Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish
film director,
screenwriter,
producer and
playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoundly personal meditations into the myriad struggles facing the psyche and the soul."
Some of his most acclaimed work includes ''
The Seventh Seal
''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...
'' (1957), ''
Wild Strawberries'' (1957), ''
The Virgin Spring
''The Virgin Spring'' ( sv, Jungfrukällan) is a 1960 Swedish rape and revenge film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a tale about a father's merciless response to the rape and murder of his young daughter. The story was a ...
'' (1960), ''
Through a Glass Darkly'' (1961), ''
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...
'' (1966), and ''
Fanny and Alexander
''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...
'' (1982).
Bergman directed more than 60 films and documentaries for cinematic release and for television screenings, most of which he also wrote. His theatrical career continued in parallel and included periods as Leading Director of the
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages.
The the ...
in
Stockholm and of the
Residenztheater
The Residence Theatre (in German: Residenztheater) or New Residence Theatre (Neues Residenztheater) of the Residence in Munich was built from 1950 to 1951 by Karl Hocheder. The renovation of 1981 by Alexander von Branca removed the decoration whic ...
in Munich. He directed more than 170 plays. He forged a creative partnership with his
cinematographers
Gunnar Fischer and
Sven Nykvist
Sven Vilhem Nykvist (; 3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer. He worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman. He won Academy Awards for his work on two Bergman fil ...
. Among his company of actors were
Harriet Andersson
Harriet Andersson (born 14 February 1932) is a Swedish actress, best known outside Sweden for being part of director Ingmar Bergman's stock company. She often plays impulsive, working class characters.
Film actress
Harriet Andersson began her a ...
,
Bibi Andersson
Berit Elisabet Andersson (11 November 1935 – 14 April 2019), known professionally as Bibi Andersson (), was a Swedish actress who was best known for her frequent collaborations with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
Early life and career
Ander ...
,
Liv Ullmann,
Gunnar Björnstrand
Knut Gunnar Johanson (13 November 1909 – 24 May 1986) was a Swedish actor known for his frequent work with writer and director Ingmar Bergman.
Biography
Björnstrand was born Knut Gunnar Johanson in Stockholm as son of actor Oscar Johanson a ...
,
Erland Josephson
Erland Josephson (; 15 June 1923 – 25 February 2012) was a Swedish actor and author. He was best known by international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theodoros Angelopoulos.
Life and career ...
,
Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Lilian Thulin (; 27 January 1926 – 7 January 2004) was a Swedish actress and director who collaborated with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She was often cast as harrowing and desperate characters, and earned acclaim from both Swedish ...
, and
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...
. Most of his films were set in Sweden, and many films from 1961 onward were filmed on the island of
Fårö
Fårö () or Fåre in Gutnish is a Baltic Sea island just north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own language ...
.
Film critic
Philip French referred to Bergman as "one of the greatest artists of the 20th century ... he found in literature and the performing arts a way of both recreating and questioning the
human condition
The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed f ...
." Director
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
commented that "it's impossible to overestimate the effect that
isfilms had on people." Bergman was ranked 8th in director's poll on
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
's 2002 list of ''The Greatest Directors of All Time''.
Biography
Early life
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born on 14 July 1918 in
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Located north of the c ...
, Sweden, the son of
Erik Bergman
Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911, in Nykarleby – 24 April 2006, in Helsinki) was a composer of classical music from Finland.
Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bei ...
, a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
minister and later chaplain to the
King of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...
, and Karin (''
née'' Åkerblom), a nurse. The Bergman family was originally from
Järvsö
Järvsö (), locally known as ''Jarse'' (), is a locality and a parish situated in Ljusdal Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,407 inhabitants in 2010. From Järvsö, people commute to Ljusdal, Färila, Bollnäs, and Gävle. The ...
in
Gävleborg county. Bergman's paternal grandfather worked as a pharmacist in Stockholm, and his paternal great-grandfather Henrik Bergman worked as an assistant vicar and was married to Erika Augusta Agrell, daughter of vicar Erik Agrell and Elsa Margareta Hermanni, a daughter of chief accountant Hieronymus Emanuel Hermanni and Anna Katarina Neostadia. The Hermannis were merchants in Stockholm, Hieronymus' father, Simon Daniel, was wholesaler like his grandfather. Via Elsa Margareta Hermanni, Bergman descended from the noble families
Bröms,
Stockenström,
Ehrenskiöld, clergy families of Swedish, Swedish-Finnish origin and burghers of Swedish and German origin. Via his paternal grandmother Alma Katarina Eneroth, Bergman descended from the German noble families and
de Frese introduced at the Swedish
Riddarhuset
The House of Nobility ( sv, Riddarhuset) in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility.
Name
The name is literally translated as ''House of Knights' ...
. Alma Katarina Eneroth was a cousin of Bergman's maternal grandfather traffic manager Johan Åkerblom. Thus Bergman's parents were second cousins. Bergman's maternal grandmother, Anna Calwagen, was the daughter of Ernst Gottfrid Calwagen, a lector of German and English, and his wife Charlotta Margareta Carsberg. The progenitor of the Calwagen family, the merchant Paul Calwagen, had emigrated from Holland to
Karlshamn
Karlshamn () is a locality and the seat of Karlshamn Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden. It had 13,576 inhabitants in 2015, out of 31,846 in the municipality.
