1.
Ingmar Bergman
–
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
Ingmar Bergman
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Bergman during production of
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Ingmar Bergman
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A young Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
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Ingmar Bergman and
Victor Sjöström on the set of
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Ingmar Bergman
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Ingmar Bergman with his long-time cinematographer
Sven Nykvist during the production of
Through a Glass Darkly (1960)
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
Maj-Britt Nilsson
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Maj-Britt Nilsson
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
Swedish krona
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Swedish bank notes
Swedish krona
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Two golden 20 kr coins from the
Scandinavian Monetary Union, which was based on a gold standard. The coin to the left is Swedish and the right one is
Danish.
Swedish krona
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1909 specimen (with approval on the reverse) of a
Sveriges Riksbank 1,000 kronor note.
Swedish krona
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20 kronor
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
Swedish language
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The initial page of the first complete copy of
Västgötalagen, the
law code of
Västergötland, from c. 1280. It is one of the earliest texts in Swedish written in the
Latin script.
Swedish language
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Major Swedish-speaking areas
Swedish language
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Front page of
Gustav Vasa 's Bible from 1541, using
Fraktur. The title translated to English reads: "The Bible / That is / The Holy Scripture / in Swedish. Printed in
Uppsala. 1541".
Swedish language
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August Strindberg, one of the most influential writers in modern Swedish literature.
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
Swan Lake
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Swan Lake (1876)
Sleeping Beauty (1889)
The Nutcracker (1892)
List of all compositions
Swan Lake
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Design by F. Gaanen for the décor of Act II of Swan Lake, Moscow, 1877
Swan Lake
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Adelaide Giuri as Odette and
Mikhail Mordkin as Prince Siegfried in Aleksandr Gorsky's staging of the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake for the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 1901. A young
Vera Karalli is seen kneeling.
Swan Lake
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Anna Sobeshchanskaya as Odette in Julius Reisinger's original production of Swan Lake, Moscow, 1877
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
Alf Kjellin
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Kjellin with
Barbara Bain in an episode of
Mission:Impossible, 1969.
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
Annalisa Ericson
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Annalisa Ericson together with
Nils Poppe in 1942.
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
Stig Olin
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Stig Olin in Filmjournalen, 1947.
9.
Bamse
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The RBS23, designated BAMSE, is a Swedish medium range, all-weather capable air defense system developed by Bofors and Ericsson. BAMSE is designed for protection of facilities, ground forces. It is intended to operate against very small and fast targets such as missiles, anti-radiation missiles, UAVs. It can also high altitude flying targets. On their web site, Saab mention ground coverage of more than 1,500 km², altitude coverage of 15,000 m, the system consists of a Surveillance and Control Centre and two to four Missile Control Centers. The missile control center trailers are located up to 20 km away from the SCC, the SCC is operated by a crew of one or two. It comprises an Ericsson GIRAFFE Radar 3D surveillance radar with an antenna mast of 8 to 13 meters and it is used for threat evaluation, combat coordination, with target acquisition, identification, tracking and prioritisation. The SCC can coordinate up to four missile control centres, the system has a built-in simulation capability to carry out training. The missile control center trailer depends on transportation vehicles which also carry additional missiles for reloading operations, the center is protected against fragments and nuclear, biological and chemical threats. It has two stations and is operated by one or two persons. It comprises a Ka-band fire control radar with an 8 meters mast, IRST, IFF system, six ready-to-fire BAMSE missiles, the MCC can be deployed in 10 minutes and complete reload of a MCC takes less than 4 minutes. A booster has been added also, the missile is claimed to have high acceleration and high manoeuvrability. It is equipped with a fragmentation and shaped charge warhead and with both a proximity fuse and an impact fuse, the Swedish government ordered the RBS23 in 2000 and deliveries started in 2002
Bamse
10.
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
Smiles of a Summer Night
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Smiles of a Summer Night
11.
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
Summer with Monika
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Original Swedish film poster
Summer with Monika
–
Two small promotional flyers for the American presentation of the film.
12.
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
Winter Light
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Theatrical release poster
13.
Wild Strawberries (film)
–
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
Wild Strawberries (film)
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Theatrical release poster
Wild Strawberries (film)
–
Ingmar Bergman (L) and
Victor Sjöström (R) in 1957, during production of Wild Strawberries in the studios in
Solna.
14.
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
The Seventh Seal
–
Theatrical release poster
The Seventh Seal
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Death and Antonius Block choose sides for the chess game; Death gets the black pieces.
The Seventh Seal
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Filming of The Seventh Seal at
Filmstaden
The Seventh Seal
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Death playing chess, from
Täby Church, fresco by
Albertus Pictor
15.
Dissolve (filmmaking)
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In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. The terms fade-out and fade-in are used to describe a transition to and this is in contrast to a cut where there is no such transition. A dissolve overlaps two shots for the duration of the effect, usually at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next, but may be used in montage sequences also. Generally, but not always, the use of a dissolve is held to indicate that a period of time has passed between the two scenes, in film, this effect is usually created with an optical printer by controlled double exposure from frame to frame. In linear video editing or a television production, the same effect is created by interpolating voltages of the video signal. In non-linear video editing, a dissolve is done using software, the audio track optionally cross-fades between the soundtracks. Cuts and dissolves are used differently, a camera cut changes the perspective from which a scene is portrayed. It is as if the viewer suddenly and instantly moved to a different place, fades and dissolves typically have a duration of 1 to 2 seconds, though this may vary according to the preference of the director and editor. Short dissolves may be used to soften obvious hard cuts which may startle the viewer, in narrative terms, the length of the dissolve is dictated by the mood or pacing the director or editor wishes to create. For instance, in the sequence of Citizen Kane, the dissolves between the master shots are slow because of the pervading sense of morbidity Welles and his collaborators wished to create. Dissolves are most common in cinema, but are now less often used. It is also held that the effect was best utilised in monochrome cinematography. The impact of television news reporting may also have resulted in the device losing any pretense of having a contemporary feel, dissolves are usually kept to a minimum in most films. This is due mainly to stylistic taste and it is very rare to see a shot which both begins and ends with a dissolve. Crossfading – sound transition Wipe Georges Méliès Blend_modes#Dissolve Fielding, Raymond, the Technique of Special Effects Cinematography
Dissolve (filmmaking)
16.
