1.
Ingmar Bergman
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Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer, and producer who worked in film, television, theatre and radio. He directed over sixty films and documentaries for cinematic release and for television and he also directed over 170 plays. From 1953 he forged a creative partnership with his full-time cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Among his company of actors were Harriet and Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin, most of his films were set in Sweden, and numerous films from Through a Glass Darkly onward were filmed on the island of Fårö. His work often dealt with death, illness, faith, betrayal, bleakness and insanity. Ingmar Bergman was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the son of Erik Bergman, a Lutheran minister and later chaplain to the King of Sweden, and Karin and he grew up with his older brother Dag and sister Margareta surrounded by religious imagery and discussion. His father was a parish minister with strict ideas of parenting. Ingmar was locked up in dark closets for infractions, such as wetting the bed, there was everything that ones imagination could desire—angels, saints, dragons, prophets, devils, humans. Although raised in a devout Lutheran household, Bergman later stated that he lost his faith at age eight and only came to terms with this fact while making Winter Light 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, a possession that altered the course of his life. Within a year, he had created, by playing with this toy and he fashioned his own scenery, marionettes, and lighting effects and gave puppet productions of Strindberg plays in which he spoke all the parts. Bergman attended Palmgrens School as a teenager and his school years were unhappy, and he remembered them unfavorably in later years. Bergman wrote in a response that he had disliked the emphasis on homework. In 1934, aged 16, he was sent to Germany to spend the vacation with family friends. He attended a Nazi rally in Weimar at which he saw Adolf Hitler, Bergman commented that Hitler was unbelievably charismatic. The Nazism I had seen seemed fun and youthful, Bergman did two five-month stretches of mandatory military service. In 1937 he entered Stockholm University College to study art and literature and 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 break with his father lasted for years
2.
Maj-Britt Nilsson
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Maj-Britt Nilsson was a Swedish movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s. Nilsson was born in Stockholm and trained at the school of the Royal Dramatic Theater there. She appeared in the following three Ingmar Bergman films, Till Glädje, Sommarlek, and Kvinnors Väntan and she also appeared in the English language film A Matter of Morals, directed in Sweden by John Cromwell. Maj-Britt Nilsson died in Cannes, France, aged 82 and her death, which was not widely reported outside Sweden, was confirmed by Jon Asp, executive editor of the online publication Ingmar Bergman Face to Face. In 1951 she married Per Gerhard, a director and son of Karl Gerhard, a prominent Swedish singer. By Sven Lindberg En enkel melodi by Kjell Grede Bluff Stop by Jonas Cornell Maj-Britt Nilsson at the Internet Movie Database Maj-Britt Nilsson, Dramatens elevskola
3.
Swedish krona
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The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code SEK and currency sign kr are in use, the former precedes or follows the value. In English, the currency is referred to as the Swedish crown. The Swedish krona was the 11th most traded currency in the world by value in April 2013, one krona is subdivided into 100 öre. However, all öre coins have been discontinued as of 30 September 2010, goods can still be priced in öre, but all sums are rounded to the nearest krona when paying with cash. The introduction of the krona, which replaced at par the riksdaler, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1876 and lasted until the beginning of World War I. The parties to the union were the Scandinavian countries, where the name was krona in Sweden and krone in Denmark and Norway, the three currencies were on the gold standard, with the krona/krone defined as 1⁄2480 of a kilogram of pure gold. After dissolution of the union in August 1914, Sweden, Denmark. On 11 September 2012, the Riksbank announced a new series of coins with new sizes to replace the 1 and 5 kronor coins which arrived in October 2016. The design of the coins follows the theme of singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestads song, Sol, vind och vatten and this also included the reintroduction of the 2 kronor coin, while the current 10 kronor coin remained the same. The new coins also have a new portrait of the king in the design, one of the reasons for a new series of coins is to end the use of nickel. It is expected that vending machines and parking meters will to a high degree stop accepting coins. Cash is already used in Sweden, with many young people avoiding cash as much as possible. Between 1873 and 1876, coins in denominations of 1,2,5,10,25, and 50 öre and 1,2,10, and 20 kronor were introduced. The 1,2 and 5 öre were in bronze, the 10,25,50 öre and 1 krona and 2 kronor were in silver, gold 5 kronor coins were added in 1881. In 1873 the Scandinavian Monetary Union currency was fixed so that 248,000 öre purchased 1 kg of gold, in 2017 the price of gold is 365,289 kronor per kg. So one öre in 1873 bought as much gold as 1.47 krona in 2017, so if it is reasonable to have the smallest denomination coin 1 krona today, in 1873 a reasonable smallest denomination coin was 1 öre. A10 kr gold coin weighed 4.4803 grams with 900 finess so that the weight was 4.03327 grams or exactly 1/248th of a kilogram
4.