Karlshamn received a Royal Charter and city privileges in 1664, when King Charles ...
, Sweden in the 17th century. Paul's wife, the Dutch-Swedish Maria van der Hagen, was descendant of the Dutch-Swedish court painter
Laurens van der Plas. Via Ernst Gottfried, Bergman was descendant of the noble families
Tigerschiöld and
Weinholz as well as the family.
He grew up with his older brother
Dag and younger sister
Margareta surrounded by religious imagery and discussion. His father was a conservative parish minister with strict ideas of parenting. Ingmar was locked up in dark closets for infractions such as wetting himself. "While father preached away in the pulpit and the congregation prayed, sang, or listened", Ingmar wrote in his autobiography ''Laterna Magica'',
I devoted my interest to the church's mysterious world of low arches, thick walls, the smell of eternity, the coloured sunlight quivering above the strangest vegetation of medieval paintings and carved figures on ceilings and walls. There was everything that one's imagination could desire—angels, saints, dragons, prophets, devils, humans ...
![Ingmar 86135a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Ingmar_86135a.jpg)
Although raised in a devout Lutheran household, Bergman later stated that he lost his faith when aged eight, and only came to terms with this fact while making ''
Winter Light
''Winter Light'' ( sv, Nattvardsgästerna, lit=The Communicants) is a 1963 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring his regulars, Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. It follows Tomas Ericsson (Bj ...
'' in 1962. His interest in theatre and film began early: "At the age of nine, he traded a set of tin soldiers for a
magic lantern
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...
, a possession that altered the course of his life. Within a year, he had created, by playing with this toy, a private world in which he felt completely at home, he recalled. He fashioned his own scenery,
marionette
A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...
s, and lighting effects and gave puppet productions of
Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...
plays in which he spoke all the parts."
Bergman attended the
Palmgren School as a teenager. His school years were unhappy, and he remembered them unfavourably in later years. In a 1944 letter concerning the film ''
Torment
Torment may refer to:
* The feeling of pain or suffering
* Causing to suffer, torture
Films
* ''Torment'' (1924 film), a silent crime-drama
* ''Torment'' (1944 film) (''Hets''), a Swedish film
* ''Torment'' (1950 British film), a British thr ...
'' (sometimes known as ''Frenzy''), which sparked debate on the condition of Swedish high schools (and which Bergman had written), the school's principal Henning Håkanson wrote, among other things, that Bergman had been a "problem child". Bergman wrote in a response that he had strongly disliked the emphasis on homework and testing in his formal schooling.
In 1934, aged 16, he was sent to Germany to spend the summer holidays with family friends. He attended a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
rally in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
at which he saw
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. He later wrote in ''Laterna Magica'' (''The Magic Lantern'') about the visit to Germany, describing how the German family had put a portrait of Hitler on the wall by his bed, and that "for many years, I was on Hitler's side, delighted by his success and saddened by his defeats". Bergman commented that "Hitler was unbelievably charismatic. He electrified the crowd. ... The Nazism I had seen seemed fun and youthful."
Bergman did two five-month stretches in Sweden of mandatory military service. He later reflected, "When the doors to the
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
were thrown open ... I was suddenly ripped of my innocence."
Bergman enrolled at Stockholm University College (later renamed
Stockholm University) in 1937, to study art and literature. He spent most of his time involved in student theatre and became a "genuine movie addict". At the same time, a romantic involvement led to a physical confrontation with his father which resulted in a break in their relationship which lasted for many years. Although he did not graduate from the university, he wrote a number of plays and an opera, and became an assistant director at a local theatre. In 1942, he was given the opportunity to direct one of his own scripts, ''Caspar's Death''. The play was seen by members of
Svensk Filmindustri
SF Studios is a Swedish film and television production and distribution company (both Swedish and international) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The studio is owned by Nordic media cong ...
, which then offered Bergman a position working on scripts. He married
Else Fisher
Else Marie Fisher-Bergman (1 March 1918 – 3 March 2006) was a Swedish choreographer, dancer, theatre director, and writer.
Career
Fisher wrote several children's books and theatre plays (including ''Beppo the Clown (Clownen Beppo)'', a dance ...
in 1943.
Film career until 1975
![Ingmar Bergman Smultronstallet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Ingmar_Bergman_Smultronstallet.jpg)
Bergman's film career began in 1941 with his work rewriting scripts, but his first major accomplishment was in 1944 when he wrote the screenplay for ''
Torment
Torment may refer to:
* The feeling of pain or suffering
* Causing to suffer, torture
Films
* ''Torment'' (1924 film), a silent crime-drama
* ''Torment'' (1944 film) (''Hets''), a Swedish film
* ''Torment'' (1950 British film), a British thr ...
'' (a.k.a. ''Frenzy'') (''Hets''), a film directed by
Alf Sjöberg
Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg (21 June 1903 – 17 April 1980) was a Swedish theatre and film director. He won the Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for '' Torment'' ( sv, Hets) (part of an eleven-way tie), and in 1951 ...
