highly regarded.
Bergman was a discovery for me. The word that instantly came to my mind to describe his style, after watching the movie 'Magician', was 'intensity'. There were scenes of great intensity in this movie, the likes of which I had not encountered earlier. There is a scene wherein the magician hypnotizes the guard of a king in believing that he is handcuffed. The guard then tries to break his handcuffs, while there really is none. Once the scene ended, I went 'OOOf'. Such was the intensity of this seemingly simple scene. It was great combination of lighting, photography, editing and acting. It was clear that a master was controlling the scene. Similarly, there is a another scene, in which the magician frightens a courtier. The scene is so frightening that it would rival the best of Hitchcock.
The intensity of his films is what gets me hooked to Bergman and it is one of the reasons I love his films. The intensity also had my friend fuming in a funny incident. One of my friends was taken in by a very beautiful girl in our campus. I had been to a movie screened by the film society and saw that this girl in the audience. That night I this information to my friend and told him that the next they were screening Bergman's 'Virgin Spring'. The possibility of the above mentioned girl turning up to see the movie were high. My friend accompanied me to the movie next day and was thrilled to see the girl amongst the audience. The film started and my friend was glancing once in a while at the girl. After some time the film's intensity increased and he got so engrossed in the movie that he didn't glance at the girl any more. Once we came out he asked me, "Why the hell was the movie so intense?". I guess that is a great tribute to the film, given that my friend hadn't come to watch the movie !!!
A similar experience happened to a colleague of mine, who was working with me in OMC Computers, Hyderabad. They showed 'Fanny and Alexander' on Doordarshan late night. Given that it was a Bergman movie I wasn't going to miss it and saw it late into the night. This colleague of mine also saw the movie, initially for different reasons. This is what he told me next day, "I started watching the movie as there were some scenes (referring to some amount of flesh shown). I thought there will be some more scenes later but slowly the movie became so engrossing that I couldnt tear myself away from the TV screen and ended up seeing the whole movie". This again from a person who had no interest in serious cinema !!
I also watched 'Wild Strawberries' at IISc. Later I bought this on DVD and watched it. For me, Bergman doesn't age. 'Wild Strawberries', which is the story of an aged professor, was as interesting after 15 years as when I saw it the first time. His other great film, 'Seventh Seal', I watched during a film society screening in Hyderabad. 'Seventh Seal' is a movie which showed me that cinema can handle very serious themes in an intellectual fashion. In this movie, Bergman asks questions about God. The story is that of a knight returning from the crusades to his village, which is in the midst of a plague. The knight's quests is to find an answer about God, Devil and Death. Questions that most of us have but answers none of us have. The question of God more relevant due to the death all around because of the plague. It takes a great effort to make a movie where such fundamental and difficult questions are asked. The movie is made of vivid images that refuse to leave you. I have watched this movie multiple times, both for its intellectual treatment of the theme and for Bergman's craft, which is amazing. The movie grabs you from the very start. At the start of the movie, the knight is waiting in a mountainous area and turns around to find a man dressed in black standing there. He asks him who he is and the man in black replies that he is death !!! Death then comes to an agreement with the knight. They will play a game of chess and if the knight loses, he will die. Else death will go away from him. Thus starts the movie. The knight playing playing chess with Death is one of the most enduring images of world cinema.
'Persona' is another movie, which is complicated and difficult to understand but which fascinates me, leading me to watch it multiple times. The acting is top notch, as in all Bergman movies and there is something indefinable in this movie which draws me back to it again and again. Definitely one of Bergman's best movies. I have also watched 'Cries and Whispers', a taut tale of three sisters, the elder one dying of cancer. 'Smiles of a Summer Night' is a very nice comedy.
I haven't watched his 'Faith Trilogy' consisting of the films, 'Silence', 'Through a Glass Darkly' and 'Winter Light'. They are supposed to be films which question the existence of God and our belief in God. I am waiting to buy them and watch them as soon as possible.
Bergman is often thought to have made dark films. The feeling is that his films are depressing and also pessimistic. I don't subscribe to this view. I find his films intellectually stimulating, his images arresting and his questions very relevant. Films like 'Smiles of a Summer Night' show his flair for comedy, though comedy is absent in many of his movies. This movie shows that the absence of comedy in Bergman's movies is deliberate since his concentration is on the subject that he has taken up. This concentration is what makes his films so intense. The last film that he made, before he went into semi-retirement, was 'Fanny and Alexander' and that turned out to be one of the warmest movies he has ever made. This again goes to show that if some movie of his was dark, it was because it was meant to be dark and not because Bergman couldn't make a brighter movie.
I also like Bergman for his craft. The way the plot develops, the way gets the actors to act, the editing and the flow of the film. Nowhere in his movies do I find scenes which are not necessary or relevant. He is a master when it comes to building the atmosphere and also a master of set pieces like the ones I described in 'Magician' or the one in the bar in 'Seventh Seal'. Very few directors could make a scene as intense as Bergman can. His two main collaborators, when it came to photography, Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist, were world class photographers and provide you one more excuse, if one is needed, to watch a Bergman movie multiple times.
Bergman's concerns were the human soul, religion, our relationship with God and Death. Infact, death is something which is present in most of his movies that I saw, be it the Professor facing his own death in 'Wild Strawberries', the ever present Death in 'Seventh Seal', the death of the father in 'Fanny and Alexander', the imminent death of the elder sister in 'Cries and Whispers', the death of the daughter in 'Virgin Spring'. In each case death is faced in a different way and the reaction to death is different. The movies also explore how the dying or the dead affect others. One probable reason why Bergman is considered grim is because death happens in so many of his movies.
Bergman is last of the great directors to pass away. Kurasowa, Ray, Tarkovsky and Fellini and passed away earlier. Losing Bergman is losing one of the greatest directors the world film scene has ever seen. His films will always be something to treasure and will be a benchmark for future directors. If you haven't seen a Bergman movie, you must see one soon.
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