Swedish language
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Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by more than 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by number of speakers, Standard Swedish, spoken by most Swedes, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the rural dialects still exist. The standard word order is, as in most Germanic languages, V2, Swedish morphology is similar to English, that is, words have comparatively few inflections. There are two genders, no cases, and a distinction between plural and singular. Older analyses posit the cases nominative and genitive and there are remains of distinct accusative and dative forms as well. Adjectives are compared as in English, and are inflected according to gender, number. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes, complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles, the prosody features both stress and in most dialects tonal qualities. The language has a large vowel inventory. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless velar fricative, a highly variable consonant phoneme. Swedish is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, by many general criteria of mutual intelligibility, the Continental Scandinavian languages could very well be considered dialects of a common Scandinavian language. In the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language began to undergo new changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, the dialects of Old East Norse that were spoken in Sweden are called Runic Swedish while the dialects of Denmark are referred to as Runic Danish. The dialects are described as runic because the body of text appears in the runic alphabet. Unlike Proto-Norse, which was written with the Elder Futhark alphabet, Old Norse was written with the Younger Futhark alphabet, from 1200 onwards, the dialects in Denmark began to diverge from those of Sweden. An early change that separated Runic Danish from the dialects of Old East Norse was the change of the diphthong æi to the monophthong é. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain, there was also a change of au as in dauðr into a long open ø as in døðr dead
5.
Swan Lake
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Swan Lake, Op.20, is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular of all ballets, the scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerers curse. The choreographer of the production was Julius Reisinger. The ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, for this revival, Tchaikovskys score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres chief conductor and composer Riccardo Drigo. Many critics have disputed the original source of the Swan Lake story, the libretto is based on a story by the German author Johann Karl August Musäus, Der geraubte Schleier, though this story provides only the general outline of the plot of Swan Lake. The Russian folktale The White Duck also bears resemblance to the story of the ballet. According to Lopukhov, both the plot of Swan Lake, the image of the Swan and the idea of a faithful love are essentially Russian. However, Geltser was in all probability merely the first person to copy the scenario for publication and this ballet featured the famous Leitmotif known as the Swans Theme. The choreographer assigned to the production was the Czech Julius Reisinger and it is not known what sort of collaborative processes were involved between Tchaikovsky and Reisinger. It seems that Tchaikovsky worked with only the most basic outline from Reisinger of the requirements for each dance, Tchaikovsky likely had some form of instruction in composing Swan Lake, as he had to know what sort of dances would be required. But unlike the instructions that Tchaikovsky received for the scores of The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, when Reisinger began choreographing after the score was completed, he demanded some changes from Tchaikovsky. Whether by demanding the addition or removal of a dance, Reisinger made it clear that he was to be a large part in the creation of this piece. Although the two artists were required to collaborate, each seemed to prefer working as independently of the other as possible, Tchaikovsky studied the music of specialists such as the Italian Cesare Pugni and the Austrian Ludwig Minkus, before setting to work on Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky had a negative opinion of the specialist ballet music until he studied it in detail. Tchaikovsky most admired the music of such composers as Léo Delibes, Adolphe Adam. He would later write to his protégé, the composer Sergei Taneyev, I listened to the Delibes ballet Sylvia. what charm, what elegance, what wealth of melody, rhythm, and harmony. I was ashamed, for if I had known of this music then, Tchaikovsky drew on previous compositions for his Swan Lake score. He made use of material from The Voyevoda, an opera that he had abandoned in 1868, the Grand adage from the second scene of Swan Lake was fashioned from an aria from that opera, as was the Valse des fiancées from the third scene
6.