Jean-Luc Godard
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Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement La Nouvelle Vague, as a result of such argument, he and like-minded critics started to make their own films. Many of Godards films challenge the conventions of traditional Hollywood in addition to French cinema, along with showing knowledge of film history through homages and references, several of his films expressed his political views, he was an avid reader of existential and Marxist philosophy. Since the New Wave, his politics have been less radical and his recent films are about representation and human conflict from a humanist. In a 2002 Sight & Sound poll, Godard ranked third in the critics top-ten directors of all time and he is said to have created one of the largest bodies of critical analysis of any filmmaker since the mid-twentieth century. He and his work have been central to narrative theory and have challenged both commercial narrative cinema norms and film criticisms vocabulary, in 2010, Godard was awarded an Academy Honorary Award, but did not attend the award ceremony. Jean-Luc Godard was born on 3 December 1930 in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Odile and Paul Godard and his wealthy parents came from Protestant families of Franco–Swiss descent, and his mother was the daughter of Julien Monod, a founder of the Banque Paribas. She was the great-granddaughter of theologian Adolphe Monod, relatives on his mothers side include also composer Jacques-Louis Monod, naturalist Théodore Monod and pastor Frédéric Monod. Four years after Jean-Lucs birth, his father moved the family to Switzerland, at the outbreak of the Second World War, Godard was in France and returned to Switzerland with difficulty. He spent most of the war in Switzerland, although his family made trips to his grandfathers estate on the French side of Lake Geneva. Godard attended school in Nyon, Switzerland, in 1946, he went to study at the Lycée Buffon in Paris and, through family connections, mixed with members of its cultural elite. He lodged with the writer Jean Schlumberger, having failed his baccalaureate exam in 1948 he returned to Switzerland. He studied in Lausanne and lived with his parents, whose marriage was breaking up and he spent time in Geneva also with a group that included another film fanatic, Roland Tolmatchoff, and the extreme rightist philosopher Jean Parvulesco. His older sister Rachel encouraged him to paint, which he did, after time spent at a boarding school in Thonon to prepare for the retest, which he passed, he returned to Paris in 1949. He registered for a certificate in anthropology at the University of Paris and he got involved with the young group of film critics at the ciné-clubs that started the New Wave. Godard originally held only French citizenship, then in 1953, he became a citizen of Gland, canton of Vaud, Switzerland, in Paris, in the Latin Quarter just prior to 1950, ciné-clubs were gaining prominence. Godard began attending these clubs - the Cinémathèque, the CCQL, Work and Culture ciné Club, at these clubs he met fellow film enthusiasts including Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, and François Truffaut. Godard was part of a generation for whom cinema took on a special importance and he has said, In the 1950s cinema was as important as bread—but it isnt the case any more
Jean-Luc Godard
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Jean-Luc Godard at Berkeley, 1968
Jean-Luc Godard
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Anna Karina, having rejected a role in Breathless, appeared in Godard's next film
Le Petit Soldat, which concerned France's war in Algeria
17.
Pauline Kael
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Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Kael was known for her witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused reviews and she is regarded as one of the most influential American film critics of her day. She left an impression on many other prominent film critics, including Armond White. You couldnt apply her approach to a film, with her it was all personal. Owen Gleiberman said she was more than a great critic and she re-invented the form, and pioneered an entire aesthetic of writing. Kael was born on a farm in Petaluma, California, to Isaac Paul Kael and Judith Kael. Her parents lost their farm when Kael was eight, and the moved to San Francisco. In 1936 she matriculated at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied philosophy, literature, nevertheless, Kael intended to go on to law school but fell in with a group of artists and moved to New York City with the poet Robert Horan. Three years later, Kael returned to San Francisco and led a life, writing plays. In 1948, Kael and filmmaker James Broughton had a daughter, Gina, in 1953, the editor of City Lights magazine overheard Kael arguing about films in a coffeeshop with a friend and asked her to review Charlie Chaplins Limelight. Kael dubbed the film Slimelight and began publishing film criticism regularly in magazines, Kael later explained her writing style, I worked to loosen my style—to get away from the term-paper pomposity that we learn at college. I wanted the sentences to breathe, to have the sound of a human voice, Kael disparaged the supposed critics ideal of objectivity, referring to it as saphead objectivity, and incorporated aspects of autobiography into her criticism. I came out of the theater, tears streaming, and overheard the petulant voice of a college girl complaining to her boyfriend, for if people cannot feel Shoeshine, what can they feel. Later I learned that the man with whom I had quarreled had gone the same night and had emerged in tears. Yet our tears for each other, and for Shoeshine did not bring us together, Life, as Shoeshine demonstrates, is too complex for facile endings. Kael broadcast many of her early reviews on the public radio station KPFA, in Berkeley. As manager of a theater, Kael programmed the films that were shown. She also wrote pungent capsule reviews of the films, which her patrons began collecting, Kael continued to juggle writing with other work until she received an offer to publish a book of her criticism
Pauline Kael
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Pauline Kael
18.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
IMDb
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Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
19.
Swedish Film Database
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The Swedish Film Database is an internet database about Swedish films, published by the Swedish Film Institute. It contains information about all Swedish films from 1897 onwards and foreign films that had cinema premiere in Sweden and it also provides a lot of biographies of actors, directors, producers etc. who participated in Swedish films over the years. It is created with the support of the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, the database comprises about 62,000 films and 265,000 people
Swedish Film Database
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The editors of the Swedish film database in December 2009
20.
Crisis (1946 film)
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Crisis is a 1946 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was Bergmans first feature as director and he wrote the screenplay. The story follows a girl living a quiet life in a small town with her foster mother. Nelly is an innocent 18-year-old becoming increasingly aware of the effect that her beauty has on the men of her little Swedish village, ingeborg is a respectably dour woman who teaches piano to village youth and has undoubtedly sacrificed much for the sake of her foster daughter. Jenny has had a rough past, involving prostitution and other scandals, among them is a dapper mustachioed gentleman acquaintance named Jack, who follows Jenny to the village as an uninvited guest
Crisis (1946 film)
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Crisis
21.
It Rains on Our Love
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It Rains on Our Love is a 1946 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The screenplay was written by Herbert Grevenius and Bergman, based on the Norwegian play Bra Mennesker by Oskar Braaten and it Rains on Our Love is the first film directed by Bergman to include actor Gunnar Björnstrand in a credited role. Björnstrand would go on to act in nearly twenty of Bergmans films, david Lindell and Maggi are not lucky. David landed in prison, but now wants to start a new life, Maggi aimed to be an actress, but got pregnant during a chance encounter and has now fled to a provincial town to give herself a second chance. The lovers represent everything the straitlaced society rejects
It Rains on Our Love
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Film poster
22.