. Along with writing the screenplay, he was also appointed assistant director of the film. In his second autobiographical book, ''Images: My Life in Film'', Bergman describes the filming of the exteriors as his actual film directorial debut. The film sparked debate on Swedish formal education. When Henning Håkanson (the principal of the high school Bergman had attended) wrote a letter following the film's release, Bergman, according to scholar Frank Gado, disparaged in a response what he viewed as Håkanson's implication that students "who did not fit some arbitrary prescription of worthiness deserved the system's cruel neglect". Bergman also stated in the letter that he "hated school as a principle, as a system and as an institution. And as such I have definitely not wanted to criticize my own school, but all schools." The international success of this film led to Bergman's first opportunity to direct a year later. During the next ten years he wrote and directed more than a dozen films, including ''
Prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
'' (''Fängelse'') in 1949, as well as ''
Sawdust and Tinsel'' (''Gycklarnas afton'') and ''
Summer with Monika'' (''Sommaren med Monika''), both released in 1953.
![Bergman Sjostrom 1957](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Bergman_Sjostrom_1957.jpg)
Bergman first achieved worldwide success with ''
Smiles of a Summer Night
''Smiles of a Summer Night'' ( sv, Sommarnattens leende) is a 1955 Swedish comedy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was shown at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005 ''TIME'' magazine ranked it one of the 100 greatest films s ...
'' (''Sommarnattens leende'', 1955), which won for "Best poetic humour" and was nominated for the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at Cannes the following year. This was followed by ''
The Seventh Seal
''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...
'' (''Det sjunde inseglet'') and ''
Wild Strawberries'' (''Smultronstället''), released in Sweden ten months apart in 1957. ''The Seventh Seal'' won a special jury prize and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and ''Wild Strawberries'' won numerous awards for Bergman and its star,
Victor Sjöström
Victor David Sjöström (; 20 September 1879 – 3 January 1960), also known in the United States as Victor Seastrom, was a pioneering Swedish film director, screenwriter, and actor. He began his career in Sweden, before moving to Hollywood in ...
. Bergman continued to be productive for the next two decades. From the early 1960s, he spent much of his life on the island of
Fårö
Fårö () or Fåre in Gutnish is a Baltic Sea island just north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own language ...
, where he made several films.
In the early 1960s he directed three films that explored the theme of faith and doubt in God, ''
Through a Glass Darkly'' (''Såsom i en Spegel'', 1961), ''
Winter Light
''Winter Light'' ( sv, Nattvardsgästerna, lit=The Communicants) is a 1963 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring his regulars, Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. It follows Tomas Ericsson (Bj ...
'' (''Nattvardsgästerna'', 1962), and ''
The Silence'' (''Tystnaden'', 1963). Critics created the notion that the common themes in these three films made them a trilogy or cinematic
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
. Bergman initially responded that he did not plan these three films as a trilogy and that he could not see any common motifs in them, but he later seemed to adopt the notion, with some equivocation. His
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
of the films of
Federico Fellini, ''
All These Women
''All These Women'' ( sv, För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor), originally released as ''Now About These Women'' in the UK, is a 1964 Swedish comedy film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It is a parody of Federico Fellini's ''8½''. Along with ...
'' (''För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor'') was released in 1964.
Largely a two-hander with Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann, ''
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...
'' (1966) is a film that Bergman himself considered one of his most important works. While the highly experimental film won few awards, it has been considered his masterpiece. Other films of the period include ''
The Virgin Spring
''The Virgin Spring'' ( sv, Jungfrukällan) is a 1960 Swedish rape and revenge film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a tale about a father's merciless response to the rape and murder of his young daughter. The story was a ...
'' (''Jungfrukällan'', 1960), ''
Hour of the Wolf
''Hour of the Wolf'' ( sv, Vargtimmen, lit=The Wolf Hour) is a 1968 Swedish psychological horror film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. The story explores the disappearance of fictional painter Johan Borg ...
'' (''Vargtimmen'', 1968), ''
Shame
Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness.
Definition
Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
'' (''Skammen'', 1968) and ''
The Passion of Anna
''The Passion of Anna'' ( sv, En passion – "A passion") is a 1969 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, who was awarded Best Director at the 1970 National Society of Film Critics Awards for the film.
Plot
The audience i ...
'' (''En Passion'', 1969). With his cinematographer
Sven Nykvist
Sven Vilhem Nykvist (; 3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer. He worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman. He won Academy Awards for his work on two Bergman fil ...
, Bergman made use of a crimson color scheme for ''
Cries and Whispers
''Cries and Whispers'' ( sv, Viskningar och rop, lit=Whispers and Cries) is a 1972 Swedish period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film, set in ...
'' (1972), which received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. He also produced extensively for Swedish television at this time. Two works of note were ''
Scenes from a Marriage
''Scenes from a Marriage'' ( sv, Scener ur ett äktenskap) is a 1973 Swedish television miniseries written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Over the course of six hour-long episodes, it explores the disintegration of the marriage between Maria ...
