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| gromit |
 Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:20 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| I'm so far behind in my Bergman viewing. I've only seen his three most famous films. I have about two dozen of his films on Dvd. I picked up the UK Tartan series. Criterion just released a set of Bergman on their new low-budget Eclipse line. There's also a massive 47 disc Bergman box set available here. I'm assuming that it represents his entire output. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:27 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: I'm so far behind in my Bergman viewing. I've only seen his three most famous films.
What are the three you're talking about? I would say he has made about six or seven films which are equally famous. My choice for the three most famous would be The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and Cries and Whispers. But there are so many more. Persona, Scenes from a Marriage, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, The Virgin Spring...the list goes on and on and on. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:43 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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| And don't forget Fanny and Alexander. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:44 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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| Would love to see If ... again after 35 years. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:17 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and Persona.
I think the first two are clearly his best known.
And then Persona is one of the quintessential art house films.
But there are other candidates ... I just haven't seen them. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:31 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I know where Billy is coming from. Certainly I was in the dark about which movies you were referring to. Wild Strawberries is so wonderful, but for some reason I've never felt the need to re-watch it. Same goes for Through a Glass Darkly. In fact, Smiles of a Summer Night is the only one I re-watch on a regular basis (and the only one I own). |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:39 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I guess I phrased it that way because that was how I approached them. I thought it was inexcusable not to have seen The Seventh Seal, despite having seen clips, parodies and homages. So I watched that over two years ago. Then my guilt grew from not having seen Wild Strawberries, especially after seeing and loving De Sica's Umberto D, which I had heard was somewhat related thematically and in approach. Then another year or more slogged by and I felt shame and grief and uncertainty about my core identity due to not having watched Persona. So I watched it and became whole.
I'd be interested to hear recs on which Bergmans I should watch next. I wanted to start from the beginning and go chronological, but I just have far too many for that to be practical. I'm not a big fan of long films, so I've been wary of Fanny and Alexander, and Scenes From A Marriage. I would like to watch maybe 3 or 4 films in the order in which they were made. Maybe early, middle and late period Bergmans. That way I could see development and progression, while skipping over a lot.
Any suggestions? |
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| bart |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:30 am |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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| Saw Babel. Innaritu's best of his trilogy, AFAIC. More than the sum of its parts, and really true to the motion picture art form in the sense that the story could not be better told in any other medium. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: NYC; US&A
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marj-y, I bought it @ Target, but I'm sure Netflix has it available now, too.
LOVE Winter Night. Hell, I love Bergman. I'm also quite partial to the hysteria of Autumn Sonata. Have had Scenes From A Marriage here for months and haven't made time to watch it. Thanks for the review, ghulam. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:54 am |
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Scenes from a Marriage is IMO the most disappointing of Bergman's films. If it had been an American movie it would have been hooted out of theaters as an overblown, overlong soap opera. However, almost every other Bergman film is a masterpiece of some sort. My favorite of them all is Wild Strawberries, but The Seventh Seal is equally great in a more austere, less emotionally involving way. My only problem with Bergman is the same one I sometimes have with Stephen Sondheim--great artistry, great wit, but often a lack of heart.
Interesting that Bergman's most "human" movie--Smiles of a Summer Night--became Sondheim's most down-to-earth musical, A Little Night Music. Interesting, too, that I didn't love either one. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:09 pm |
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Gromit I haven't seen lots and lots of Bergman, but of the ones I've seen, only Through A Glass Darkly was a bit of a disappointment. One of my favourites of his is Virgin Spring. Very powerful and emotionally jarring. Shot beautifully, of course. I recommend it highly.
By the way, I may be the only one, but I really didn't like Umberto D. I found it excessively schmaltzy and pandering. What connection it has to Wild Strawberries is beyond me. The fact that both are about older men and their circumstance is the only connection I can think of and that ain't much. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:14 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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Quote: I first saw Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage on PBS in 1977. The original was shown on Scandinavian TV in 1973, and consisted of 6 episodes, 50 minutes each. The Criterion version (or theatrical version) that I saw today is 2 hours and 43 minutes long. It continues to maintain its grip and remains very involving. The dialogue is rich, very incisive and rich in existential angst and reflective of crisis in beliefs. Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson are superb. The scenes are very intimate, and often are prolonged shots of closeups of faces. The story is of two individuals deeply attached to each other irrespective of whether they are married at the time, or separated or divorced. Johan is introduced as a strong and self-confident man, but as the movie progresses, turns out to be more vulnerable than he appeared. The dependent Marianne, on the other hand gains in strength and independence as the movie progresses. We get to know them intimately and feel empathy for both of them.
Ghulam........I wasn't as fond of this as you were......but I recently saw Saraband.......which is an update on the lives of the 2 characters. I found it very appealing. I like Liv always......but the ex-husband is not someone I enjoy watching. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:45 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| People should watch more of his early sex comedies. It's great to see a Bergman universe with a sense of humor. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:47 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Joe Vitus wrote: People should watch more of his early sex comedies. It's great to see a Bergman universe with a sense of humor.
Titles? Titles? |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:53 pm |
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Location: Upstate NY
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| I too enjoyed Saraband a lot. It is more compact and less digressive than Scenes. |
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