A Ship Bound for India
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A Ship Bound for India is a 1947 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was originally released as A Ship to India in the United Kingdom, the screenplay was written by Bergman, based on the play by Martin Söderhjelm. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of the past of the character Johannes, and his relationships with his cruel father, his mother, and his fathers mistress with whom Johannes falls in love. The movie contains sequences of despair and anguish, the film is about the relationships within a family, a subject with which Bergman often dealt in later films, and uses other common devices of Bergman such as the hard father figure
A Ship Bound for India
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A Ship Bound for India
23.
Music in Darkness
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Music in Darkness is a 1948 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The screenplay was written by Bergman and Dagmar Edqvist, whose novel, talented pianist Bengt Vyldeke loses his sight after being accidentally shot during a military exercise. Bengt is gripped by increasing bitterness and develops a relationship with Ingrid, the theme of blindness and of a blinds person subjective experience plays a major role in the psychological study depicted in the movie. Bergman was deeply passionate about music and once said, If I had to choose between losing my eyes or ears—I would keep my ears, I cant imagine anything more terrible than to have my music taken away from me. Schroeder Olof Winnerstrand as The Vicar Music in Darkness at the Internet Movie Database Music in Darkness at the Swedish Film Institute Database
Music in Darkness
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Swedish cover
24.
Thirst (1949 film)
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Thirst is a 1949 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was released as Three Strange Loves in the United Kingdom, Rut and her husband Bertil travel home by train after a holiday in Italy. Their marriage is unhappy due to Ruts changing moods and heavy drinking, while passing through the ruins of post-war Germany, Rut recalls an earlier affair with married military officer Raoul. Raoul forced her to abort their child, which resulted in complications and her friend and co-dancer Valborg, disgusted by men, turned to other women. Bertil is still haunted by an affair with widow Viola. While Rut and Bertil travel home, the film shows Violas escape from a sadistic psychiatrist, her encounter with Valborg, who tries to seduce her. Meanwhile, the tensions between Rut and Bertil escalate, and Bertil seemingly kills Rut after a fight, Bertil awakens and realises that he imagined Ruts death. The couple decide to give their marriage another chance, eva Henning as Rut Birger Malmsten as Bertil Birgit Tengroth as Viola Hasse Ekman as Dr. Svensk Filmindustri offered Bergman to produce his next film. Thirst was based on a story collection published by Birgit Tengroth in 1948, Herbert Grevenius. Bergman asked Tengroth to star in his film, who helped him in finding the tone in the lesbian scene between Viola and Valborg. Shooting took place between 15 March and 5 July 1949, Thirst premiered on 17 October 1949 in Sweden and on 30 August 1956 in the US. Swedish Critic Jörn Donner later called Thirst a commercial version of Prison, françois Truffaut saw similarities between Bergmans film and Alfred Hitchcocks Suspicion and Rich and Strange. Bergman on Bergman, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, New York 1973, Thirst at the Internet Movie Database Thirst at the Swedish Film Institute Database
Thirst (1949 film)
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Swedish cover.
25.
Secrets of Women
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Secrets of Women is a 1952 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was screened within the selection of Venice Film Festival. It is one of Bergmans early films, and essentially a drama about young relationships told in flashbacks by a group of women, however, as it came to be afterwards, the most memorable part of the film is the humorous elevator-scene between actors Gunnar Björnstrand and Eva Dahlbeck. This scene was Bergmans first attempt at comedy in film and he later stated it was this scene that made him realize he could write comedy at all, which many say he repeated more successfully in the films A Lesson in Love and Smiles of a Summer Night. Since its release, Secrets of Women, while not regarded as one of Bergmans strongest efforts, has received positive reviews from film critics. Secrets of Women at the Internet Movie Database Secrets of Women at the Swedish Film Institute Database
Secrets of Women
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Secrets of Women
26.
Sawdust and Tinsel
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Sawdust and Tinsel is a 1953 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. An aging circus ringmaster visits his wife to see his young sons. Meanwhile, his jealous young lover has an affair with an actor, in 2012 it was voted one of the 25 best Swedish films of all time. The film was shown as part of an Ingmar Bergman Retrospective at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in 2011, Sawdust and Tinsel at the Internet Movie Database Sawdust and Tinsel at the Swedish Film Institute Database Sawdust and Tinsel at Rotten Tomatoes Sawdust and Tinsel at AllMovie
Sawdust and Tinsel
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Film poster
27.
A Lesson in Love
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A Lesson in Love is a 1954 Swedish comedy film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film is about the marriage of a gynecologist named David, the films score was composed by Dag Wirén. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports 100% approval, with a rating of 7. 2/10. A Lesson in Love at the Internet Movie Database A Lesson in Love at the Swedish Film Institute Database
A Lesson in Love
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A Lesson in Love
28.
Brink of Life
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Brink of Life, is a 1958 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Bergman won the Best Director Award and Anderson, Dahlbeck, Ornäs, nordlander Ann-Marie Gyllenspetz as Counsellor Gran Inga Landgré as Greta Ellius Brink of Life received generally mixed reviews from critics. In order for the film to be screened publicly, the Committee imposed the removal of the scene in which Stina is in due to labour. The official document number is,31260, it was signed on 20 April 1960 by Minister Domenico Magrì, Brink of Life, So Close to Life at the Internet Movie Database Brink of Life at the Swedish Film Institute Database
Brink of Life
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Swedish poster
29.
The Magician (1958 film)
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The Magician is a 1958 film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Its original Swedish title is Ansiktet, which means The Face, the film stars Max von Sydow as a traveling magician named Albert Vogler. The scientifically minded disbelievers try to expose them as charlatans, the film was distantly inspired by G. K. Chestertons play Magic, which Bergman numbered among his favourites. Bergman staged a production of Magic in Swedish at one point. The film was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 31st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. Max von Sydow – Albert Emanuel Vogler Ingrid Thulin – Manda Vogler Gunnar Björnstrand – Dr. Don Druker of the Chicago Reader called it one of Bergmans most tightly structured and frightening films. Woody Allen selected The Magician as one of the five Bergman films that he would most recommend to those unfamiliar with the filmmaker
The Magician (1958 film)
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Film poster
30.