'' (''Scener ur ett äktenskap'', 1973) and ''
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...
'' (''Trollflöjten'', 1975).
Tax evasion charges in 1976
On 30 January 1976, while rehearsing
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...
's ''
The Dance of Death'' at the
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages.
The the ...
in Stockholm, he was arrested by two plainclothes police officers and charged with income tax evasion. The impact of the event on Bergman was devastating. He suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of the humiliation, and was hospitalised in a state of deep depression.
The investigation was focused on an alleged 1970 transaction of 500,000
Swedish kronor (SEK) between Bergman's Swedish company ''Cinematograf'' and its Swiss subsidiary ''Persona'', an entity that was mainly used for the paying of salaries to foreign actors. Bergman dissolved ''Persona'' in 1974 after having been notified by the Swedish Central Bank and subsequently reported the income. On 23 March 1976, the special prosecutor Anders Nordenadler dropped the charges against Bergman, saying that the alleged crime had no legal basis, saying it would be like bringing "charges against a person who has stolen his own car, thinking it was someone else's". Director General Gösta S Ekman, chief of the Swedish Internal Revenue Service, defended the failed investigation, saying that the investigation was dealing with important legal material and that Bergman was treated just like any other suspect. He expressed regret that Bergman had left the country, hoping that Bergman was a "stronger" person now when the investigation had shown that he had not done any wrong.
Although the charges were dropped, Bergman became disconsolate, fearing he would never again return to directing. Despite pleas by the Swedish prime minister
Olof Palme, high public figures, and leaders of the film industry, he vowed never to work in Sweden again. He closed down his studio on the island of
Fårö
Fårö () or Fåre in Gutnish is a Baltic Sea island just north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own language ...
, suspended two announced film projects, and went into self-imposed exile in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
Harry Schein
Harry Leo Schein (13 October 1924 – 11 February 2006) was an Austrian-born Swedish chemical engineer, writer and a major figure in Swedish culture. Born in Vienna, Schein was a founder of the Swedish Film Institute and acted as its first Managi ...
, director of the
Swedish Film Institute, estimated the immediate damage as ten million SEK (kronor) and hundreds of jobs lost.
Aftermath following arrest
Bergman then briefly considered the possibility of working in America; his next film, ''
The Serpent's Egg'' (1977) was a German-U.S. production and his second English-language film (the first being ''
The Touch'', 1971). This was followed by a British-Norwegian co-production, ''
Autumn Sonata
''Autumn Sonata'' ( sv, Höstsonaten, link=no) is a 1978 drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Ingrid Bergman (in her final film role), Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. Its plot follows a celebrated classical pianist and he ...
'' (''Höstsonaten'', 1978) starring
Ingrid Bergman (no relation), and ''
From the Life of the Marionettes
''From the Life of the Marionettes'' (german: Aus dem Leben der Marionetten) is a 1980 television film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was produced in West Germany with a German-language screenplay and soundtrack while Bergman was in "tax e ...
'' (''Aus dem Leben der Marionetten'', 1980) which was a British-German co-production.
He temporarily returned to his homeland to direct ''
Fanny and Alexander
''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...
'' (''Fanny och Alexander'', 1982). Bergman stated that the film would be his last, and that afterwards he would focus on directing theatre. After that he wrote several film scripts and directed a number of television specials. As with previous work for television, some of these productions were later theatrically released. The last such work was ''
Saraband
''Saraband'' is a 2003 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman, and his final film. It was made for Swedish television, but released theatrically in a longer cut outside Sweden. Its United States theatrical release, with English subtitles, ...
'' (2003), a sequel to ''Scenes from a Marriage'' and directed by Bergman when he was 84 years old.
Although he continued to operate from Munich, by mid-1978 Bergman had overcome some of his bitterness toward the Swedish government. In July of that year he visited Sweden, celebrating his sixtieth birthday on the island of Fårö, and partly resumed his work as a director at Royal Dramatic Theatre. To honour his return, the
Swedish Film Institute launched a new
Ingmar Bergman Prize to be awarded annually for excellence in filmmaking. Still, he remained in Munich until 1984. In one of the last major interviews with Bergman, conducted in 2005 on the island of
Fårö
Fårö () or Fåre in Gutnish is a Baltic Sea island just north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own language ...
, Bergman said that despite being active during the exile, he had effectively lost eight years of his professional life.
Retirement and death
Bergman retired from filmmaking in December 2003. He had hip surgery in October 2006 and was making a difficult recovery. He died in his sleep at age 89; his body was found at his home on the island of Fårö, on 30 July 2007, sixteen days after his 89th birthday. It was the same day another renowned existentialist film director,
Michelangelo Antonioni, died. The interment was private, at the
Fårö Church
Fårö Church ( sv, Fårö kyrka) is the main church on Fårö island in Sweden, in the Diocese of Visby. Parts of the church were built in the 14th century, but much of the building dates from reconstructions in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Får ...
on 18 August 2007. A place in the Fårö churchyard was prepared for him under heavy secrecy. Although he was buried on the island of Fårö, his name and date of birth were inscribed under his wife's name on a tomb at Roslagsbro churchyard,
Norrtälje Municipality
Norrtälje Municipality (''Norrtälje kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Norrtälje.
