criterionforum.org

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007)



When I make a film I write it myself. It's a very direct expression of my own dreams
and I just tell people about how I feel or what I'm dreaming or what I think.


Filmography

Kris / Crisis (1946) R1 Eclipse

Det regnar på vår kärlek / It Rains On Our Love (1946) R4 Madman / R2/B Artificial Eye

Skepp till India land / A Ship Bound for India (1947) R4 Madman / R2/B Artificial Eye

Musik i mörker / Music In the Darkness (1948) R2 Tartan

Hamnstad / Port of Call (1948) R1 Eclipse

Fängelse / Prison AKA the Devil's Wanton (1949) R2 Tartan

Törst / Thirst (1949) R1 Eclipse

Till glädje / To Joy (1950) R1 Eclipse

Sånt händer inte här / This Can't Happen Here AKA High Tension (1950)

Sommarlek / Summer Interlude (1951) R1/A Criterion / R2 Tartan

Kvinnors Väntan / Waiting Women AKA Secrets of Women (1952) R2 Tartan

Sommaren med Monika / Summer with Monika (1953) R1/A Criterion / R2 Tartan

Gycklarnas afton / Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) R1 Criterion / R2/B Artificial Eye

En lektion i kärlek / A Lesson in Love (1954) R2 Tartan

Kvinnodröm / Dreams (1955) R2/B Artificial Eye / R4 Madman

Sommarnattens leende / Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) R1/A Criterion

Bakomfilm smultronstället / the Shooting of Wild Strawberries (1957) documentary short

Det Sjunde inseglet / The Seventh Seal (1957) R1/A Criterion

Herr Sleeman kommer / Mr. Sleeman Is Coming (1957) (TV)

Smultronstället / Wild Strawberries (1957) R1/A Criterion

Venetianskan / The Venetian (1958) (TV)

Nära livet / Brink of Life (1958) R2/B Artificial Eye / R4 Madman

Rabies (1958)

Ansiktet / The Magician (1958) R1/A Criterion R2 Tartan

Oväder / Storm Weather (1960) (TV)

Jungfrukällan / The Virgin Spring (1960) R1 Criterion

Djävulens öga / The Devil's Eye (1960) R2 Tartan

Såsom i en spegel / Through a Glass Darkly (1961) R1 Criterion

Nattvardsgästerna / Winter Light (1962) R1 Criterion

Ett drömspel / A Dream Play (1963) (TV)

Tystnaden / The Silence (1963) R1 Criterion

För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor / All These Women (1964) R2 Tartan

Don Juan (1965) (TV)

Persona (1966) R1/A Criterion

Daniel - segment Stimulantia (1967)

Vargtimmen / Hour of the Wolf (1968) R1 MGM

Skammen / Shame (1968) R1 MGM

Riten / The Ritual (1969) R2 Tartan

En Passion / The Passion of Anna (1969) R1 MGM

Fårö-dokument 1969 (1970)

Beröringen / The Touch (1971)

Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers (1972) R1/A Criterion

Scener ur ett äktenskap / Scenes from a Marriage (1973) R1 Criterion

Misantropen / The Misanthrope (1974)

Trollflöjten / The Magic Flute (1975) R1 Criterion

Ansikte mot ansikte / Face to Face (1976) R1 Olive (Short version)

De fördömda kvinnornas dans / The Condemned Women Dance (1976) (TV)

The Serpent's Egg (1977) R1 MGM

Höstsonaten / Autumn Sonata (1978) R1/A Criterion

Fårö-dokument 1979 (1979)

Aus dem Leben der Marionetten / From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) R2 Tartan

Fanny och Alexander / Fanny and Alexander) (1982 R1/A Criterion

Karins ansikte / Karin's Face (1984) (TV)

Efter repetitionen / After the Rehearsal (1984) R2 Tartan

Dokument Fanny och Alexander (1986)

De två saliga / the Blessed Ones (1986) (TV)

Markisinnan de Sade / Madame de Sade (1992) (TV)

Backanterna / The Bacchae (1993) (TV)

Sista skriket / The Last Gasp (1995) (TV)

Harald & Harald (1996) (TV)

Larmar och gör sig till / In the Presence of a Clown (1997)

Bildmakarna / The Image Makers (2000) R2 Tartan

Spöksonaten / The Ghost Sonata (2000) (TV)