The Virgin Spring
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The Virgin Spring is a 1960 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a rape and revenge tale about a fathers merciless response to the rape, the story was adapted by screenwriter Ulla Isaksson from a 13th-century Swedish ballad, Töres döttrar i Wänge. The film contains a number of themes that question morals, vengeance, the film won for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1961 Academy Awards and other honours. It was also the basis for the 1972 exploitation horror film The Last House on the Left, in medieval Sweden, prosperous Christian Per Töre sends his daughter, Karin, to take candles to the church. Karin is accompanied by her pregnant servant Ingeri, who worships the Norse deity Odin. Along their way through the forest on horseback, Ingeri becomes frightened when they come to a stream-side mill, Ingeri encounters a one-eyed man at the stream-side mill. When Ingeri asks about his name he enigmatically responds he has none in these days, the man tells Ingeri that he can see and hear things others can not. When the man makes sexual advances towards her and promises her power, meanwhile, Karin meets three herdsmen, two men and a boy, and invites them to eat her lunch with her. Eventually, the two men rape and murder Karin while Ingeri watches, hidden, from a distance. The two older men then leave the scene with Karins clothing, the younger boy is left with the body and to watch the goats, but he takes the situation poorly and quickly becomes sick with guilt. The herders then, unknowingly, seek shelter at the home of the murdered girl and her parents discover that the goat herders murdered their daughter when the goat herders offer to sell Karins clothes to her mother. After they fall asleep, the locks the trio in the chamber. Ingeri returns to the farm and breaks down in front of Töre and she tells him about the rape and confesses that she secretly wished for Karins death out of jealousy. In a rage, Töre stabs one of the herders to death with a knife before killing the other two with his bare hands. That same day, the set out to find their daughters body with the help of Ingeri. Töre vows that, although he cannot understand why God would allow such a thing to happen, as her parents lift her head from the ground, a spring begins to flow from where she was lying. Ingeri then begins to wash herself with the water and Karins parents clean their daughters muddied face, a variety of themes explored in the film include Christianity, Paganism, Norse mythology, feelings of guilt, vengeance, the questioning of religious faith and sexual innocence. Much of the religious themes centre on conflict between paganism and Christianity, recalling the misery Sweden experienced as the two struggled for predominance
The Virgin Spring
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Original poster
31.
Through a Glass Darkly (film)
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Through a Glass Darkly is a 1961 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow and Lars Passgård. Bergman structured the film as a play, drawing on his personal experiences. The film was his first of several shot on Fårö, through a Glass Darkly was released to positive reviews, including for Anderssons performance, and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is followed by Bergmans thematically related 1963 films Winter Light, Karins husband Martin tells her father, David, that Karins disease is almost incurable. Meanwhile, Minus, Karins 17-year-old brother, tells Karin that he wishes he could have a conversation with his father. David is a novelist suffering writers block who has just returned from a long trip abroad. He announces he will again in a month, though he promised he would stay. The others perform a play for him that Minus has written, David, while feigning approval of the play, takes offense since the play can be interpreted as an attack on his character. That night, after rejecting Martin’s erotic overtures, Karin wakes up and she faints after an episode in which she hears voices behind the peeling wallpaper. She then enters Davids room and looks through his desk and finds his diary, the following morning, David and Martin, while fishing, confront each other over Karin. Martin accuses David of sacrificing his daughter for his art and of being a self-absorbed, callous, cowardly, David is evasive but admits that much of what Martin says is true. David says that he tried to kill himself by driving over a cliff but was saved by a faulty transmission. He says that after that, he discovered that he loves Karin, Minus and Martin, meanwhile, Karin tells Minus about her episodes, and that she is waiting for God to appear behind the wallpaper in the attic. Minus is somewhat sexually frustrated, and Karin teases him, even more so after she discovers that he hides a mens magazine, later, on the beach, when Karin sees that a storm is coming, she runs into a wrecked ship and huddles in fear. Minus goes to her and she seduces her brother, Minus tells the other men about the incident in the ship and Martin calls for an ambulance. Karin asks to speak with her father alone and she confesses her misconduct toward Martin and Minus, saying that a voice told her to act that way and also to search Davids desk. She tells David she would like to remain at the hospital, because she cannot go back, while they are packing to go to the hospital, she runs to the attic where Martin and David observe her actions. She says that God is about to walk out of the closet door and she becomes fixated on a crack in the wall out of which emerges a spider
Through a Glass Darkly (film)
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The original Swedish poster
32.
The Silence (1963 film)
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The Silence is a 1963 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom. The film is the third in a series of related films, following Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light. Against expectations of the filmmakers, it was a box office hit, the film was also noted for its frank depiction of sexuality and won the award for Best Film at the 1st Guldbagge Awards. It is regarded favorably by modern critics, two emotionally estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Annas son, Johan, a boy of 10, are on a night train journey back home. Ester, the sister and a literary translator, is seriously ill. Anna coldly assists her, seemingly resenting the burden and they decide to interrupt the journey in the next town called Timoka, located in a Central European country on the brink of war. Although Ester is a translator, neither she nor her relatives speak the language of this country. The sisters rent a two-room-apartment in a once-grandiose hotel, Ester suffers in her room, self-medicating with vodka and cigarettes while trying to work. Johan soon begins wandering around the hallways, encountering the elderly hotel porter. Meanwhile, Anna ventures into the city and is openly advanced upon by a waiter in a cafe, later, she watches a show in an uncrowded theatre, and is both repelled and fascinated when a young couple begin to have sex in a seat nearby. Anna returns to the cafe, brushes past the waiter, left with Johan while his mother is out, Ester attempts to form a more intimate bond with him, but Johan avoids her attempts to stroke his hair and face. On Annas return, Ester is eager for an account of what her sister has done after seeing her soiled dress, provoked, Anna spitefully fabricates a sexual encounter with the waiter to her sister. Anna also reveals her intention to him again that evening. Anna meets the man in their hotel, and Johan witnesses them kissing and entering a room down an adjacent hall, upon returning to the room, he asks Ester, why his mother dislikes being with them, as she always departs as soon as she gets the chance. Ester tells him that she has learned a few words of the local language, Johan, instinctively knowing Ester is seriously ill, embraces her in a show of concern and compassion. After Johan has fallen asleep, Ester sobs at the door of Anna and her lover, Anna lets her in and turns on the lights so that Ester can fully see the two of them in bed together. Anna tells Ester that she aspired to be like her, morally elevated. Ester insists that she loves her and that Anna is wrong, Anna gets furious and asks her to leave the room
The Silence (1963 film)
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Danish film poster
33.
All These Women
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All These Women, 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 Fellinis 8½, along with Smiles of a Summer Night, the film is one of the few comedy films ever made by Bergman. It was Bergmans first film to be shot in colour, late critic Roger Ebert wrote that it was the worst film he has ever made. 19 All These Women at the Internet Movie Database All These Women at the Swedish Film Institute Database at bergmanorama
All These Women
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All These Women
34.