It is the largest and northernmost municipality of Stockholm County and was created in 19 ...
, several years before his death.
Filmography
Bibliography
* ''Four Screenplays: Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and The Magician'' (1969)
creenplays* ''Three Films: Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence'' (1970)
creenplays* ''Persona and Shame: the Screenplays of Ingmar Bergman'' (1972)
creenplays* ''Four Stories: The Touch, Cries and Whispers, The Hour of the Wolf, and The Passion of Anna'' (1976)
creenplays* ''From the Life of the Marionettes'' (1980)
creenplay* ''Fanny and Alexander'' (1982)
creenplay* ''The Marriage Scenarios: Scenes from a Marriage, Face to Face, and Autumn Sonata'' (1983)
creenplays* ''The Magic Lantern: An Autobiography'' (1987)
onfiction* ''The Best Intentions'' (1991)
ovel* ''Sunday's Children'' (1993)
ovel* ''
Private Confessions
''Private Confessions'' ( sv, Enskilda samtal) is a 1996 Swedish drama film directed by Liv Ullmann and written by Ingmar Bergman. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.
''Private Confessions'' is a ...
'' (1996)
ovel* ''Images: My Life in Film'' (2017)
onfiction
Style of working
Repertory company
![Ingmar Bergman and Ingrid Thulin -Tystnaden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Ingmar_Bergman_and_Ingrid_Thulin_-Tystnaden.jpg)
Bergman developed a personal "repertory company" of Swedish actors whom he repeatedly cast in his films, including Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson,
Erland Josephson
Erland Josephson (; 15 June 1923 – 25 February 2012) was a Swedish actor and author. He was best known by international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theodoros Angelopoulos.
Life and career ...
, Ingrid Thulin,
Gunnel Lindblom
Gunnel Märtha Ingegärd Lindblom (18 December 1931 – 24 January 2021) was a Swedish film actress and director.
Career
As an actress, Lindblom was particularly associated with the work of Ingmar Bergman, though in 1965 she performed the l ...
, and Gunnar Björnstrand, each of whom appeared in at least five Bergman features. Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann, who appeared in nine of Bergman's films and one televisual film (''Saraband''), was the last to join this group (in the film ''Persona''), and ultimately became the most closely associated with Bergman, both artistically and personally. They had a daughter together,
Linn Ullmann (born 1966).
In Bergman's working arrangement with Sven Nykvist, his best-known
cinematographer, the two men developed sufficient rapport to allow Bergman not to worry about the composition of a shot until the day before it was filmed. On the morning of the shoot, he would briefly speak to Nykvist about the mood and composition he hoped for, and then leave Nykvist to work, lacking interruption or comment until post-production discussion of the next day's work.
Financing
![Filmstaden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Filmstaden.jpg)
By Bergman's own account, he never had a problem with funding. He cited two reasons for this: one, that he did not live in the United States, which he viewed as obsessed with box-office earnings; and two, that his films tended to be low-budget affairs. (''Cries and Whispers'', for instance, was finished for about $450,000, while ''Scenes from a Marriage'', a six-episode television feature, cost only $200,000.)
[American Film Institute seminar, 1975, on The Criterion Collection's 2006 DVD of ''The Virgin Spring''.]
Technique
Bergman usually wrote his films' screenplays, thinking about them for months or years before starting the actual process of writing, which he viewed as somewhat tedious. His earlier films are carefully constructed and are either based on his plays or written in collaboration with other authors. Bergman stated that in his later works, when on occasion his actors would want to do things differently from his own intention, he would let them, noting that the results were often "disastrous" when he did not do so. As his career progressed, Bergman increasingly let his actors
improvise
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
their dialogue. In his later films, he wrote just the ideas informing the scene and allowed his actors to determine the exact dialogue. When viewing
daily rushes
In filmmaking, dailies are the raw, unedited footage shot during the making of a motion picture. The term comes from when movies were all shot on film because usually at the end of each day, the footage was developed, synced to sound, and prin ...
, Bergman stressed the importance of being critical but unemotive, claiming that he asked himself not if the work was great or terrible, but rather if it was sufficient or needed to be reshot.
Subjects
Bergman's films usually deal with
existential
Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
questions of mortality, loneliness, and religious faith. In addition to these cerebral topics, however, sexual desire features in the foreground of most of his films, whether the central event is
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
(''
The Seventh Seal
''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...
''), upper-class family activity in early twentieth century Uppsala (''
Fanny and Alexander
''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...
''), or contemporary alienation (''
The Silence''). His female characters are usually more in touch with their sexuality than their male equivalents, and unafraid to proclaim it, sometimes with breathtaking overtness (as in ''
Cries and Whispers
''Cries and Whispers'' ( sv, Viskningar och rop, lit=Whispers and Cries) is a 1972 Swedish period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film, set in ...
'') as would define the work of "the conjurer," as Bergman called himself in a 1960 ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' cover story. In an interview with ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' in 1964, he said: "The manifestation of sex is very important, and particularly to me, for above all, I don't want to make merely intellectual films. I want audiences to feel, to sense my films. This to me is much more important than their understanding them." Film, Bergman said, was his demanding mistress. While he was a
social democrat
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
as an adult, Bergman stated that "as an artist I'm not politically involved ... I don't make
propaganda for either one attitude or the other."
