Ingmar Bergman

Started by filmcritic, June 23, 2003, 12:11:24 AM

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SHAFTR

Bergman retiring

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Ingmar Bergman, one of the great masters of modern film, celebrated his 86th birthday Wednesday with a sour gift for fans -- an announcement that he's retiring from the stage.

Bergman said his 2002 production of Henrik Ibsen's "Ghost" at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre would be his last.

"After 'Ghost' I decided that this must be it. I do not want them to carry me out of the theater. I'm leaving by myself," he said in an interview with the newspaper Dagens Nyheter. "Nobody will need to say, 'Now the old man has to quit.' "

The film icon also said that his heart remains with theater.

"Theater is the beginning and end and actually everything, while cinema belongs to the whoring and slaughterhouse trade," Bergman told the newspaper.

While theater is the backbone of his artistic career, his involvement in films has endeared him to movie lovers. He's won three Oscars in the best foreign film category, the last in 1984 for "Fanny and Alexander."

"We worked on 'Fanny and Alexander' for seven months and it was an amusing production. Still, it was very long and heavy and so awfully complicated," Bergman said. "And when the premiere was over and everything went well, I thought, 'That's that.' [/b]
"Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that i'll probably regret soon"

modage

i saw my second Bergman film tonight (after the Seventh Seal), Wild Strawberries.  it liked it pretty well.  i think the biggest surprise for me, is just hearing the name Bergman conjures up images of totally inaccesible weird art films, but this movie was shockingly accesible.  so, it was well, shot, acted, written and i was involved in the characters/story.  it was sweet.  after watching a bunch of woody allen films i can see why he likes this guy so much.   :yabbse-thumbup: up next, Persona...
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

modage

Quote from: themodernage02i think the biggest surprise for me, is just hearing the name Bergman conjures up images of totally inaccesible weird art films...
well, i certainly got that with the opening minutes of Persona last night.  everything about HOW weird it was seemed like something i would just hate as pretentious garbage, and yet..... i really liked the movie.  i cant explain really how, but "How this pretentious movie manages to not be pretentious at all is one of the great accomplishments of `Persona,' ". (ebert quoted that imdb review and i think it sums up partially why i like it).  the images were striking, and it was a bit of a puzzle, and yet totally absorbing.  the problem with a lot of movies that start trying to be really weird is that they lose a reason for you to want to keep watching them, and this never did.  i dont know that i understood it all, but i was never not interested.  so, (i'm shocked to say that) i liked it.  :yabbse-thumbup:
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

Ingmar Bergman Reveals Secret Daughter



In a book to be published Monday, iconoclastic filmmaker Ingmar Bergman reveals a secret daughter he fathered 45 years ago, his publisher said.

Bergman, 86, who is widely considered one of cinema's greatest directors, writes that he is the father of Maria von Rosen, whose mother Ingrid von Rosen married Bergman 12 years after the girl was born, Susanne Nystroem, a spokeswoman for Norstedt publishing house in Stockholm, told The Associated Press on Friday.

Ingrid von Rosen was Bergman's fifth and final wife, and Maria is the only child Bergman had with her. He had eight other children with his other wives and with actress Liv Ullman, with whom he had a longtime affair.

The book titled "Tre dagboecker," or "Three Diaries" consists of diary entries written by Bergman and Maria and Ingrid von Rosen around the time of Ingrid's death from cancer in 1995 after a 24-year marriage to Bergman.

In the foreword, Bergman writes that he met Ingrid von Rosen in 1957 and had an on-and-off affair with her until 1969, according to excerpts published in Swedish newspapers.

During that period, Bergman went through two marriages, with Gun Grut and Kabi Laretei, and fathered a child with Ullmann.

Maria von Rosen was born in 1959, the same year Bergman divorced Grut and married Laretei. Bergman did not tell Maria he was her father until she was 22, he writes. Bergman wed Ingrid von Rosen in 1971, and she had a small role in his 1972 film "Cries and Whispers," which starred Ullmann.

Bergman was married to Else Fisher and Ellen Lundstrom in the 1940s.

While theater is the backbone of his artistic career, Bergman's involvement in films has endeared him to cinema lovers. He won three Oscars in the best foreign film category, the last in 1983 for "Fanny and Alexander." His 1957 film "The Seventh Seal" contains one of cinema's most famous scenes a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

The Perineum Falcon

I just saw Persona and...
We often went to the cinema, the screen would light up and we would tremble, but also, increasingly often, Madeleine and I were disappointed. The images had dated, they jittered, and Marilyn Monroe had gotten terribly old. We were sad, this wasn't the film we had dreamed of, this wasn't the total film that we all carried around inside us, this film that we would have wanted to make, or, more secretly, no doubt, that we would have wanted to live.