Alf Kjellin
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Alf Kjellin was a Swedish film actor and director, who also appeared on some television shows. Kjellin was well established as an actor when he occasionally took on roles in television shows. For example, in 1965 he prominently guest-starred as Stalag Luft Kommandant Colonel Max Richter in the two-part episode P. O. W. of Twelve OClock High and he also directed the 1974 Columbo episodes Negative Reaction and Mind Over Mayhem and an episode of the 1976 series Sara. Kjellin was born in Lund, Sweden and died in Los Angeles, in America he used the stage name Christopher Kent. Alf Kjellin at the Internet Movie Database Alf Kjellin at the Swedish Film Database
7.
Annalisa Ericson
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Annalisa Ericson was a Swedish actress best known for her roles in 58 Swedish movies between 1930 and 1991. The core of her acting work took place on various theatres in Stockholm. Starting with ballet in 1919, she made her first work on the stage at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, after quitting the ballet in 1930, she became an acting student and made her first appearances in various plays and revues. Her first break in the movies was Värmlänningarna in 1932, mixing revues with light comedy films, she slowly gained herself a name. In the 1940s she appeared in a number of musicals with actor Nils Poppe where the couple became known for their acrobatic dancing, in the 1950s she mainly appeared in musicals and revues. As far as her career is concerned, she took part in a string of crime thrillers directed by Arne Mattsson. Her last film role was in 2004s Annalisa och Sven, Ericson died on 21 April 2011, aged 97. Dont Give Up Damen i svart Obituary - Svenska Dagbladet Annalisa Ericson at the Internet Movie Database
8.
Stig Olin
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Stig Olin was a Swedish actor, theatre director, songwriter and singer. He was the father of actress Lena Olin and singer Mats Olin and he was married to Britta Holmberg and Helena Kallenbäck. Olin then moved on to directing for film and stage in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, focusing on comedies and musicals. In 1970 he became Director of Programmes at Swedish Radio, including the Swedish radio theatre and he was also a songwriter in Sweden with En gång jag seglar i hamn, På söndag, Människors glädje, Jag tror på sommaren and Karusellvisan, a. o
9.
Smiles of a Summer Night
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Smiles of a Summer Night is a 1955 Swedish comedy film 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 since 1923. The film takes place in Sweden around the turn of the twentieth century, Fredrik Egerman is a middle-aged lawyer married to a 19-year-old beauty, Anne. Their two-year marriage is still unconsummated, due to Annes reluctance, Fredrik has a son, Henrik, from his marriage to his late first wife. Henrik is in his twenties and is studying to be a minister but is currently tormented by his love for his step-mother. Henrik is distracting himself from his urges by attempting an inconclusive affair with Fredriks lusty young servant, between his two marriages, Fredrik had an affair with a prominent stage actress, the beautiful Desiree Armfeldt, but she broke off the relationship. Desiree now has a son named Fredrik, born shortly after her affair with Fredrik Egerman. Desiree is now having an affair with an officer, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm. The Counts wife, Charlotte, is an old friend of Anne Egerman, Fredrik goes to see Desiree one night to pour out his marital troubles to her and ask for her help. Fredrik falls into a puddle outside Desirees house, and Desiree dresses him in the Counts nightshirt, the violently jealous Count shows up and orders Fredrik to leave. After Fredrik goes, the Count and Desiree argue and subsequently decide to part amicably, when the Count returns home, he tells Charlotte about the encounter and orders her to tell Anne Egerman about Fredriks supposed infidelity. When Charlotte visits Anne, she confesses that she loves the Count despite everything, Desiree and Charlotte become temporary allies. Henrik and Anne, unexpectedly finding themselves alone together in a bedroom, consummate their relationship and elope with the assistance of Petra and her new lover Frid, Charlotte then joins Fredrik in the garden pavilion. Learning his wife is with Fredrik, the Count bursts in, Fredrik loses but the Count had loaded the revolver with soot so neither party was ever in danger. The Count reunites with his wife, his feelings for her renewed by his jealousy, Desiree comforts Fredrik and he asks her not to leave him. The dilemmas of the four pairs of lovers appear to be resolved in the course of a night. Armfeldt Jullan Kindahl – Beata Gull Natorp – Malla Birgitta Valberg – Actress Bibi Andersson – Actress Smiles of a Summer Night opened to positive reviews and is viewed favorably today. It has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
10.