Persona (1966 film)
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Persona is a 1966 Swedish psychological drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann. Persona’s story revolves around a nurse named Alma and her patient, a well-known stage actress named Elisabet Vogler. The two move to a cottage, where Alma cares for and talks to Elisabet about intimate secrets, Bergman wrote the film with Ullmann and Andersson in mind for the lead parts, and some idea of exploring their identities, and shot the film in Stockholm and Fårö. Often categorized as a horror, Persona deals with themes of duality, insanity. In its release, the film was subject to cuts because of its subject matter. It won the award for Best Film at the 4th Guldbagge Awards and was Swedens entry for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Many critics consider it one of the greatest films ever made, the film has influenced many later directors, such as Robert Altman and David Lynch. One of these women is possibly Alma, a nurse who is assigned by a doctor to see a patient. Elisabet is an actress who has suddenly fallen silent and still, although the doctors have determined it is not a result of physical illness or hysteria. While at the hospital, Alma reads Elisabet a letter from her husband and she also becomes distressed seeing TV footage of monk Thích Quảng Đứcs self-immolation in the Vietnam War. The doctor decides Elisabet will recover better in a cottage by the sea, while at the cottage, Alma talks to Elisabet, remarking no one has ever really listened to her before. She speaks about her first affair and her fiancé, Karl-Henrik, one night, she relates how, while in a relationship with Karl-Henrik, she was sunbathing in the nude with a woman she had just met named Katarina, when two young boys came along. Katarina initiated an orgy in which Alma became pregnant, and she had an abortion, Alma drives to town to deliver their letters, but sees Elisabets is unsealed. She reads it, and finds Elisabet has written she is studying Alma and has told of Almas orgy, furious, Alma accuses Elisabet of using her, though she does not know for what purpose. In a resulting brawl, Alma attempts to scald Elisabet with boiling water, but stops when Elisabet cries for her to not to, Alma tells her she knows she is a terrible person, and when Elisabet runs off, Alma chases after her and begs for her forgiveness. Elisabet also sees the Stroop Report photograph of Jews arrested in the Warsaw Ghetto, one night, Alma hears a man outside calling for Elisabet, and finds it is the husband, Mr. Vogler. Mr. Vogler addresses Alma as Elisabet, despite her telling him he is mistaken, Alma meets with Elisabet again, feeling a need to talk about why Elisabet tore the photo of her son. Alma reveals much of Elisabets story, that she wanted the only thing she did not have, to be a mother, Elisabet came to regret the decision, and attempted self-induced abortion, but gave birth to a boy she hates
Persona (1966 film)
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The original Swedish poster
Persona (1966 film)
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Stroop Report photograph found by Elisabet: "Forcibly pulled out of dug-outs"
Persona (1966 film)
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Persona' s frequent shots of overlapping faces.
35.
Hour of the Wolf
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Hour of the Wolf is a 1968 Swedish surrealist–psychological horror–drama film, directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. Although Hour of the Wolf is seldom listed among Bergmans major works by critics, the film is followed by Bergmans thematically-related films Shame and The Passion of Anna. During the opening credits, Bergman can be overheard giving instructions to, the film is framed through the account of Alma, who addresses the audience directly. She tells of her husbands disappearance, which is explored in a constructed of his diaries. Painter Johan Borg and his young wife Alma live on the island of Baltrum. He is regularly approached by odd and suspicious people and he confides to Alma that he believes them to be demons, and begins to give names to them, including the Bird-Man, the Insects, the Meat-Eaters, the Schoolmaster and The Lady With a Hat. On the nights when Johan cannot sleep, Alma stays awake by his side, one day, an old lady stops by the house and tells Alma to read Johans diary, which he hides under his bed. Alma discovers that Johan is not only haunted by the real or imaginary strangers, the couple are approached by a Baron von Merkens, who lives in a nearby castle. The painter and his wife visit them and their surreal household, after dinner, the barons wife shows the couple into her bedroom, where on display is a portrait of Veronica by Borg. The painting appears to be so beautiful, the barons wife proclaims, after Johan and Alma leave the castle, she confesses to him her fear of losing him to the demons, but also her will not to give up easily. A superimposed title Hour of the Wolf marks the end of part one, again, Alma stays awake with Johan who cannot sleep. He tells her of the vargtimmen, during which, he says and he also recounts his desperate love affair with Veronica and his childhood trauma of being locked into a cupboard where, as his parents said, a small man lived who fed on childrens toes. Then he recalls a confrontation with a boy which occurred some time ago. Whether this encounter took place or is imaginary is never revealed. Alma is shocked by Johans confessions, one of von Merkens guests shows up at the couples house to invite them to another party at the castle, pointing out that Veronica Volger is among the invited guests. He places a pistol on the table, to them against small animals. Johan and Alma get into a fight over his obsession with Veronica, Johan finally picks up the pistol, shoots Alma and runs to the castle. The barons guests, all of whom previously attended, are revealed to be the demons that Johan described to Alma
Hour of the Wolf
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Original Swedish theatrical poster
36.
Shame (1968 film)
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Shame is a 1968 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow. The film explores shame, moral decline, self-loathing and violence through a politically uninvolved couple attempting to flee a war-ravaged European nation, the film was shot on Fårö beginning in 1967, employing miniature models for war scenes. Shame was released during the Vietnam War, although Bergman denied it was a commentary on the real-life conflict and it won a few honors, including for Ullmanns performance. It is followed by Bergmans thematically-related 1969 film The Passion of Anna, a husband and wife, Jan and Eva, are former violinists who are living on a farm on a rural island during a civil war. Their radio and telephone do not work, and Eva expresses frustration at Jans apparent preference of escapism from the conflict, while they debate whether they can have children and if Jan is selfish. The couple visit the town, and hear a rumor that troops will soon come, when they return, their farmhouse becomes the site of a bloody siege. Jan and Eva are captured by the force and interviewed by a military journalist on camera. Eva initially seems indifferent to the conflict, but denies neutrality, and Jan declines to speak and they are later captured again, and as soldiers interrogate them, the troops play the interview video which dubs over Evas words with enemy language. This is primarily a scare tactic, eventually, they are released by Col. Jacobi, who had formerly been serving as the mayor. After the couple returns home, their relationship is strained, Jacobi becomes a regular, if not uncomfortably constant, visitor who treats them with gifts but also has the power to send the couple to a work camp. Jacobi convinces Eva to provide him with sexual favors in exchange for his bank account savings and they go into the green house to have sex while Jan is resting. Eventually, he goes upstairs and finds Jacobis savings on the bed, Eva enters, Jacobi stays outside and turns to leave. She harshly comments to a weeping Jan that he can continue sobbing if he feels it will help, soldiers arrive, and Jacobi explains his freedom can be bought, as the side of the war who is here is in desperate need of money. Jacobi, the soldiers, and Eva ask Jan for the money, Jan states he does not know what money they are talking about. The soldiers raid the house to look for it, in vain and they hand Jan a gun to execute Jacobi, and he does. After the soldiers leave, Jan reveals he had the money in his pocket and this has split their relationship irreparably and causes repeated break downs. The relationship grows silent and cold, when Jan and Eva meet a young soldier, Eva wants to feed him and allow him to sleep. Jan violently takes him away to shoot and rob him, Eva follows Jan towards the sea, and he uses the money from Jacobi in order to buy them seats on a fishing boat
Shame (1968 film)
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English cover.