Bergman's views on his career
When asked in the series of interviews later titled "Ingmar Bergman – 3 dokumentärer om film, teater, Fårö och livet" conducted by Marie Nyreröd for Swedish TV and released in 2004, Bergman said that of his works, he held ''
Winter Light
''Winter Light'' ( sv, Nattvardsgästerna, lit=The Communicants) is a 1963 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring his regulars, Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. It follows Tomas Ericsson (Bj ...
'', ''
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...
'', and ''
Cries and Whispers
''Cries and Whispers'' ( sv, Viskningar och rop, lit=Whispers and Cries) is a 1972 Swedish period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film, set in ...
'' in the highest regard. There he also states that he managed to push the envelope of film making in the films ''Persona'' and ''Cries and Whispers''. Bergman stated on numerous occasions (for example in the interview book ''Bergman on Bergman'') that ''The Silence'' meant the end of the era in which religious questions were a major concern of his films. Bergman said that he would get depressed by his own films: "jittery and ready to cry... and miserable." In the same interview he also stated: "If there is one thing I miss about working with films, it is working with Sven" (Nykvist), the third cinematographer with whom he had collaborated.
Theatrical work
Although Bergman was universally famous for his contribution to cinema, he was also an active and productive stage director all his life. During his studies at what was then Stockholm University College, he became active in its student theatre, where he made a name for himself early on. His first work after graduation was as a trainee-director at a Stockholm theatre. At twenty-six years, he became the youngest theatrical manager in Europe at the
Helsingborg City Theatre Helsingborg City Theatre ( sv, Helsingborgs stadsteater) is the city theatre of Helsingborg, Sweden.
The present Helsingborg City Theatre was built in 1921, after the old Helsingborg Theatre (located at the same place, built in 1877) was demolish ...
. He stayed at
Helsingborg
Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...
for three years and then became the director at
Gothenburg city theatre from 1946 to 1949.
He became director of the
Malmö City Theatre
Malmö City Theatre ( sv, Malmö stadsteater) in Malmö, Sweden, is the main theatre of Malmö.
History
The first theatre in Malmö, Malmö Teater, was built in 1808 but became out of use in 1938. The Malmö City Theatre was built by the archi ...
in 1953, and remained for seven years. Many of his star actors were people with whom he began working on stage. He was the director of the
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages.
The the ...
in Stockholm from 1960 to 1966, and manager from 1963 to 1966, where he began a long-time collaboration with choreographer
Donya Feuer
Donya Feuer (31 October 1934 – 6 November 2011) was an American dancer, choreographer and a pioneer of modern dance. She was also a theater director and filmmaker, and a long-time collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman.
Life and career
Fe ...
.
After Bergman left Sweden because of the tax evasion incident, he became director of the ''
Residenz Theatre
The Residence Theatre (in German: Residenztheater) or New Residence Theatre (Neues Residenztheater) of the Residence in Munich was built from 1950 to 1951 by Karl Hocheder. The renovation of 1981 by Alexander von Branca removed the decoration w ...
'' of
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, Germany (1977–1984). He remained active in theatre throughout the 1990s and made his final production on stage with
Henrik Ibsen's
''Ghosts'' at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2003.
Personal life
Marriages and children
![Grave of Ingmar Bergman, may 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Grave_of_Ingmar_Bergman%2C_may_2008.jpg)
Bergman was married five times:
*25 March 1943 – 1945, to
Else Fisher
Else Marie Fisher-Bergman (1 March 1918 – 3 March 2006) was a Swedish choreographer, dancer, theatre director, and writer.
Career
Fisher wrote several children's books and theatre plays (including ''Beppo the Clown (Clownen Beppo)'', a dance ...
(1 March 1918 – 3 March 2006), choreographer and dancer (divorced). Children:
**Lena Bergman, actress, born 1943.
*22 July 1945 – 1950, to Ellen Lundström (23 April 1919 – 6 March 2007), choreographer and film director (divorced). Children:
**
Eva Bergman, film director, born 1945
**Jan Bergman, film director (1946–2000)
**the twins
Mats and
Anna Bergman
Anna Bergman (born 5 May 1948) is a Swedish former actress. She is the daughter of film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman and choreographer-director Ellen Lundström, sister to Eva, Jan, and Mats Bergman (twin); and half-sister to Daniel B ...
, both actors and film directors, born in 1948.
*1951 – 1959, to Gun Grut (1916–1971), journalist (divorced). Children:
**Ingmar Bergman Jr., retired airline captain, born 1951.
*1959 – 1969, to
Käbi Laretei
Käbi Alma Laretei (14 July 1922 – 31 October 2014) was an Estonian-Swedish concert pianist.
Her father Heinrich Laretei was a diplomat in the service of the Republic of Estonia as ambassador to Sweden; when the Soviet Union occupied Estonia ...