Summer with Monika
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Summer with Monika is a 1953 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman, based on Per Anders Fogelströms 1951 novel of the same title. The film made a star of its lead actress, Harriet Andersson, Bergman had been intimately involved with Andersson at the time and conceived the film as a vehicle for her. The films story begins in the bleak working-class milieu of Stockholm, Harry and Monika are both in dead end jobs when they meet. Harry is easygoing, while Monika is adventurous, but they fall in love, when Monika gets in trouble at home, Harry steals his fathers boat, and he and Monika spend an idyllic summer in the Stockholm archipelago. When the end of the summer forces them to return home, Harry happily accepts responsibility and settles down with Monika and their child, he gets a real job and studies to provide for his family. Monika, however, is unsatisfied with her role as homemaker and she yearns for excitement and adventure, a desire which finally leads her astray. Harry is left behind with the child, to increase excitement for the film, he edited it down to 62 minutes and emphasized the films nudity. Renaming the film Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl, he provided a good deal of promotional material. Summer with Monika has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Summer with Monika was the first Bergman film seen by Woody Allen, The first Bergman I ever saw was that one because there was talk in the neighborhood that there was a nude scene. This was unheard of in any American film, that level of advancement, it’s so funny to think of it that way. I saw it, and it was a very, very interesting film apart from the utterly benign nude moment, a short time after that, I just happened to see Sawdust and Tinsel. I had no idea it was done by Bergman — that is, I was riveted in my seat by it all. I thought to myself, Who is this guy. ”Nudity in film Summer with Monika at the Internet Movie Database Summer with Monika at the Swedish Film Institute Database
11.
Winter Light
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Winter Light is a 1963 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Bergman regulars Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. The film follows Tomas Ericsson, pastor of a small rural Swedish church, the film is the second in a series of thematically related films, following Through a Glass Darkly and followed by The Silence, which is sometimes considered a trilogy. Vilgot Sjömans film Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie was made simultaneously with Winter Light, after the service, Tomas, though coming down with a cold, prepares for his 3 oclock service in another town. Before he leaves, however, the Perssons arrive to speak to him, Jonas has become morose after hearing that China is developing an atomic bomb. Tomas speaks to the man briefly, but asks Jonas to return after taking his wife home, No sooner have the Perssons left than substitute teacher Märta enters, and she attempts to comfort the miserable Tomas, and asks if hes read the letter she wrote to him. He has not, and tells her of his failure to help Jonas, Märta states her love for Tomas, but also her belief that he does not love her. She leaves, and Tomas reads her letter, in the letter, Märta describes Tomass neglect of her, relating a story of how a rash that disfigured her body repulsed him, and neither his faith nor his prayers did anything to help her. She writes of how her family was warm and loving without religion, Tomas finishes the letter, and falls asleep. Awakened by the return of Jonas, Tomas clumsily tries to provide counsel and he says his faith was an egotistical one – God loved humanity, but Tomas most of all. Serving in Lisbon during the Spanish Civil War, Tomas could not reconcile his loving God with the atrocities being committed, Tomas finally tells Jonas that things make more sense if we deny the existence of God, because then mans cruelty needs no explanation. Jonas leaves, and Tomas faces the crucifix and declares himself finally free, Märta, who has been lurking in the chapel, is overjoyed to hear this, and embraces Tomas, who again does not respond to her affections. They are interrupted by the widow Magdalena, who tells them that Jonas has just committed suicide with a rifle, Tomas drives, alone, to the scene, and stoically helps the police cover Jonass body with a tarp. Märta arrives on foot, and she and Tomas drive off to her home, waiting in Märtas classroom attached to her house, Tomas finally lashes out at her, telling her first that he rejected her because he was tired of the gossip about them. Though shocked by the attack, Märta agrees to drive him to the Persson house. Informed of Jonass suicide, Karin collapses onto the stairs and wonders how she, Tomas makes a perfunctory offer of help, and leaves. Arriving for the 3 oclock service at the church, Tomas and Märta find the building empty except for Algot, the handicapped sexton, and Fredrik. Fredrik tells Märta that she should leave the town and Tomas and live her life. Meanwhile in the vestry, Algot questions Tomas about the Passion and he asks, Wasnt Gods silence worse
12.