37.
The Rite (1969 film)
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The Rite is a 1969 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It premiered on Swedish television on 25 March 1969, a judge in an unnamed country interviews three actors, together and separately, provoking them while investigating a pornographic performance for which they may face a fine. Sebastian, a heavy drinker in debt, is guilty of killing his former partner and is having an affair with the dead mans widow. Thea, a woman who is prone to fits and seemingly fragile, is currently married to Sebastians new partner. He is wealthy, self-contained, and growing weary of the troupe, the judge plays on the trios insecurities, but they may have their revenge when they finally perform The Rite in a private session with him
The Rite (1969 film)
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Promotional poster
38.
The Passion of Anna
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The Passion of Anna is a 1969 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, who was awarded Best Director at the 1971 National Society of Film Critics Awards for the film. The audience is introduced to Andreas Winkelman, a man living alone and he meets Anna, who is grieving the recent deaths of her husband and son. She uses a cane as a result of the car crash that killed them, while Anna uses Andreas phone, he listens to her conversation, after which she departs visibly distraught. Anna has left her handbag behind and Andreas searches it, finding and reading a letter from her husband that will prove she is deceptive. Andreas is friends with a couple, Eva and Elis who are also in the midst of psychological turmoil. Elis is a photographer who organizes his work based on emotion. Eva feels Elis has grown tired of her and has problems sleeping, one night while Elis is away, Eva visits Andreas, as she is bored and lonely. They listen to music and drink wine, which makes them drowsy, when she wakes up, they have sex. Afterward, she explains that during her only pregnancy years ago, the medicine they gave her helped her condition but killed the child. She conveys that it allowed her and Elis to share a moment of emotional affinity, Andreas visits Elis whom he promised could photograph him. Elis leaves the room for a moment and Eva enters, in their conversation, Eva reveals that Anna has moved in with Andreas, and though she is not displeased, she warns him to be wary of Anna. Elis enters the room, when Eva asks him why he looks angry and their relationship is not passionate but Andreas and Anna start off relatively content. Anna appears zealous in her faith and steadfast in her search for truth, throughout the film, an unknown person among the island community commits acts of animal cruelty, hanging a dog and violently killing cattle. A friend of Andreas is wrongly accused of crimes, leading the community to threaten and beat him. Within a few days of the death, Anna and Andreas have a physical fight during which they reveal their strong distaste for each other. Afterwards Anna lies in bed while Andreas follows two firetrucks that passed his home and they were headed to a large barn fire. When Andreas arrives, he is told that the man who is the true culprit of the animal cruelty covered a barn full of animals in gasoline and lit it on fire. It is obvious to the community that Andreas friend was unjustly abused and committed suicide because of flimsy human suspicion, therefore, Anna shows up at the fire in her car
The Passion of Anna
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Theatrical film poster
39.
The Touch (1971 film)
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The Touch is a 1971 drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Elliott Gould, and Sheila Reid. The film tells the story of an affair between a woman and an impetuous foreigner. The film contains references to the Virgin Mary and Nazi concentration camps, produced and distributed by ABC Motion Pictures, it was Bergmans first English language film, but shot on the island of Gotland in Sweden. It received mixed to negative reviews and was a box office bomb, in a village, Karin Vergerus, married to a man named Andreas with children, visits a hospital where her mother has died. She reacts with sorrow, and is seen by a man named David Kovac, David visits the couple, and tells them about his work, including the discovery of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. The fact that the statue was brought to the remote village and he also tells Karin that he fell in love with her the day he saw her at the hospital. Karin visits David in his home, and after drinking sherry and she tells him this is her first affair and that she is uncertain if she is in love with him, but it is significant for her. As the affair continues, David becomes overbearing and angry, when she shows up to his home under the influence of alcohol, and having failed to quit smoking as they agreed, he slaps her. He shares his family history with her, telling her many of his relatives were murdered in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, eventually, Andreas visits David, revealing he has been receiving anonymous poison pen letters telling him David is having an affair with Karin. David dismisses the visit as absurd, and denies Andreas claim that David attempted suicide, David leaves for London, and Karin tells Andreas she feels she must go to find out why he left her. Andreas angrily tells her if she leaves, she cannot return to their marriage. In London, Karin meets a woman named Sara and is surprised to hear Sara say she is Davids sister, Sara guesses Karin is pregnant, though Karin refuses to say if the fetus is Andreas or Davids. Sara also declares she and David will never separate, Karin leaves, saying she does not think she will return. Later, David and Karin meet in a greenhouse, David tells her he has found life without her intolerable, and that their relationship has changed him, and that he now cares about what happens to him. He says he has accepted a position at a university and asks Karin to come with him, Karin rejects the offer, citing her duty to remain. He accuses her of lying and cowardice as they separate, paul Scherer at Indiana University South Bend argued the film contains fairly explicit reference to the Garden of Eden and such related themes as Satan, temptation and the fall. Scherer also noted critic James Gay argued anti-Semitism was vaguely a theme in the film, the statue of Mary also features in the films themes. The statue has a smile, and resembles Karins mother
The Touch (1971 film)
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The Touch
40.