Ghostboy

...?

I still prefer Cries And Whispers, myself. As far as his 'horror' movies go.

I, meanwhile, just finished watching his faith trilogy. Two more films to go and I'll have seen everything he's done that's currently available on DVD. Except for the various television cuts of certain films, which I'll then move on to.

I recently read The Passion Of Ingmar Bergman, which details his early works, which, prior to Smiles Of A Summer Night, were mostly all failures to various degrees. They sound like fascinating failures, though, so I hope they get released at some point.

Gold Trumpet

Persona has been my favorite of his for a while and I'm a big fan of his work. But, I'll say recently watching the television version of Fanny and Alexander has been one of the very best experiences I've had watching a film, period. Its his best work truly. So encompassing on so many levels that it feels Ingmar Bergman didn't just make a film about his childhood, but created a museum for it. I recommend everyone to go out and pay the big bucks for the Criterion DVD. I feel I should speak further about the film before advertising like this, but I really loved this film beyond the usual.

Also, the new avatar is some original art work for the film.

classical gas

Fanny and Alexander has always been my favorite Bergman, followed probably by 'cries and whispers'.  but i have yet to see the full version.  how much is it by chance on dvd?  without the trouble of re-directing, could someone just post a price.  $40?  $30?

cine

Quote from: classical gasFanny and Alexander has always been my favorite Bergman, followed probably by 'cries and whispers'.  but i have yet to see the full version.  how much is it by chance on dvd?  without the trouble of re-directing, could someone just post a price.  $40?  $30?
Depends where you look. On DVDPlanet, they have the 5 disc box set of everything for $38.97.

The Perineum Falcon

Quote from: Ghostboy...?
I was rendered speechless. :yabbse-lipsrsealed:

I started out writing down how I felt about it, but then it occured to me, nothing that I could say could possibly do the film justice, or, at least not the way I felt about it. So why try?
We often went to the cinema, the screen would light up and we would tremble, but also, increasingly often, Madeleine and I were disappointed. The images had dated, they jittered, and Marilyn Monroe had gotten terribly old. We were sad, this wasn't the film we had dreamed of, this wasn't the total film that we all carried around inside us, this film that we would have wanted to make, or, more secretly, no doubt, that we would have wanted to live.

ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ

Quote from: SHAFTRBergman retiring

This is old as hell, but news to me.

This actually makes me pretty sad... He's 81, so it's understandable, but he's made some really amazing films.

Scenes From A Marriage still moves me everytime I see it.
"As a matter of fact I only work with the feeling of something magical, something seemingly significant. And to keep it magical I don't want to know the story involved, I just want the hypnotic effect of it somehow seeming significant without knowing why." - Len Lye

Myxo

Here is an interesting question for Bergman fans..

I looked through Bergman's filmography and noticed he hasn't really ever used anyone very well known. In fact, I haven't heard of a single person in any of his movies or TV programs. For such a respected director, I find it very interesting that he never really worked with a "Hollywood" star, or at least a famous face.

..even guys like Kieslowski worked with Binoche who most film fans know..

How many other big name directors have never worked with famous actors/actresses?

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: MyxomatosisHere is an interesting question for Bergman fans..

I looked through Bergman's filmography and noticed he hasn't really ever used anyone very well known. In fact, I haven't heard of a single person in any of his movies or TV programs. For such a respected director, I find it very interesting that he never really worked with a "Hollywood" star, or at least a famous face.

..even guys like Kieslowski worked with Binoche who most film fans know..

How many other big name directors have never worked with famous actors/actresses?

Never heard of Ingrid Bergman?

Ghostboy

Or Max Von Sydow?

Or heck, even David Carradine (although that was a one-time fling)?

And I have a feeling that a great deal of those film fans who know who Juliette Binoche is would also know who Liv Ullman is.

cine

Quote from: Walrus the Pretentious
Quote from: SHAFTRBergman retiring
This is old as hell, but news to me.

This actually makes me pretty sad... He's 81, so it's understandable, but he's made some really amazing films.
Uh, I'm not sure if you know this but he retired from FILM in 1982. So this post from SHAFTR was pertaining to him retiring from the stage.. not sure why that makes you pretty sad.. since it's not like you've seen any of his stagework..  :saywhat: