Letters to the Editor
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Hats off to a true artist
Ingmar Bergman knew how to work within a restrained economy (writing his own scripts, often shooting in real locations, and relying on a family of actors and technicians). This way he could keep control of the whole creative process and protect his work from the pressure of the studios. Such a coherent and personal body of work is very unique in an art depending on an industry such as the cinema. You can find an equivalence to Bergman's work in more self-reliant--and costless--art forms (painting, litterature...) but i can't think of another film director (at least as productive as Bergman) who was able to use his independence and freedom of expression for so long.
I see Bergman's filmography as a unique on-screen psychotherapy, as the struggle of an artist trying to get a grip on the world, on the women, on his selfishness and his art. It was a long fight with a great deal of anger and rage, but at the end of the day, there's also a sense of acceptance, relief, almost a salvation.
Ingmar Bergman left this world with his work done, finally in peace with himself. Boy, what a battle! And what a legacy.
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Wild Snobberies
Back in the 70s, when there were only 3 public TV channels in Italy, RAI used to run series on well-known actors and directors, such as Il Ciclo Igmar Bergman.
That's how I came to see my first Bergman films as a teenager, dubbed in Italian, on TV. The horror!
His ability to convey inner states and unspoken intimacies, drama and longing, magic and mystery through images and light spoke to me immediately and viscerally. Luckily, I eventually moved on to much better screening conditions, though the bed sheet remains untested. Must try that one.
Bergman's cinematic inventiveness and artistic influence are legendary. But so are his psychological insights and story-telling abilities.
Thanks, Andrew, for your moving, personal tribute. Would love to read your thoughts on the inimitable Antonioni (my personal favorite) also.
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@ Tim Lukeman
"Finally, there's a great deal of pleasure in sublime art, a great deal of beauty & meaning, a joy that's far better than "fun," as far as I'm concerned.
Amen!!
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typo
Ingmar, not Igmar. Argh.
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Fanny and Alexander is a nearly perfect movie.
I absolutely love Fanny and Alexander. It is one of those movies that I can watch over and over. The juxtaposition of judgement and forgiveness, the warmth of a close but flawed family, and most importantly the birth or an artistic sensibility are all so complexly depicted that I never grow tired of it (I've probably seen it 8 or 9 times).
Scenes from a Marriage is also fantastic, but I don't recommend it if you are married. It is far too painfully truthful, it can make even the most happily married person uncomfortable.
Also, very sorry to make a few factual corrections but Bergman wasn't married to Liv Ulmann, though they had a child together and Fanny and Alexander was 1982 not 1983, though it won the Oscar in 1984. The TV version is the best (and longer by something like an hour).
As to the Philistines who constantly seem compelled to post on Salon, well your letters speak for themselves.
Note to the editors: Sad to say I won't be renewing my subsciption and will no longer post here either (not that I'll be missed). The quality of the writing, particularly on cultural issues, just isn't up to what I can get elsewhere. And the letters section while it could be a great thing, has started to feel like a slum...a slum I get too easily dragged into myself. Thanks for trying though.
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Ullman/Bergman married?
I don't think Liv Ullman was ever actually married to Bergman. They had a kid but no marriage. I could be wrong.
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Wonderful retrospective
Once again Andrew O'Hehir writes a phenomenal cultural overview.(I have his review of "The Good Fight" saved as one of the best looks at the terrorism/Bush contradiction around.)
I first was introduced to Ingmar Bergman in the late 60's at Wisconsin when film began exploding on campus. The Swedish film society ran 12 Bergman films for two dollars! They started with relatively early works like "Summer with Monika", through the great films such as "Wild Strawberries", "Seventh Seal", and "The Silence". The series ended with "Persona".
As with Andrew, Bergman changed my life. He became my favorite director. What fascinated me about this great genius is that in spite of what was clearly an existential despair that tormented him and was expressed in many films, particularly "Virgin Spring" through "The Silence", the man had an abilty to touch the transcendent mystical and convey it in terms of magical light that was exceedingly unusual. This was at the heart of the wonderful expansive sense of love that pervades "Wild Strawberries", and the incredible delight of "Smiles of a Summer Night" (Which I personally think is BETTER and with the same magical tone as Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream".) I used to joke that if Bergman ever solved his conflict with God, he could make the greatest religious/spiritual film of all time.
But of all his films, I agree with O'Hehir that Persona is the greatest. Shaking off even the hint of didactic heaviness of even tremendous accomplishments such as "Seventh Seal", Persona explores the nature of being, intimacy and meaning in the framework of a twentieth century existential crisis, at a time when technology and art were beginning to fuse, with almost unsurpassed illumination and originality. I remember after seeing it how deeeply haunting were its images, and how incredibly seamless it was as a work of art. This was a great, great artist who even after making many truly incredible films, reached a pinnacle, a personal Mt. Everest of accomplishment that is just extremely rare. Persona's fluidity of soul, its depth in traveling the paths of feeling in such subtle ways of the human psyche puts it in a pantheon of the very few films that can be called the greatest of all time.
Bergman helped me to understand as a young man that film in particular, and art in general, could explore depths of meaning, and great philosophical issues in a popular form. His influence, with others like him, was towering, and his legacy profound. I will always treasure his gift.