Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007)

[TomReagan]

Smiles of a Web Video -- De Düva

[tryavna]

Pollard isn't a movie critic - he's a newspaper columnist.

Seriously, it's not worth paying him more than a second's attention.

Was anyone else slightly amused that, in an article decrying the perceived pretentiousness of an artist, Pollard utilizes the rarer French spelling of hommage?

[MichaelB]

There's nothing remotely amusing about Stephen Pollard in any shape or form.

Just ignore him. He really isn't worth it. And if you're not convinced of this by the moronic inanity of his Bergman piece, here's his take on Michael Haneke.

[portnoy]

In the words of Nick Pinkerton,

Is there anything more depressing/hilarious than when some douchebag, in the midst of a staggeringly inane mass culture, fancies himself to be taking the air out of stuffed-shirt phonies and razzing authority by proudly trumpeting the cause of mediocre thinking? Because, you know, any of us who grew up in flyover country have had Bresson stuffed down our throats for long enough, am I right?

[colinr0380]

The House Next Door site's tribute to both Bergman and Antonioni.

[Gropius]

There's nothing remotely amusing about Stephen Pollard in any shape or form.

Also a co-signatory of a wannabe British neoconservative think tank, so the US equivalent would be asking for Bill Kristol's opinions on film.

[tavernier]

There's nothing remotely amusing about Stephen Pollard in any shape or form.

Also a co-signatory of a wannabe British neoconservative think tank, so the US equivalent would be asking for Bill Kristol's opinions on film.

Kristol must know more about film than he did about invading Iraq.

[orlik]

In the words of Nick Pinkerton,

Is there anything more depressing/hilarious than when some douchebag, in the midst of a staggeringly inane mass culture, fancies himself to be taking the air out of stuffed-shirt phonies and razzing authority by proudly trumpeting the cause of mediocre thinking? Because, you know, any of us who grew up in flyover country have had Bresson stuffed down our throats for long enough, am I right?

Brilliantly put...And one could append to 'flyover country' any of the 'clone towns' of suburban England, decimated of any cultural specificity or variety. It's probably wrong of me to try and engage with Pollard's piece - which is pretty incompetently written by any standards, not least in its irrelevant discussion of Terence Davies - but what always amazes me is the way that such self-appointed populists present themselves as a lone, rebellious and independent voice ("the emperor has no clothes!") when all they're doing is reinforcing cultural conformity and ensuring the dominance of corporate product.

Anyway, after that rant I'm going to watch 'The Silence' (my favourite Bergman) as a slightly-delayed tribute.

[Cold Bishop]

For those who don't mine parody as a means of tribute... The Colbert Report just paid "respects" to Bergman at the end of the show.

[tavernier]

Letterman did too...showed clips from "Wild Strawberries," "Cries and Whispers" and "Weekend at Bernies."

[MichaelB]

One of the reasons (in fact, the only reason) that I'm so familiar with Stephen Pollard's work is because my brother has been performing a valuable service in ridiculing it whenever possible.

Here's the 'Pollardiana' section of his blog, and I reproduce the URL in full for your amusement.

(I tipped him off about the Bergman piece and this discussion, as I knew it would set him off).

[Awesome Welles]

How can Stephen Pollard so confidently write that no one is likely to have seen a Bergman film when surely the demographic of Times Online readers is more than likely to have seen at least one film. I also fail to understand how he can so ignorantly write about Bergman when he seems to know absolutely nothing about film or anything else in general. I can only surmise from his short articles linked on Michael's brother's blog that he is a fool and should be sacked as soon as possible where he should rightly take his place writing pseudo intellectual garbage for free newspapers.

[malcolm1980]

Letterman did too...showed clips from "Wild Strawberries," "Cries and Whispers" and "Weekend at Bernies."

Conan reran the bit they did sometime ago in honor of Bergman: Ingmar Bergman's Girls Gone Wild.

[domino harvey]

Letterman did too...showed clips from "Wild Strawberries," "Cries and Whispers" and "Weekend at Bernies."

this was so great

[Greathinker]

Another from Conan

[tavernier]

Another from Conan

I've always felt Conan used up all his funny stuff on The Simpsons. His show always seems like Letterman-lite. (So does Letterman, nowadays.)

[malcolm1980]

I've always felt Conan used up all his funny stuff on The Simpsons. His show always seems like Letterman-lite. (So does Letterman, nowadays.)

Rubbish! Conan's the best thing on late night these days.

But I digress. This is a Bergman thread.

[tryavna]

Rubbish! Conan's the best thing on late night these days.

But I digress. This is a Bergman thread.

I don't think it's much of a digression. I have a sneaking suspicion that
Bergman would have been a big fan of Conan's "Walker, Texas Ranger" lever.

[tavernier]

I don't think it's much of a digression. I have a sneaking suspicion that Bergman would have been a big fan of Conan's "Walker, Texas Ranger" lever.

Oh well...even a great artist's taste isn't infallible.

[malcolm1980]

I don't think it's much of a digression. I have a sneaking suspicion that Bergman would have been a big fan of Conan's "Walker, Texas Ranger" lever.

Oh well...even a great artist's taste isn't infallible.

Speaking of artist's tastes, I've read that Bergman is fan of Spielberg but finds Godard 'boring'.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Speaking of artist's tastes, I've read that Bergman is fan of Spielberg but finds Godard 'boring'.

Sounds like something Bergman say.

Doesn't look like it was mentioned yet, but Conan must've loved Bergman. He did a sketch called "Ingmar Bergman's Girls Gone Wild".

[Cold Bishop]

Conan reran the bit they did sometime ago in honor of Bergman: Ingmar Bergman's Girls Gone Wild.

[malcolm1980]

Stephen Colbert's own tribute to Ingmar Bergman is available on the official site.

Other Bergman parodies: Mystery Science Theater 3000 - French and Saunders - SCTV

One of my favorites though is an Animaniacs episode entitled "Meatballs or Consequences". I couldn't find the episode on-line as of now though.

[David Ehrenstein]

Jonathan Rosenbaum rips Ingmar a new one in the NYT

Woody's gonna have a coronary!

[Matt]

So, Bergman is not great because Rosenbaum doesn't understand why everyone thinks he's so great. And if the absence of one's work on DVD in America is an indicator of greatness, Rossellini must be a real hack.