Saraband (2003) R1


Forum Discussions

Autumn Sonata

Cries and Whispers

Eclipse Series 1: Early Bergman

Fanny and Alexander

A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman

The Magic Flute

The Magician

Sawdust and Tinsel

Scenes from a Marriage

The Seventh Seal & Bergman Island

Smiles of a Summer Night

The Virgin Spring

Wild Strawberries


Internet Resources

Ingmar Bergman: Face to Face (Ingmar Bergman Foundation, Sweden)


Publications

Images: My Life In Film - Ingmar Bergman (Arcade Publishing, 1995)

The Magic Lantern: An Autobiography - Ingmar Bergman (University Of Chicago Press, 2007)

Ingmar Bergman, Cinematic Philosopher: Reflections on His Creativity - Irving Singer (MIT Press)

The Ingmar Bergman Archives - Paul Duncan (Taschen, 2008)

The Films of Ingmar Bergman - Jesse Kalin (Cambridge University Press, 2003)

UPDATED 03/05/2015

bunuelian wrote:

So my local cinematheque is running a Bergman retrospective, and i'm having a difficult time deciding what movie(s) would be worth the somewhat lengthy trek. I have never seen anything by him in the theatre, so any suggestions by those with experience would be great...

I would imagine Cries and Whispers would be an amazing experience in a theater. All that red . . .

Where is the retrospective? What are the films you have to choose from?

My first suggestion would be to see whatever you can that hasn't been released on DVD yet. In that spirit, if they're playing 'Sawdust and Tinsel', that would be a great one to catch. It's an amazing film and there's no DVD release for that yet (well, not with english subtitles anyway) .

Due to the nature of the self refexive effects used in the film, Persona is a must see on the big screen. It simply must be seen projected to truly make sense.

Spoiler

The film begins with the arclight firing up, there is a moment where the projector appears to break and the film burns, etc

Make sure to watch Persona and Cries & Whispers.

Looks like Cries and Whispers and Persona are the consensus choices, and I'd agree. The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries in good prints also have a great visual impact on the big screen, as does The Silence (when I saw all three films of the trilogy together this really stood out as the most 'cinematic').

I've only seen Hour of the Wolf and Shame on video, but I can imagine they'd be great cinema experiences as well.

I guess I'll toss in my vote for Winter Light and The Passion of Anna, which I would dearly like to see on a theatrical showing, and hence recommend them.

dairy_pigeon wrote:Vancouver

Where/when?

pacific cinematheque

i've yet to make the plunge myself since they've yet to play anything i don't have on dvd, but it looks like i may soon have a second home.

I think that The Serpent's Egg might have a different impact when seen in the big screen, because it just doesn't quite work on a TV. This film has a large canvas and a lot of detail to it so it could be that it works better on a larger format.

Still, just a guess as I haven't seen it in a theatre before.

BTW, does anyone know why The Touch seems to be missing from all these retrospectives? And Face to Face for that matter? Is it because they have probably not been restored yet?

Pittsburgh Filmmakers Regent Square (in western Pennsylvania) has been showing 1950s Bergman films every Sunday in January. Unfortunately, I've only made it to Smiles of a Summer Night, but that was a good time; the audience were really attuned to the humor of the piece, which made it fun (whereas most Bergman demands silent attention, this one drew a kind of "Smiles of a Summer Night was filmed before a live studio audience" effect). Then I missed The Seventh Seal and The Virgin Spring, unfortunately, but they'll be rounding out the month with Wild Strawberries and The Magician, both of which, they say, are "New Prints". I'm not sure what this means (revised subs?) -- they said Smiles was a new print, but it seemed pretty scratched up to me. I mention this also because everyone seems to agree that Criterion will be releasing The Virgin Spring and The Magician soon, and these two are playing in this run alongside three Criterion-released Bergman films.

Face to Face was distibuted upon its initial US release by Paramount, which I think makes it unique among Bergman films. They probably still own the rights, which might explain its disappearance as of late. This would probably be my number one Bergman to see in the theater, if only because it's so unlikely that I will.

Checking in on the master -- actually find that his website is starting to make some progress: http://www.ingmarbergman.se/

The "trailer" already has me salivating for more. Sounds like they're planning to do something along the lines of Taschen's amazing The Stanley Kubrick Archives book -- except all online?!

And check out the cool screensaver. What? An Ingmar Bergman screensaver? Hell yeah!

The Bergman website seems to be open now. Only in Swedish, English version apparently launches after the new year.

Swedish is compulsory in elementary school in Finland, so that's a handy skill to have now.

