Bergman: A Year in a Life
Directed by Jane Magnusson
BFI 3-disc Blu-ray set and DVD release on 25 March 2019
iTunes release on 18 March 2019
See the BFI trailer
here.
Jane Magnusson’s illuminating documentary, produced for Ingmar Bergman’s centenary last year, centres on 1957, a turbulent but miraculously productive year when the great director, besides unveiling
The Seventh Seal and
Wild Strawberries and working extensively in theatre and TV, led a messily complicated domestic life that included a spell in hospital.
After its theatrical release by the BFI in January,
Bergman: A Year in a Life is released on Blu-ray and DVD on 25 March 2019, after an iTunes release on 18 March.
The Blu-ray also contains the expanded four-hour version made for Swedish TV,
Bergman: A Life in Four Acts. Both formats include a Q&A with Jane Magnusson and Vox Lipoma, an animated short.
The film’s focus on 1957 provides a springboard for a survey that spirals out to embrace everything from childhood to old age, touching on Bergman’s many creative achievements, his strengths and failings as a man, and the way his art derived from his life. Illuminating anecdotes are offered by many who knew him – none, however, perhaps quite as revealing as Ingmar’s own testimony.
Special features
•
Bergman: A Year in a Life Q&A (2019, 17 mins): Jane Magnusson in conversation with Geoff Andrew at BFI Southbank
•
Vox Lipoma (Jane Magnusson, 2018, 11 mins): satirical animation about Ingmar Bergman’s power, sexuality and relationships (shown at the 2018 BFI London Film Festival)
•
Ingmar Bergman Guardian Interview (1982, 62 mins, audio only): Bergman pays tribute to theatre and film director Alf Sjöberg, discussing his influence and impact on his own career; recorded at the NFT in 1982
• UK theatrical trailer (2019)
• [Blu-ray release only] – Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Jane Magnusson, BFI programmer-at-large Geoff Andrew, plus full film credits
Blu-ray product details
RRP: £29.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1331 / Cert 15
Sweden / 2018 / black and white, colour / 117 mins / English and Swedish, with optional English and English hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 16:9 / 3 x BD50: 1080/50i, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48kHz/24-bit) 2.0 stereo audio (320kbps)
DVD product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIV2123 / Cert 15
Sweden / 2018 / black and white, colour / 117 mins / English and Swedish, with optional English and English hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 16:9 / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio (48kHz/16-bit) and 2.0 stereo audio (320kbps)