There’s a tear in my eye as we lose what has been a phenomenal month covering the marvelous works of Ingmar Bergman. Who am I kidding? I’ve been sobbing for three days. Tears of joy, too, I might add. An admiration of the experience watching his films, no matter the mood he leaves us in. […]
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Into the top ten of Ingmar Bergman’s finest feature films – as voted for by you. Thanks to FilmStruck for their terrific and timely Bergman range. Stay tuned for the final five. 10) Sommaren med Monika / Summer with Monika (1953) WATCH ON FILMSTRUCK US WATCH ON ITUNES US WATCH ON AMAZON UK 9) Tystnaden […]
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After finally coming to an end of my Bergman journey over these last 10 days or so, watching a grand total of 13 films (yes, I know there’s a lot more that I need to see, and I do promise to get around to seeing them), I have decided to pick my favourite moments. I […]
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Today, Ernst Ingmar Bergman would have turned the grand old age of 100. Sadly, Bergman passed away in 2007 (in fact he died on the same day as Michelangelo Antonioni). Bergman left behind a legacy that filmmakers can only dream of, and others have yet to beat. With a record 60 film credits to his […]
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The sounds of war accompany the opening title of Ingmar Bergman’s 1968 film Skammen (Shame). A tad unfamiliar to many Bergman regulars. Following the recent birth of Persona and the upcoming The Hour of the Wolf, this is evidently ample departure from the intimate melancholy, conflict with God, and the questionable status of one’s faith. We also […]
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The Ingmar Bergman podcast feels like a truly special occasion. To celebrate his centennial year, and to join the rest of the vast Bergman coverage at Filmotomy, this week’s recording is all about the great Swedish filmmaker. Host Bianca Garner, fresh off her own Bergman binge, is joined by Robin Write, and a recently acquired […]
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So, this is my final entry in my Bergman diary and it’s been a wonderful journey. I came into this not really convinced that I would enjoy any of Bergman’s films, but I was so very, very wrong. I have enjoyed almost every film I have watched, although there’s been a couple I have not […]
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“… everyone knew that all islands were worlds unto themselves, that to come to an island was to come to another world.” ― Guy Gavriel Kay, There is something about the setting of an Island that storytellers keep returning to time after time. As a writer myself, I know that where the narrative occurs is […]
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We have all had times where we’ve questioned our faith, whether it’s faith in the terms of a religious sense, or faith in humanity. Bergman was very interested in exploring the lives of characters who dealt with an existential crisis, and used the medium of film to explore his own relationship with his faith, religious […]
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For 1960, The Virgin Spring is a real shape-shifter for the audiences back then fidgeting in their seats at such extraordinary, shocking story-telling. In fact, Ingmar Bergman’s incredible film would have gasps and quivers from today’s audience. A film that is at once beautiful and serene, where innocence is punctured, fundamentals of faith are broken, […]
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It only seems necessary that I watch Bergman’s last film seeing as I watched his first film Torment. Released in 2003, Saraband is a sequel to his 1973 film Scenes From a Marriage. I didn’t actually realise that Saraband was a sequel when I first picked it as part of my Bergman diary, but this […]
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For my next entry, I decided to visit Bergman’s first directional feature It Rains on Our Love, (Det regnar på vår kärlek). The screenplay was written by Herbert Grevenius and Bergman, based on the Norwegian play Bra Mennesker (Good People). We can certainly see the Bergman we all love and admire emerging behind the camera, […]
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I recently gushed over Harriet Andersson for her career-defining performance in Summer with Monika. A catapult, too, for her director Ingmar Bergman. I fell in love (again) with Andersson the actress, her character, the whole persona. The Swedish actress would mesmerize me when I first came to see her work, from a film eight years […]
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This is entry number 6 and I decided to watch The Silence (1963), which is the third in a series of thematically related films, following Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and Winter Light (1963), which is sometimes considered a trilogy by critics and cinephiles alike. Ingmar Bergman himself stated that ”These three films deal with […]
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This is entry number 5 and we are half way through my challenge to watch 10 films by Ingmar Bergman. Although I must admit I have been watching other films by the director as well, simply to fill in the gaps. Even though, I won’t be writing about Persona, I think watching it along with […]
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During the research for my previous article regarding Stanley Kubrick’s fan letter to Ingmar Bergman, I came across another letter penned by a famous director, Akira Kurosawa. I thought I would discuss it in the similar fashion as I did for the Kubrick letter and share it with our readers, as I find this stuff […]
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There’s no denying that Ingmar Bergman made a lasting impression on so many great filmmakers. But it’s often hard to wrap our heads around the fact that Bergman changed the entire course of cinematic history and helped to shape the landscape of filmmaking today. There’s something wonderful about seeing the likes of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, […]
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Pain is seemingly always around us. Whether it is the pain we inflict upon ourselves or pain that comes unannounced and undeserved, we have all met days where the feeling was visceral and crippling. What are we to do on those days? Why does such pain exist? Cries and Whispers is a film with a […]
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I have written letters to writers I admire. Often I find myself squirming with embarrassment when I recall the words I wrote, (and I am still hurt that J.K.Rowling never replied). But I was so moved by their work that I just had to tell them. During my research for Filmotomy’s celebration to Ingmar Bergman, […]
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There’s something mysterious about circus life; it sounds like a life of freedom and a place where you find yourself. We have all heard of the term ”I’m going to run away to the circus”. The world of the circus is the centre of this Bergman 1953 film, Sawdust and Tinsel, and starts off with the circus’ […]
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The next entry for my challenge, and it really doesn’t feel like a challenge at all. I am really enjoying watching these films, which have been on my to-watch-list for so long. With so many Bergman films to pick, I decided to watch Through a Glass Darkly next, which I have been meaning to watch […]
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