(14 July 1922 – 31 October 2014),
concert pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
(divorced). Children:
**
Daniel Bergman
Daniel Sebastian Bergman (; born 7 September 1962) is a Swedish film director. He is the son of Ingmar Bergman and Käbi Laretei.
As a child, Bergman appeared in a 1967 Swedish program called ''Stimulantia'', which consisted of eight episodes, ...
, film director, born 1962.
*11 November 1971 – 20 May 1995, to
Ingrid von Rosen (maiden name Karlebo). Children:
**Maria von Rosen, author, born 1959.
The first four marriages ended in divorce, while the last ended when his wife Ingrid died of
stomach cancer in 1995, aged 65. Aside from his marriages, Bergman had romantic relationships with actresses Harriet Andersson (1952–1955), Bibi Andersson (1955–1959), and Liv Ullmann (1965–1970). He was the father of writer
Linn Ullmann with Ullmann. In all, Bergman had nine children, one of whom predeceased him. Bergman eventually married all the mothers of his children, with the exception of Liv Ullmann. His daughter with his last wife, Ingrid von Rosen, was born twelve years before their marriage. He had dozens of mistresses throughout his life and would justify the affairs to his various wives by telling them: "I have so many lives."
Although Bergman once described himself as one who had lost his faith in an afterlife, in 2000 Bergman stated that a conversation he had had with Erland Josephson helped him to believe that he would see Ingrid again. He said, "I'm not actually afraid of dying. On the contrary, really. I think it'll be interesting." In 2012, Max von Sydow stated in an interview that he had had many discussions with Bergman about religion which seemed to indicate that Bergman believed in an afterlife.
Health
Bergman suffered from physical ailments such as
insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
and severe stomach issues dating back to childhood. He called his nervous stomach "a calamity as foolish as it is humiliating" and joked that the private lavatories he secured at the theatres in which he worked represented his "most lasting contribution to the history of theatre."
Awards and nominations
In 1958, he won the
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
award for ''
Brink of Life
''Brink of Life'', ( sv, Nära livet, and known as ''So Close to Life'' in the UK) is a 1958 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Bergman won the Best Director Award and Andersson, Dahlbeck, Ornäs and Thulin won the Best Actress ...
'' at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, and won the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The win ...
for ''
Wild Strawberries'' at the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
. In 1960 Bergman was featured in the cover of
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
, the first foreign-language filmmaker to do so since
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda.
A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...
in 1936. In 1971, Bergman received the
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
ceremony. Three of his films (''
Through a Glass Darkly'', ''
The Virgin Spring
''The Virgin Spring'' ( sv, Jungfrukällan) is a 1960 Swedish rape and revenge film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a tale about a father's merciless response to the rape and murder of his young daughter. The story was a ...
'', and ''
Fanny and Alexander
''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...
'') won the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1997, he was awarded the
Palme des Palmes (Palm of the Palms) at the
50th anniversary of the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
. He won many other awards and has been nominated for numerous other awards.
Academy Awards
Legacy
![Popiersie Ingmar Bergman ssj 20110627](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Popiersie_Ingmar_Bergman_ssj_20110627.jpg)
In 1996, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' ranked Bergman at No. 8 in its "50 Greatest Directors" list.
In 2002, Bergman was listed at number nine on the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
's ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' list of the top ten film directors of modern times.
MovieMaker
''MovieMaker'' is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking with a special emphasis on independent film. The magazine is published on a quarterly basis.
See also
* List of film periodicals
Film period ...
magazine ranked Bergman at No. 13 on their 2002 list of ''The 25 Most Influential Directors of All Time''.
Bergman was ranked at No. 36 on
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
magazine's "Top 40 Greatest Directors of All-Time" list in 2005.
In 2007, ''
Total Film
''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...
'' magazine ranked Bergman at No. 7 on its "100 Greatest Film Directors Ever" list.
In 2017, ''
New York'' magazine ranked Bergman at number 55 on their list of ''The 100 Best Screenwriters of All Time''.
Stanley Kubrick admired the work of Bergman and expressed it in personal letter: "Your vision of life has moved me deeply, much more deeply than I have ever been moved by any films. I believe you are the greatest film-maker at work today
.. unsurpassed by anyone in the creation of mood and atmosphere, the subtlety of performance, the avoidance of the obvious, the truthfulness and completeness of characterization. To this one must also add everything else that goes into the making of a film;
..and I shall look forward with eagerness to each of your films."
Bergman's work was a point of reference and inspiration for director
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
. He described Bergman as “probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera”. Bergman's films are mentioned and praised in ''
Annie Hall
''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by him and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer, w ...
'' and other Allen films. Allen also admired Bergman's longtime director of photography
Sven Nykvist
Sven Vilhem Nykvist (; 3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer. He worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman. He won Academy Awards for his work on two Bergman fil ...
and invited him to return as his DP on ''
Crimes and Misdemeanors
''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' is a 1989 American existential comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, who stars alongside Martin Landau, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Orbach, Alan Alda, Sam Waterston, and Joanna Gleason.
...
''.