"Face to Face", mainly because it's one of the few Bergman movies that are not out on DVD as of yet and it's a must see. Sure it does not hurt to experience "Persona", "Cries and whispers", and "Fanny and Alexander" on the big screen. Those experience turned me into a die hard Bergman fan about 20 years ago.

The person below is right.

The Bergman series at Pacific Cinematheque ended months ago, so no sense making recommendations now.

I'm getting ready to start delving into my Bergman DVD's, but I really want a good book about his work to read along with the films. Does anyone have a recommendation?

I'm sure you'll get all kinds of responses, but I would like to suggest: Robert Emmet Long's "Ingmar Bergman: Film And Stage". It's probably more of a coffee-table book, but if you don't want to get extremely involved for each film, this provides a very good overview of Bergman's career. There's a page or two on each film, and plenty of pictures (the book is, if nothing else, aesthetically pleasing). I had this book when I first started watching Berman, and I used it as a reference to keep track of which film was which, the various periods in his career, plots, actors, etc. Anyway, if you are looking for something that's not overly scholarly, then this may be a good place to start.

For a more or less complete volume, you might look at Bergman's own book, Images, which gives Bergman's film-by-film appraisal of his work, with anecdotes, reflections, etc. However, I personally think that reading a filmmaker's thoughts on his/her own work can be stifling and even dull -- they are obviously going to be rather biased about their own work. (Hitchcock, for example, is very dismissive of much of his work in the Truffaut book, so it's not the best thing to read in tandem with the films, especially on first viewing.)

My favorite book on Bergman, and one that I've championed ad nauseum on this forum before, is The Films of Ingmar Bergman, written by an undergrad professor of mine, Jesse Kalin. He's a philosopher and comes at Bergman with a strongly Cavellian bent, meaning he's smart, but quite readable, not rigorously academic or jargony. (I also think that while Cavell applied his model of skepticism to screwball comedy and Hitchcock, Bergman is actually much more appropriate -- emotional skepticism being at the very heart of Bergman's films. But that's another discussion entirely.) Kalin's book does not linger over every film: he has chapters on Sawdust and Tinsel, The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, Shame, Cries and Whispers and Scenes from a Marriage, and Fanny and Alexander, with digressions about other films. But the book provides a very good framework (and the last three chapters are masterful readings of those films) and illuminates the fundamental cohesiveness of Bergman's career as a whole. This may be a good book to pick up if you're looking more for overarching themes (with some context) than individual film interpretations. It provides a useful model with which you can approach the rest of Bergman's films on your own.

so is images out of print? Would anyone suggest his three books he wrote that are supposed to be autobiographical?

I just picked up a book, bergman on bergman, that's translated from the swedish. It's from his earlier days, through hour of the wolf or around there I think. I haven't begun it yet, though, as I haven't watched the silence and a few of the other films yet.

Re: Images
I noticed that, too. It's very possible that there may be a new edition on the way. Is it possible that he's updated it to include his work, post-Fanny? (No fanny jokes, please.)

Re: Bergman on Bergman
This is a good book as well, though I think part of the reason he wrote Images was because he was disappointed about the way this book came out. By the time he wrote the later book, Bergman recognized that he had been rather uncharitable to some of his films, and even disagreeable to his interviewers, in the earlier book. Still, it's a fascinating interview.

Re: the autobiographical novels
I've checked these out of the library a number of times, but never had the chance to delve into them. They have a great reputation, and if they're nearly as beautifully written as his screenplays (which are lovely), then they're well worth checking out.

If anyone's getting fidgety about the dvd release of Devil's Eye there are copies available from China for under a dollar on E-bay. Faux Tartan design work / removable subs and picture quality as good as anything comparable from the same source. Seems legit as well. They also have other titles from the Tartan catalogue as well as well.

Thanks for the help. It is going to be easier now for me to make a choice amongst all of the Bergman books that I recently found at the bookstore.

Anyone got any news about the english language Face to Face site?????? I've sent a couple of e-mails but no response.

Has anybody seen these films written (but not directed) by Bergman?

Sunday's Children
The Last Gasp
Private Confessions
In the Presence of a Clown

I've seen "The Best Intentions," which was great, and "Faithless," which was very good.

I've read the novel Sunday's Child, by Bergman. I found it actually very fascinating to read. Bergman's autobiography The Magic Lantern is also a great read.

Haven't seen any of those films, but Private Confessions sounds very interesting. Written by Bergman, directed by Liv Ullmann, starring Max von Sydow and running for nearly four hours.