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Oh dear, I am by no means an authority on Bergman, so will look a bit foolish, but so be it - at least I've SEEN five of his films! There's no way I could rate the few I've seen on any kind of scale: it's such a meagre portion of his output, but here are some ramblings - HOUR OF THE WOLF (1968) - That's the first one I ever saw, in my early teens, on TV. I watched it because there was a supposedly Bela Lugosi-type vampire character in it. The good thing is that I didn't turn it off when it was nothing like an old Universal film. It haunted me and intrigued me, but I didn't know what it was all about. I don't think that really matters. Haven't seen it since. Too many real Bela Lugosi films to catch up with! THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957) - Saw it for the first time today. Completely enthralled. I knew that Corman's MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH was influenced by this, but now I see the Vincent Price film as almost a remake. Parodied to Death (see the capital "D"?) of course. Great. WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957) - This is another one that Ivan Butler (I think) had mentioned as having a nightmarish intro sequence. So, that's one I just had to see since ever I read the Butler comment at the age of 12. I only caught up with it in later years, but it was brilliant and poignant. Beautiful. SAWDUST AND TINSEL (1953) - Surprised myself at liking this. Circuses, clowns, stuff I usually hate - but this was amazingly haunting and powerful. ANOTHER ONE - That's not the title, but rather another one that I don't know the title of... Saw it quite recently... Was set in the world of fashion (another turn-off for me, at least at the outset), and was about some kind of affair and angst. Loved the opening scene ( a fat sweaty man drumming his fingers on a chair as he looked at the model doing her turn), but I can't remember the name of the film. Very good, if not great. So you see I am a semi-virgin. I'm not particularly attracted to his later works, but seeing as INTERIORS is one of my favo(u)rite Woody Allen films ever, maybe I should try one of his colour ones set inside a room with people speaking. One more thing - I was going to say that I'm not really that open to films outside my comfort zone, but I'm willing to give them a try. I was quite captivated by Bergman in general from the start - I didn't really have to work at them to like them, they just hit a nerve, like Woody Allen. I must add that I have TRIED (a bit, not much) to like Antonioni and yet found him a struggle, and was most chuffed to read that Bergman thought he was rubbish.
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ANOTHER ONE - That's not the title, but rather another one that I don't know the title of... Saw it quite recently... Was set in the world of fashion (another turn-off for me, at least at the outset), and was about some kind of affair and angst. Loved the opening scene ( a fat sweaty man drumming his fingers on a chair as he looked at the model doing her turn), but I can't remember the name of the film. Very good, if not great. DREAMS?
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Thanks Mark - It's DREAMS indeed. If you've seen all of Bergman's films this might not make it onto your Top 10 list, but since I've only seen five it makes it onto mine!
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You're welcome, Graham. (Member), I'm happy that you chose SUMMER INTERLUDE, which I vastly prefer to Bergman's other "summer" film SUMMER WITH MONIKA. Although I don't agree with Bergman's atheism, I nevertheless find him to be a brilliant filmmaker and dramatist. My favorites are: PERSONA SHAME SAWDUST AND TINSEL THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY A PASSION FANNY AND ALEXANDER SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT THE FACE THE SEVENTH SEAL FACE TO FACE (not one of IB's best, but a magnificent vehicle for Liv Ullmann) THE SERPENT"S EGG (again, not great - but fascinating and bizarre) THE MAGIC FLUTE I recently finally saw ABOUT THESE WOMEN, which is utterly strange if you're familiar with the normal Bergman style. It's a zany comedy(!) which seems more like a Jerry Lewis or Blake Edwards film than a Bergman. FROM THE LIFE OF THE MARIONETTES is another one I saw for the first time recently. Quite good, but perhaps because it was made in Germany it feels more like a Fassbinder film.
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CASABLANCA NOTORIOUS FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
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CASABLANCA NOTORIOUS FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS As you may or may not know, Ingrid Bergman appeared in Ingmar Bergman's HÖSTSONATEN. However, they are not related. did not know that!
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I'm happy to see that I had contributed to this thread in a genuinely clever, witty way, many years ago when I had an "S" in my name. Strangely, I have no memory of writing all that, nor even seeing the films I said I'd seen. Perhaps that "Graham S. Watt" was an imposter, or a piece of spam. But by golly he was funny and intelligent compared to the nutmeg who's just posted about PAPILLON on the other side of this Board. The new bloke (I mean me, now) would be so out of place at your exclusive Birri-esque get-togethers, Jim. Bergman? Oh, wonderful. Wonderful director, simply wonderful. Yes.
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You might be surprised to learn that Mr. Birri mentioned you favorably--with or without the "S"-- during our elitist conclave. Oh! I am stunned and humbled! In the absence of real flesh n' blood friends in m'life, I am comforted in the knowledge that I have created some kind of positive impression among virtual robots! I hope we never meet. It'll be such a disappointment for everyone. EDITADO DESDE LA NAVE ESPACIAL///secreto.alto:tus.ojos/cuidado=los.espías.lo.ven.todo/// Hmm, re-reading that, I'd better give it a "smiley" (as I believe they're called in modern parlance).
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However, I still have to finish up the remainder of his 1940s-1960s work. There's several films from the 1940s, too, which were scripted by Bergman but directed by others. The earliest is the 1944 Hets (Torment), directed by Alf Sjöberg. Gustaf Molander's 1948 Eva contains rather arousing (for its time) scenes of actress Eva Dahlbeck in 2-piece lingerie ... years prior to cinema's initial Girl in a Bikini - Brigitte Bardot in 1952's Manina... La fille sans voile.
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You might be surprised to learn that Mr. Birri mentioned you favorably--with or without the "S"-- during our elitist conclave. It was loud in there. I said that I liked "David Watts" by the Kinks. "What's that? Can't hear you... David Watt stinks? That's my brother you're talking about. I'm going to punch your face in. Outside now. C'mooaaan, big man!" The above is actually part of Bergman's proposed script for "Despair and Foreboding in Godawful Glasgow", which went unfilmed when he decided his heart wasn't in it. Just to get the thread back on-topic.
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THE SEVENTH SEAL... a bona fide timeless classic... may well be my favorite. I'm always keeping such things subject to change without notice. ;-)
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