Ernst Ingmar
Bergman, born on the 14th of July, 1918 in Uppsala, died on the 30th of July,
2007 on Fårö, was a Swedish film and theatre director, writer, theatre manager,
dramatist and author. Ingmar Bergman wrote or directed more than 60 films and
170 theatrical productions, and authored over a hundred books and articles.
Among his best-known works are the films The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries
and Persona, as well as his autobiography The Magic Lantern.
Throughout
Bergman’s many works, one finds variations on a central theme: dysfunctional
families, blood-sucking failed artists and an absent Almighty all become
manifestations of our collective inability to communicate with each other.
Shakespeare,
Molière, Ibsen, and Strindberg were all enormously important influences on
Bergman, not only in his theatrical work, but indeed the entirety of his
artistic career.
Bergman’s
films are set almost exclusively in Sweden, and starting with 1961’s Through a
Glass Darkly, they were filmed primarily on the small island of Fårö, northeast
of Gotland. The international reception of Bergman’s films reflects a not
inconsiderable fascination with a Scandinavian exoticism: inscrutable language,
primeval nature and flaxen-haired women. The depiction of nudity and a
“natural” sexuality in Bergman’s films contributed to their success.
Looking over
Bergman’s career, another hallmark of both his work for stage and film is the
recurrent company of loyal collaborators. Some notable examples from this
ensemble include the cinematographer Sven Nykvist, the actors Max von Sydow,
Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson, and the costume designer Mago.
The relationship between the life and works of the artist (despite the tendency of biographical analyses to fall victim to the cult of genius) is in the case of Ingmar Bergman as inextricably tangled as it is compelling. In countless interviews and artistic representations, and especially in The Magic Lantern, Bergman repeatedly referred to his childhood and its importance for his artistic vision. A number of his relatives were also creative colleagues.
Films :
A Lesson in Love
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography : Martin Bodin
Edited by : Oscar Rosander
Distributed by : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 4 October 1954
Running time : 96 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
A Ship Bound for India
Produced by : Lorens Marmstedt
Screenplay by : Ingmar Bergman
Based on : Skepp till India
land by Martin Söderhjelm
Music by : Erland von Koch
Cinematography : Göran
Strindberg
Edited by : Tage Holmberg
Distributed by : Nordisk
Tonefilm
Release date : 22 September
1947
Running time : 98 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
After the Rehearsal
Produced by : Jörn Donner
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Release date : 9 April 1984
Running time : 70 min
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Autumn Sonata
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Ingrid Bergman, Liv
Ullmann
Lena Nyman, Halvar Björk
Music by : Frédéric Chopin
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Sylvia
Ingmarsdotter
Production company : ITC
Entertainment
Distributed by : Constantin
Film
Release date : 8 October 1978
(Sweden)
Running time : 99 minutes
Country : Sweden, West Germany
Language : Swedish
Brink of Life
Written by : Ulla Isaksson
Starring : Eva Dahlbeck, Ingrid
Thulin
Bibi Andersson
Release date : 31 March 1958
Running time : 84 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Dreams
Produced by : Rune Waldekranz
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography : Hilding Bladh
Editing by : Carl-Olov, Skeppstedt
Release date : 1955
Running time : 87 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Face to Face
Produced by : Lars-Owe
Carlberg , Dino De Laurentiis
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Liv Ullmann, Erland
Josephson
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Editing by : Siv Lundgren
Release date : 5 April 1976
Running time : 117 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Fanny and Alexander
Produced by : Jörn Donner
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Music by : Daniel Bell
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Sylvia Ingemarsson
Production company : Gaumont
Distributed by : Sandrew Film
& Teater, Gaumont
Release date : 17 December
1982
Running time : 312 minutes TV
miniseries
Country : Sweden, France, West
Germany
Language : Swedish, German
Persona
Produced by : Ingmar Bergman
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Bibi Andersson, Liv
Ullmann
Music by : Lars Johan Werle
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Ulla Ryghe
