Ingmar Bergman 1918—2007

Ingmar Bergman directing Wild Strawberries

I’m not sure if Ingmar Bergman holds as much sway among cinephiles as he once did—I’d imagine most people born after the 1970s would have had too little exposure to his work. But he was a leading auteur when that word was just being used by American critics, back when The Seventh Seal (1957) could be found on any ‘best of’ list.

    I came to Bergman via a week-long retrospective on PBS-TV in the early 70s. A teenager, I was too callow and inexperienced to fully appreciate the mature subject matter and characterizations within the films, but still found a lot of it compelling, The Silence (1963) especially.

    In college Wild Strawberries (1957) was shown repeatedly, analyzed frame by frame to help us understand the psychology of imagery. Today I find it hard to watch this one in particular, simply because of that academic drill. Analysis has robbed it of its beauty for me, which is a shame because it is a wonderful achievement both cinematically and emotionally.

    Throughout the years I’ve found myself jaded and not as attracted to Bergman as I once was. But make no mistake, there is much to be mined, from the adult themes to his innate grasp of the human condition; the captivating cinematography of Sven Nykvist; and those wonderful casts of actors. He made me fall in love with Bibi Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom, Harriet Andersson and Ingrid Thulin, and I still marvel at their performances in that raft of films that were once in constant demand in theaters: Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Magician (1958), The Devil’s Eye (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light (1962), The Silence, Persona (1966). There isn’t one filmmaker working today who could come anywhere near that output of sheer quality.