Terrence Rafferty
Terrence Rafferty is a film critic who wrote regularly for ''The New Yorker'' during the 1990s. His writing has also appeared in '' Slate'', ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ''The Village Voice'', ''The Nation'', and ''The New York Times''. For a number ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote that throughout the 1960s, when Bergman "was considered pretty much the last word in cinematic profundity, his every tic was scrupulously pored over, analyzed, elaborated in ingenious arguments about identity, the nature of film, the fate of the artist in the modern world and so on."
Danish Director
Thomas Vinterberg
Thomas Vinterberg (; born 19 May 1969) is a Danish film director who, along with Lars von Trier, co-founded the Dogme 95 movement in filmmaking, which established rules for simplifying movie production. He is best known for the films ''The Celeb ...
has cited Bergman as one of his major influences, "Bergman is always in my head. He is part of my upbringing and I was fortunate to meet him and get advice from him."
Writer and director
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he ...
counts Bergman as one of his inspirations. In 2017, the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
(BFI) hosted an Ingmar Bergman season and Ayoade said in a ''
Guardian'' interview that he saw everything in it, "which was one of the best two months ever." The BFI's programme included a discussion with Ayoade on Bergman's 1966 film,
''Persona'', before a screening.
After Bergman died, a large archive of notes was donated to the
Swedish Film Institute. Among the notes are several unpublished and unfinished scripts both for stage and films, and many more ideas for works in different stages of development. A never-performed play has the title ''Kärlek utan älskare'' ("Love without lovers"), and has the note "Complete disaster!" written on the envelope; the play is about a director who disappears and an editor who tries to complete a work he has left unfinished. Other canceled projects include the script for a pornographic film which Bergman abandoned since he did not think it was alive enough, a play about a cannibal, some loose scenes set inside a womb, a film about the life of Jesus, a film about ''
The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt ...
'', and a play with the title ''Från sperm till spöke'' ("From sperm to spook").
The Swedish director Marcus Lindeen went through the material, and inspired by ''Kärlek utan älskare'' he took samples from many of the works and turned them into a play, titled ''Arkivet för orealiserbara drömmar och visioner'' ("The archive for unrealisable dreams and visions"). Lindeen's play premiered on 28 May 2012 at the
Stockholm City Theatre.
[
In 2018, in honor of Bergman's 100th birthday, ]The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
compiled and released a Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
disc box set comprising 39 of Bergman's features. The set spans Bergman's early career, beginning in the 1940s, up to his final film in 2003. The films are organized non-chronologically, and are instead presented in four groupings that mimic the procession of a film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
. Accompanying the discs is a book featuring critical essays on each of the films, intended to guide the viewer through the experience. Upon its release, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic Glenn Kenny assessed the set as "impressive and almost exhaustive", and interpreted it as "a fresh case for ergman'scontinuing importance", in response to criticisms such as Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
's 2007 opinion piece "Scenes From an Overrated Career".
The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award is awarded annually at the Gothenburg Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...
, in partnership with the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, the Bergman Estate and the Bergman Center on Fårö. The prize includes a visit to the Bergman Estate as well as to Bergmans personal archive in Stockholm.
See also
*Cinema of Sweden
Swedish cinema is known for including many acclaimed films; during the 20th century the industry was the most prominent of Scandinavia. This is largely due to the popularity and prominence of directors Victor Sjöström and especially Ingmar Be ...
*List of film collaborations
Some film directors and actors have collaborated numerous times and have become noteworthy for their partnerships. Note: In some instances, the body of work is too extensive to list all the films on which they worked together.
List of collaboratio ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*''Bergman on Bergman: Interviews with Ingmar Bergman.'' By Stig Björkman, Torsten Manns, and Jonas Sima; translated by Paul Britten Austin
Paul Britten Austin (5 April 1922 – 25 July 2005) was an English author, translator, broadcaster, administrator, and scholar of Swedish literature.
He is known in particular for his translations of and books on the Swedish musician, si ...
. Simon & Schuster, New York. Swedish edition copyright 1970; English translation 1973.
*''Filmmakers on filmmaking: the American Film Institute seminars on motion pictures and television'' (edited by Joseph McBride). Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1983.
*
Images: my life in film
', Ingmar Bergman. Translated by Marianne Ruuth. New York, Arcade Pub., 1994,
*
*
The Magic Lantern
', Ingmar Bergman. Translated by Joan Tate New York, Viking Press, 1988,
*
The Demons of Modernity: Ingmar Bergman and European Cinema
', John Orr, Berghahn Books
Berghahn Books is a New York and Oxford-based publisher of scholarly books and academic journals in the humanities and social sciences, with a special focus on social & cultural anthropology, European history, politics, and film & media studi ...
, 2014.
*
*
External links
Ingmar Bergman Foundation
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*
*
Ingmar Bergman
film on ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Ingmar Bergman
on the British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
The Ingmar Bergman Foundation
Ingmar Bergman all posters
* ttp://www.bergmanveckan.se Bergman Weekbr>Regilexikon
on Bergman, with links to DVD and Blu-ray comparisons of his major films
;Bibliographies
Ingmar Bergman Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Ingmar
1918 births
2007 deaths
20th-century Swedish writers
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Swedish male screenwriters
People from Uppsala
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