Production company : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Distributed by : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 31 August 1966
Running time : 84 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Saraband
Written by : Ingmar Bergman, Bruno Priani
Starring : Liv Ullmann, Erland
Josephson
Distributor : Sveriges
Television, Sony Pictures Classics
Cinematography : Stefan
Eriksson, Jesper Holmström
Per-Olof Lantto, Sofi Stridh, Raymond
Wemmenlöv
Editor : Sylvia Ingemarsson
Original release : December 1,
2003
Running time : 107 minutes
Country : Sweden, Italy
Germany, Finland
Denmark, Austria
Scenes from a Marriage
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Producer : Lars-Owe Carlberg
Distributor : Sveriges Radio, Cinema
5 Distribution
Starring : Liv Ullmann, Erland
Josephson
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Running time : 281 minutes (TV
version)
167 minutes (Theatrical)
Release date : 16 May 1973
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
TV Episodes :
Secrets of Women
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman, Gun
Grut (story)
Starring : Anita Björk, Eva
Dahlbeck, Maj-Britt Nilsson
Birger Malmsten, Gunnar
Björnstrand
Cinematography : Gunnar
Fischer
Edited by : Oscar Rosander
Distributed by : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 3 November 1952
Running time : 103 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Shame
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Liv Ullmann, Max
von Sydow
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Ulla Ryghe
Production company : Cinematograph
AB
Distributed by : Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 29 September
1968
Running time : 103 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Smiles of a Summer Night
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Ulla Jacobsson, Eva
Dahlbeck
Cinematography : Gunnar
Fischer
Edited by : Oscar Rosander
Distributed by : Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 26 December
1955
Running time : 108 min
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Summer with Monika
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman, Per
Anders Fogelström (book)
Starring : Harriet Andersson, Lars
Ekborg
Music by : Erik Nordgren, Les
Baxter
Release date : 9 February 1953
Running time : 96 min
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
The Magician
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Max von Sydow, Ingrid
Thulin
Bibi Andersson
Music by : Erik Nordgren
Cinematography : Gunnar
Fischer
Edited by : Oscar Rosander
Distributed by : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 26 December
1958
Running time : 107 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
The Seventh Seal
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Screenplay by : Ingmar Bergman
Based on : Trämålning by
Ingmar Bergman (play)
Starring : Max von Sydow
Bibi Andersson
Music by : Erik Nordgren
Cinematography : Gunnar
Fischer
Edited by : Lennart Wallén
Distributed by : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 16 February
1957
Running time : 96 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish, Latin
The Silence
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel
Lindblom
Birger Malmsten, Håkan
Jahnberg
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Ulla Ryghe
Distributed by : Svensk
Filmindustri Palador Pictures Pvt. Ltd.
Release date : 23 September
1963
Running time : 105 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
The Virgin Spring
Produced by : Ingmar Bergman, Allan
Ekelund
Written by : Ulla Isaksson
Starring : Max von Sydow, Birgitta
Valberg
Music by : Erik Nordgren
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Oscar Rosander
Distributed by : Janus Films
Release date : 8 February 1960
Running time : 89 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Through a Glass Darkly
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Harriet Andersson, Gunnar
Björnstrand
Max von Sydow, Lars Passgård
Music by : Erik Nordgren, Johann
Sebastian Bach
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Ulla Ryghe
Distributed by : Janus Films
Release date : 16 October 1961
Running time : 91 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Wild Strawberries
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Starring : Victor Sjöström, Bibi
Andersson
Music by : Erik Nordgren
Cinematography : Gunnar
Fischer
Edited by : Oscar Rosander
Distributed by : AB Svensk
Filmindustri
Release date : 26 December
1957
Running time : 91 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
Winter Light
Produced by : Allan Ekelund
Written by : Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography : Sven Nykvist
Edited by : Ulla Ryghe
Release date : 11 February
1963
Running time : 81 minutes
Country : Sweden
Language : Swedish
To be continued...
