Tommaso wrote:On the other hand, everybody seems to agree that "The Touch" is a total failure. As you've seen it, can you say a little about it? How does it fare thematically and style-wise compared to the films immediately surrounding it, i.e. "The Passion" (which I find one of his weakest efforts) and "Cries and Whispers" (which I think is among his very best)? Is it as 'commercial' as "The Serpent's Egg"? Just because I read it was a US production, too.
It is a long time since I saw it and I can't actually remember it all that clearly but out of the films you mentioned I would say it is closer to
The Passion, however it doesn't feature any of the 'post modern' techniques that were typical of Bergman's work from that period. It has a more straightforward narrative although I never really thought of it as being commercial exactly. I thought it was far closer to Bergman's usual thematic concerns than many other people have stated. I thought Bibi Andersson gave an excellent performance and it was interesting to see her in an English speaking role. Max von Sydow also gives a great performance and Elliott Gould does the job pretty well (and often he annoys the hell out of me in other films). It's not an artistic masterpiece such as
Cries and Whispers or
Persona (which may well be my favourite film of all time) but it is a well acted, well directed, fairly simple drama about marital infidelity and all the emotional trauma that it can cause. I can understand why people feel that it is not of the same artistic calibre as Bergman's great masterpieces, it certainly is not, but I can't understand why people consider it a complete failure. Bergman's greatest films were a life changing experience for me and this film was not, but I did however find it to be an enjoyable film viewing experience and that has to count for something (or perhaps a lot). If I watch the film again soon (and I may do so) then I'll post some more in depth thoughts but at the moment my memory is too hazy to go into more detail.
Face to Face on the other hand is a magnificent film. It would probably be easy to pick holes in it but there are many emotions that Bergman tapped into in this film that had a deep effect on me. I think Bergman was far more successful than he realised. He obviously didn't achieve the goals he set out to with this film and therefore he considers it a failure but as a viewer I find that I am able to judge the film for what it
is rather than what it was intended to be and so I recognise it's incredible emotional intensity and it's ability to capture the dark emotions and despair of mental illness. Whilst it is a flawed film it is also an incredibly powerful one. Liv Ullman's performance is superb (as always) and Bergman acknowledged this in the following passage.
"Face to Face was intended to be a film about dreams and reality. The dreams were to become tangible reality. Reality would dissolve and become dream. I have occasionally managed to move unhindered between dream and reality, in Persona, Sawdust and Tinsel and Cries and Whispers. This time it was more difficult. My intentions required an inspiration which failed me. The dream sequences became synthetic, the reality blurred. There are a few solid scenes here and there, and Liv Ullman struggled like a lion, but not even she could save the culmination, the primal scream which amounted to enthusiastic but ill-digested fruit of my reading. Artistic licence sneered through the thin fabric."
I am quoting from Bergman's autobiography 'The Magic Lantern' which I recommend very highly to anyone who hasn't read it. It is one of the finest autobiographies I have ever read and Bergman's writing skills prove to be as great as his film-making skills. Some of the descriptions of his childhood are so vivid I can recall them in my mind almost as if I had been there. It is brilliantly structured and completely avoids the usual chronological format of such books. Bergman is incredibly honest and the book can be joyous, depressing, repulsive, shocking or just plain entertaining. I would say that in many ways this book is a work of art in it's own right.
Tommaso wrote:"The Passion" (which I find one of his weakest efforts)
Interesting that you don't like
The Passion. Is this more because of the stylistic elements of the film, the script, the performances? It is actually one of my favourite Bergman films. This is probably because I have my moments of being quite a miserable bugger and at times I rather chillingly recognised elements of myself in Max von Sydow's character. This was a very personal reaction that I had to the film so bears no relation to what others might think of it. There are passages in the script of this film which again tap into those emotions of alienation, depression, despair which although hard to watch can actually contain truly redemptive qualities. I think the confrontation of these dark emotions and thoughts is what makes Bergman's work so great. I have never found another director who is able to represent these feelings with such honesty and incredible power. To me, in emotional terms, Bergman achieves with film something similar to what Leonard Cohen achieves with song and as I have always said about Cohen (and others who explore such dark territory), listening to dark music doesn't have to have a negative impact on the listener and in fact the effect is often the very opposite - catharsis. This is something that I also feel applies to the work of Ingmar Bergman although not everyone will be able to relate to this.
