Posted on 07/30/2007 3:24:11 AM PDT by WesternCulture
Film director Bergman dies at 89
Legendary film-maker Ingmar Bergman has died aged 89, according to a Swedish news agency. One of the key figures in modern cinema, his 60-year career has spanned intense classics like Cries & Whispers, The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.
He was nominated for nine Oscars himself, while his films won the best foreign film Oscar three times.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Clips from his films:
Lots of Bergman related links found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingmar_Bergman#External_links
Countdown to someone posting death playing chess image...4...3...2...
My favorite?
“De Düva” 1968
a spoof ON Bergman.
A great director - check out netflix for the 2-DVD Swedish TV miniseries version of "Scenes from a Marriage" with Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson, and then "Saraband" from 2005, not really a sequel but the same actress & actor playing the same characters 30+ years later. Toegether, a striking and beautiful reflection on love, loss, aging, and imperfect humanity.
Vila i ro, Ingmar. Tack sa mycket.
“Even I think my films are depressing”
Ingmar Bergman
Bergman was one of the greats.
“My favorite?
“De Düva” 1968
a spoof ON Bergman.”
- I’ve never heard about this film, but it seems amusing. Thanks for tip!
( I read a little about it here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062906/ )
The title as such, “De Düva: The Dove”, is probably an intentional linguistic misdeed. To someone who knows both Swedish and English (like I do) the title is rather funny and absurd.
“The Dove” would be “Duvan” in Swedish (”Duva” is the word for “Dove). Furthermore, “De” doesn’t mean “The”, in most contexts it would mean “They”, or “Those”. Sometimes, “De” appears as definite article (like “The”), but only in relation to certain words that are in the definite PLURAL form. “Duva”, however, is the SINGULAR form of “Dove” and “Duva” (just like “Dove”) is not in the definite form. Therefore, “De duva” is like saying “They Dove” in English - utter nonsense.
It’s even more weird than this as the letter “Ü” doesn’t even exist in the Swedish alphabet. But we do have a letter that looks a bit similar, namely “Ö” (pronounced more or less like “ea” in “earn”). “De Döva” would actually be perfect Swedish. It would mean “The Deaf”, which also strikes me as a typical title of an “artistic”, European, slightly incomprehensible film.
A sloppy minded film distributor of the Anglo-Saxon world would perhaps give “De Döva” the title “De Düva - The Dove” on their home market. Maybe this is the idea behind the name of the film?
You’ve had too much H2Oska. :)
“Vila i ro, Ingmar. Tack sa mycket” (Rest in Peace, Ingmar. Thank you.”)
- Thanks for these words on behalf of my home country, Sweden.
I agree he was a great director. He will be missed by many cineastes around the globe.
Personally, I don’t view myself as a cineaste, but like most people I like watching a film every now and then, even more artistic ones. They’ll probably show a lot of Ingmar Bergman films the coming months on Swedish TV, so I’ll get plenty of chances of watching his works. That’s the bright side of his decease from my own, egoistic perspective I guess.
To people who are not that much into artistic film, I’d recommend the Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander”. There are definitely a lot of deep, philosophical perspectives to be found in this masterpiece if one bothers to look, but it’s also a great (oscar awarded) drama that could be seen purely for the sake of entertainment unlike some of his other films.
About Fanny and Alexander:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083922/
“Bergman was one of the greats.”
- Someone like Woody Allen would be among the first to admit this.
““Even I think my films are depressing”
Ingmar Bergman”
- Great quote.
.
Did you see bergman’s last picture?....
A number of years ago I found myself in a complete empty nest situation. I started renting foreign films and became addicted. For me, I have to be alone to watch a film with subtitles. Try Wild Strawberries. Or Manon of the Springs. Most definitely, try Pele the Conquerer with Max Van Sydow.
“Did you see bergman’s last picture?....”
- No, I actually haven’t seen it yet, although I’ve had plenty of chances. They’ll probably show it on TV here in Sweden soon though (- I’m convinced a lot of channels will be showing different works by Bergman to honor him during the coming moths).
About “Saraband”, his last movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraband
Anyhow, I did see his last but one film, “In the presence of a clown”. The Swedish title, “Larmar och gör sig till” is in fact inspired by (a certain Swedish translation) of the expression “struts and frets”, found in Shakespear’s “Macbeth”;
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
(Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5)
I’d recommend this film by Bergman to anyone who’s interested in film and/or philosophical, political and existential questions whatsoever.
Even though artists often refuse to explain how to “read” or “view” their works of art, Bergman has actually explained how to “interpret” this film.
In an interview, Bergman said that the “message” of “In the presence of a clown” was that while the belief in large political and idealistic movements aiming to “change” or “rescue” mankind, society and the planet, sadly enough, often turn out to be illusory and self deceiving, a true atmosphere of brotherhood and feeling of affinity is often found in smaller gatherings. Bergman continued by saying something like “the human spirit found in such contexts is something worth believing in, that’s what I’ve come to understand”.
About “In the presence of a clown”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_The_Presence_of_a_Clown
That was a setup line to an old joke, to which the punchline was "I didn't know he was dead!"............
Mine too! Didn't know anyone else ahd ever seen it.
One of my favorites too.
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