Cries and Whispers
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Cries and Whispers is a 1972 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. Cries and Whispers marked a return to traditional Bergman themes such as faith, the psyche. Unlike his previous films, it uses saturated colour, especially crimson, after several unsuccessful experimental films, Cries and Whispers was a critical and commercial success. It received five Academy Award nominations including one for Best Picture and it was for the colour and light scheme that the cinematographer and long-time Bergman collaborator Sven Nykvist was awarded the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Cries and Whispers takes place in a mansion in the 19th century, filled with red carpets. It depicts the final days of Agnes, who is near death due to cancer and her sisters Maria and Karin have returned to the family home to be with her. However the two women remain distant and awkward, struggling to comfort their sister while dealing with the shock, the deeply religious maid Anna, whose own daughter died at an early age, is the only person in the house able to comfort the dying woman. At length Agnes dies and during her wake the priest declares Agnes faith was stronger than his own. In a dream-like sequence that follows Agnes seemingly returns to life for a moment and asks her sisters one last time for the love. For a moment Karin, Maria and Agnes grow closer to each other, once again only Anna is able to embrace and comfort Agnes. The film is characterized by flashbacks that visit the characters lives and their memories, the last flashback, from the deceased Agnes point of view, is narrated via her diary and shows her sisters descending upon the house clad in white, like angels. The last words are Agnes whispering, Come what may, this is happiness, I cannot wish for anything better. Now, for a few minutes, I can experience perfection, and I feel profoundly grateful to my life, which gives me so much. Bergman then decided to shoot the film in Swedish and not in English, and to finance Cries and Whispers through his own production company, Cinematograph. Although he used personal savings of 750,000 SEK and loans of 200,000 SEK, he also had to ask the Swedish Film Institute for support with the 1.5 million SEK budget, to some criticism. To save costs, the actresses and Nykvist gave their salary as a loan and were nominally co-producers. In his book Images, Bergman wrote, Today I feel that in Persona—and later in Cries, and that in these two instances when working in total freedom, I touched wordless secrets that only the cinema can discover. In an essay with the DVD, the critic Peter Cowie also quotes the director, All of my films can be thought of in terms of black and white, except Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers
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Swedish theatrical release poster
Cries and Whispers
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The film was shot at
Taxinge-Näsby Castle outside
Mariefred.
41.
Scenes from a Marriage
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Scenes from a Marriage is a 1973 Swedish Television miniseries written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. The story explores the disintegration of the marriage between Marianne, a lawyer specializing in divorce, and Johan, spanning a period of 10 years. Bergmans teleplay draws on his own experiences, including his relationship with Ullmann and it was shot on a small budget in Stockholm and Fårö in 1972. After initially airing on Swedish TV in six parts, the miniseries was condensed into a version and received positive reviews in Sweden. Scenes from a Marriage was also the subject of controversy for its influence on rising divorce rates in Europe. The film was ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the miniseries and film version influenced filmmakers such as Woody Allen and Richard Linklater. It was followed by a sequel, Saraband, in 2003, the TV miniseries six episodes ran between 11 April and 16 May 1973. At about 50 minutes per episode, the miniseries totals 282 minutes, Scenes from each episode appear in the film version, which is 168 minutes long. The episode titles appear in the version as chapter titles. As a boy, he had witnessed his parents violently wrestling, Ingmar also found his mother could be manipulative. The budget was approximately one-third that of Bergmans previous film, Cries and Whispers, with half covered by Swedish Television and it was filmed in Stockholm and Fårö between July and October 1972. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist emphasized close-ups and employed small indoor film sets, Nykvist later regretted not using more tracking shots when he learned the miniseries would have a theatrical release. The filming schedule was one week per episode, Ullmann compared performing in Scenes From a Marriage to appearing in a documentary, saying she felt very connected to the role. She said she was becoming involved in the feminist movement while making the film. Due to Ullmann and Erland Josephsons comfort with their parts, the saved time by not having rehearsals. The miniseries was broadcast in Sweden by SVT2 beginning on 11 April 1973, polls indicated most of the viewers were women. In the United States, a 167-minute version of the miniseries was released in cinemas and it opened in New York City on 21 September 1974. The full miniseries was aired in the U. S. by PBS in March and April 1977
Scenes from a Marriage
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The Criterion Collection DVD cover
42.
The Magic Flute (1975 film)
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The Magic Flute is Ingmar Bergmans 1975 film version of Mozarts opera Die Zauberflöte. It was intended as a production and was first shown on Swedish television on 1 January 1975. The work is viewed as one of the most successful films of an opera ever made. Although Bergman carried out the project in his mid-50s, it was rooted in his youth, also while still a child, he serendipitously discovered the Baroque theater that served as the inspiration for his much-later production, As a boy I loved roam around. One October day I set out for Drottningholm to see its unique court theater from the eighteenth century, for some reason the stage door was unlocked. I walked inside and saw for the first time the carefully restored baroque theater, I remember distinctly what a bewitching experience it was, the effect of chiaroscuro, the silence, the stage. In my imagination I have always seen The Magic Flute living inside that old theater, in that keenly acoustical wooden box, with its slanted stage floor, its backdrops, here lies the noble, magical illusion of theater. The moment the curtain is raised, an agreement between stage and audience manifest itself, in other words, it is obvious that the drama of The Magic Flute should unfold in a baroque theater. At one stage Bergman had hoped to direct a production at the Malmö City Theater. The origin of his version was in the 1960s, when Magnus Enhörning, head of the Swedish Radio, asked him for possible projects. Enhörning readily agreed and supported the project without hesitation, the German-language libretto of The Magic Flute was the work of Mozarts collaborator Emanuel Schikaneder, who was also theatre manager and sang Papageno at the first performances in 1791. For the plot, see The Magic Flute, and for details of the libretto see Libretto of the Magic Flute. However, Bergman altered the libretto in a number of respects, Sarastro is Paminas father, trios in Act 2 are omitted, instead of his usual costume of plumage, Papageno wears conventional clothing. The roles of the Three Slaves, originally spoken roles assigned to adult actors, are given to children, the latter film includes a puppet-theatre sequence of part of Act 1 of the opera. Evidon also sees a parallel between Bergmans treatment of Sarastro and Amfortas in Parsifal, in producing the opera, Bergman sought to fulfill his early dream of a production in the Drottningholm Palace Theatre. This setting would also approximate the conditions of the original 1791 production in the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, the introductory exterior shots of the film are intended to suggest that it was indeed filmed in the Drottningholm theatre. However, the scenery at Drottningholm was considered too fragile to accommodate a film crew, so the stage – complete with wings, curtains, and wind machines – was painstakingly copied and erected in the studios of the Swedish Film Institute. Bergman asked his friend Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt to conduct the opera, the renowned choir conductor Eric Ericson also declined at first but was later persuaded by Bergman to take it on
The Magic Flute (1975 film)
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The Magic Flute
43.