Wild Strawberries (film)
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Wild Strawberries is a 1957 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The original Swedish title is Smultronstället, which literally means The wild strawberry patch but idiomatically signifies an underrated gem of a place, often with personal or sentimental value. The cast includes Victor Sjöström in his final performance as an old man recalling his past, as well as Bergman regulars Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin. Max von Sydow also appears in a small role, Bergman wrote the screenplay while hospitalized. Exploring philosophical themes such as introspection and human existence, Wild Strawberries is often considered to be one of Bergmans greatest and most moving films, grouchy, stubborn and egotistical Professor Isak Borg is a widowed 78-year-old physician who specialized in bacteriology. Before specializing he served as general practitioner in rural Sweden and he sets out on a long car ride from Stockholm to Lund to be awarded the degree of Doctor Jubilaris 50 years after he received his doctorate from Lund University. During the trip, Isak is forced by nightmares, daydreams, old age and he meets a series of hitchhikers, each of whom sets off dreams or reveries into Borgs troubled past. The first group consists of two men and their companion, a woman named Sara who is adored by both men. Sara is a double for the love of Isaks youth, the first group remains with him throughout his journey. Next Isak and Marianne pick up an embittered middle-aged couple, the Almans, the pair exchanges such terrible vitriol and venom that Marianne stops the car and demands that they leave. The couple reminds Isak of his own unhappy marriage, in a dream sequence, Isak is asked by Sten Alman, now the examiner, to read “foreign” letters on the blackboard. So, Alman reads it for him, A doctors first duty is to ask forgiveness, from which he concludes and he reminisces about his childhood at the seaside and his sweetheart Sara, with whom he remembered gathering strawberries, but who instead married his brother. In one dream, he is quizzed by a very judgmental medical professor, Borg finally arrives at his destination and is promoted to Doctor Jubilaris, but this proves to be an empty ritual. That night, he bids a loving goodbye to his friends, to whom the once bitter old man whispers in response to a playful declaration of the young girls love. As he goes to his bed in his sons home, he is overcome by a sense of peace, closure and affirmation of life have finally come, and Borgs face radiates joy. Bergmans idea for the film originated on a drive from Stockholm to Dalarna during which he stopped in Uppsala, driving by his grandmothers house, he suddenly imagined how it would be if he could open the door and inside find everything just as it was during his childhood. That was actually the idea behind Wild Strawberries, later, he would revise the story of the films genesis. In Images, My Life in Film, he comments on his own earlier statement, the truth is that I am forever living in my childhood
13.
The Seventh Seal
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The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish drama-fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death. Bergman developed the film from his own play Wood Painting, here the motif of silence refers to the silence of God, which is a major theme of the film. The Seventh Seal is considered a classic of world cinema, as well as one of the greatest movies of all time and it established Bergman as a world-renowned director, containing scenes which have become iconic through homages, critical analysis, and parodies. Disillusioned knight Antonius Block and his nihilistic squire Jöns return after fighting in the Crusades, on the beach immediately after their arrival, the knight encounters Death, personified as a pale, black-cowled figure resembling a monk. The knight, in the middle of a game he has been playing alone, challenges Death to a chess match. Death agrees, and they start a new game, the knight with his squire heads for his castle. Along the way, they pass some actors, Jof and his wife Mia, with their infant son, Mikael, Jof is also a juggler and has visions of Jesus and Mary, but Mia is skeptical of them. The knight and squire enter a church where a fresco of the Dance of Death is being painted, the squire draws a small figure representing himself. Upon revealing the chess strategy that will save his life, the knight discovers that the priest is Death, Leaving the church, the knight speaks to a young woman who has been condemned to be burned at the stake for consorting with the devil. Shortly thereafter, the squire searches an abandoned village for water and he saves a servant girl from being raped by a man robbing a corpse. He recognizes the man as Raval, a theologian, who 10 years prior had convinced the knight to leave his wife, the squire promises to brand the theologian on the face if they meet again. The servant girl joins the squire, the trio ride into town, where the actors met earlier are performing. The actor-manager introduces the actors to the crowd, then is enticed by Lisa. The actors performance is interrupted by the arrival of a procession of flagellants, at a public house, the juggler meets Raval who forces him to dance on the tables like a bear. The squire appears and, true to his word, slices the theologians face, the knight enjoys a country picnic of milk and wild strawberries gathered by the wife of the juggler. The knight says, Ill carry this memory between my hands as if it were bowl filled to the brim with fresh milk. And it will be an adequate sign – it will be enough for me. He invites the actors to his castle, where they will be safer from the plague, along the way, they come across the actor-manager and the blacksmiths wife in the forest
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