Ingmar Bergman passes away at 89

Posted by Ajit on July 30, 2007.

One of the greatest artists in cinema passed away earlier today. When I was in college, there wasn’t another director I cherished or studied more than Ingmar Bergman. There is so much that can be said of Bergman’s work, especially when it has been so long and diverse as his, but I will focus on some of my favorite Bergman moments.

My first Bergman film was Persona. Till then, my knowledge of art cinema consisted of American Indies. I was working at an art movie theater at the time and one of the other workers, a Woman in her fifties, asked me if I had seen a Bergman film. I said no and she seemed surprised, then murmured disdainfully that I should check it out. So the next day, I went to the college library and rented Persona. It was like watching an alien mind at work, dissecting humans in all of its darkness. It has been so long since I have seen it but I can still remember the invisible energy in the film, every element and every expression carried some sort of hidden drama or code.

Cries and Whispers seemed like a continuation of Persona but in a more melodic structure. There are some great individual scenes here but the one that still sticks out is where the caretaker “warms” the sick person in bed.

I saw Fanny and Alexander with a non-film person who made me promise to walk out with them if they got bored. Knowing Bergman’s films, I was almost certain this might happen. But Fanny and Alexander was as mainstream as Bergman got. We stayed and I even remember a couple of approving comments made by my companion.

My favorite Bergman film has to be Wild Strawberries. I still have an old vhs dupe that I refused to copy over with another movie. The film fascination with time is evident in its story and also in its structure. Conversations and scenes go back and forth but everything feels seamless and intuitive. The last scene where Professor Borg finds his parents fishing is so beautiful. My heart breaks just thinking of it.