Face to Face (1976 film)
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Face to Face is a 1976 Swedish psychological drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It tells the story of a psychiatrist who is suffering from a mental illness and it stars Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. It is also the debut of Lena Olin. The film was conceived and produced as a four-part mini-series on Swedish television with a time of 177 minutes. The episodes were entitled, Uppbrottet Gränsen Skymningslandet Återkomsten It was edited down for theatrical releases for running times from 114 to 135 minutes, however, the theatrical version premiered first. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival held in May. The television version aired in Sweden over four weeks in May and June of that year, dr. Jenny Isaksson is a psychiatrist married to another psychiatrist, both are successful in their jobs but slowly, agonizingly, Jenny succumbs to a breakdown. She is haunted by images and emotions from her past and eventually cannot function as a wife, Face to Face was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Director. Ullmann was nominated by BAFTA in the Best Actress category and it also was named by the Golden Globes as their Best Foreign Language Film of the year, with Ullmann also being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. At the beginning of the Woody Allen film Annie Hall, Allens character refuses to see Face to Face after arriving a few minutes late for a showing and he instead takes Annie to a screening of The Sorrow and the Pity. Face to Face at the Internet Movie Database Face to Face at the Swedish Film Institute Database The Ingmar Bergman Foundation Face to Face
Face to Face (1976 film)
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Face to Face
44.
Autumn Sonata
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Autumn Sonata is a 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. The movie tells the story of a classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter. It was Ingrid Bergmans last performance in a theatrical feature film. Autumn Sonata was Ingmar Bergmans last film made for the cinema, all his films from this point and it is generally well-regarded among critics. Eva, wife of the pastor, invites her mother Charlotte for a visit to her village. She has not seen her for seven years. Her mother is a world-renowned pianist, somewhat eccentric, aging, Eva is not as talented as the mother. Evas main concern is to be the mistress of her home, wife, mother, the presence of her younger paralyzed daughter in Evas house is shocking to the aging mother. She makes a gift of her own wrist watch to her younger paralyzed daughter and she immediately re-performs the same prelude after Eva finishes in her own preferred interpretation of the music. Before going to bed, Charlotte decides to make a gift of her own car to her daughter and she plans to take a flight home, and buy a new car for herself, as a measure of her altruism. At night, Charlotte wakes up from a nightmare, it seems that Eva is choking her and she gets up, goes into the living room and sees Eva there also awake and not sleeping. Mother and daughter begin an impassioned rediscovery and clarification of their past relationship, Evas husband overhears this unexpectedly heightened exchange, but wisely decides not to participate and interfere. Hearing this impassioned exchange, her younger sister painfully forces herself out of her bed and starts crawling up to the stairs to where Eva. Upon reaching the landing she starts shouting, Mama, come, in the morning Charlotte prepares for her departure. Eva goes to the grave of her son, and her husband ineffectively tries to soothe her ailing sister. Charlotte asks for a friend to escort her away by train, while speaking to her friend on the train, she begins to question the unfortunate fate of her disabled and paralyzed daughter, asking the unanswerable questions, Why couldnt she die. Her older daughter sends her mother a letter starting with the words, the mother reads the letter in which her daughter, in its conclusion, leaves open the possibility of a future reconciliation as the film ends. Although formally a German production, the dialogue is in Swedish, most of the crew and actors were Swedish, in 1976 he had gone into voluntary exile in Munich after being accused of evading tax on the income from certain films
Autumn Sonata
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US theatrical poster
Autumn Sonata
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Liv Ullmann and
Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata.
45.
From the Life of the Marionettes
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From the Life of the Marionettes is a 1980 film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was produced in West Germany with a German language screenplay and it is filmed in black and white apart from two colour sequences at the beginning and end of the movie. The title is a quotation excerpted from a passage in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, unlike Collodis story, however, Bergmans is unremittingly bleak in tone. The film charts the disintegration of the relationship of Katarina and Peter Egermann, in the closing sequence he is incarcerated in a mental asylum. An odd counterpoint to the tone of the film is the sprightly disco soundtrack over the end credits. The film was shot in the Bavaria Film Studios in Munich from October to December 1979, with the exception of the bar scene, the film begins in color, but all the flashbacks are in black and white. The film was made for television and had its TV premiere on German ZDF on 3 November 1980. The very first showing, however, was at a film festival in Oxford 13 July 1980, followed by festival showings in Paris. After the German TV premiere the film went on general cinema release, many felt Bergmans film was too heavy to be considered real drama, but they did like the performances of the German cast, including Robert Atzorn. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the year by the U. S. National Board of Review and it currently holds a 56%, however, on Rotten Tomatoes
From the Life of the Marionettes
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From the Life of the Marionettes
46.
Fanny and Alexander
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Fanny and Alexander is a Swedish drama film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 17 December 1982, written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their family in Uppsala, Sweden in the 1900s. The TV version has since released as a complete film. The 312-minute cut, at five hours and 12 minutes, is one of the longest cinematic films in history, Fanny and Alexander is frequently listed among Bergmans greatest works. The story is set during 1907–09, in the Swedish town of Uppsala where Alexander, his sister Fanny and their well-to-do family, the siblings parents are both involved in theater and are happily married until their father, Oscar, suddenly dies from a stroke. Shortly thereafter, their mother, Emilie, marries Edvard Vergérus, the bishop and a widower. The relationship between the bishop and Alexander is especially cold, as Alexander invents stories, for which Edvard punishes him severely, Edvard immediately confines the children to their bedroom. Meanwhile, the rest of the Ekdahl family has begun to worry about their condition, when Emilie secretly visits her former mother-in-law, Helena, to explain what has happened, their friend Isak Jacobi, helps smuggle the children from the house. They live temporarily with Isak and his nephews in their store, Emilie, now in the later stages of her pregnancy, refuses to restore the children to the home. Emilie allows Edvard to drink a large dosage of her bromide sedative and she explains to him, as he shows signs that the medication is working, that she intends to flee the home as he sleeps. He claims that he will follow her family from city to city and ruin their lives, after Emilie gets away, Edvards dying aunt knocks over a gas lamp, setting her bedclothes, nightgown and hair on fire. She runs through the house in flames to seek Edvards help, despite the sedative, he is able to get her off him, but dies shortly thereafter. Alexander had fantasized about his stepfathers death while living with Isak, isaks mysterious nephew, Ismael Retzinsky, explains that fantasy can become true as he dreams it. Alexander encounters the ghost of the bishop who knocks him to the floor, Emilie, having inherited the theatre, hands Helena a copy of August Strindbergs play A Dream Play to read, and tells her that they should perform it together onstage. Initially scoffing at the idea and declaring Strindberg a misogynist, Helena takes to the idea, Bergman intended the film to be his last feature, although he wrote several screenplays afterward and directed a number of TV specials. This most personal of his films was to some extent based on his and his sister Margaretas unhappy childhood under their extremely strict father Erik Bergman. The film simultaneously documents many of Bergmans earlier star actors and an array of prominent Swedish film. Bertil Guve, who gave an acclaimed performance as the boy Alexander, did not choose to pursue acting
Fanny and Alexander
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Original Swedish release poster
