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I stand corrected - tomorrow's Independent devotes the whole of its front page to a giant portrait of Bergman. It'll probably be reproduced on its website in an hour or so.

MichaelB wrote:Bergman is being discussed on BBC2's Newsnight in an hour or so. The BBC have had him on the front page of their website all day (still there as of a minute ago), though he's dropped out of the top three stories. Amusingly, for a few minutes this morning the death of EastEnders' Mike Reid was more prominent, but they very quickly swapped them round!

My guess is that the news will also be on the front pages of at least the Guardian and Telegraph tomorrow and possibly the Times as well. Probably not the Independent as they do single-issue front pages, and there isn't a global warming angle that I can see.

Nice Newsnight item, and he's the single subject on the Indo's front page and featuring largely on The Guardian cover!....

Okay, I stand corrected on the 'front page news' point, but most of the items seem fairly tokenistic, less about Bergman-as-Bergman than as yesteryear's emblem of bourgeois cultural sophistication. Not that there's anything surprising about that.

I saw Derek Malcolm speaking on Newsnight, who made the plausible observation that 'Bergman's not as fashionable as he once was, but maybe death will give him a boost'.

ola t wrote:

Barmy wrote:Too bad he wasted much of his last 20 years sitting in a barn in a wintry wasteland.

He spent them directing stage, radio, and television productions, and writing screenplays, plays, and books. He was never just a film director. Much the same way that you are not just a troll.

Actually, what Barmy wrote is what most casual observers may think. Too bad for them. (And for Barmy if that's what he also thinks.)

As much as I love the films, I am forever grateful that I got to see all of his theater productions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music since 1991. Even those that didn't work were illuminating and intelligent. (Much like the films that didn't work.)

A couple of summers ago a Bergman course was held on FÃ¥rö where he actually showed up and answered a bunch of questions asked by the participants. I didn't know a thing about any of this until later that summer by a friend who attended it. I don't think that I would've come up with a question that I'd ask him in that kind of a situation, but it'd have meant so much just to have met him.

It didn't take long after I heard about his death that I started watching The Silence, then the first part (The Cinema) of Marie Nyreröd's documentary trilogy (Swedish television were showing it) and after that Cries and Whispers. I don't think that I've ever felt them as strong before. Now it's time for Persona.

Just like some people that was acquainted with him said when being interviewed on TV today, I felt his death came as a surprise because even though he was 89 years old he was still so alive and articulated when being interviewed and you just hoped that someone else would do another documentary of him, beacuse I'd have loved hearing more of his thoughts about life and art -- him always being totally honest and open, especially these last years.

the greatest. Nykvist and Bergman are gone now, thank God their works are still around.

Here in the States, the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer just did a nice 12 minute tribute on their national news.

A brief video piece was followed by Lehrer interviewing Richard Schickel. Schickel described him as a "master of cinema", without any qualifiers, and said that his career was "remarkable in its total control of filmmaking". He described many of his movies as "essentially chamber pieces - small, sober and intense". Schickel claimed to be "drawn back to his movies as his life goes on, because real art does not always reveal itself on first viewing", and he admitted to being drawn back "sometimes against his will".

It was my intention to flip around between channels to see if NBC, ABC, or CBS did anything, but I stayed with this one and cannot report on the others.

I actually didn't realize he directed 20 plays or whatever in the last 20 years, and I am a fan of his films (particularly the 70s work). But theater is transient. He could have done a few more flix, but instead chose to wallow in Scandanavian gloom. Contra Antonioni (the greatest living filmmaker) who at least made an effort to stay active in the world (including attendance at film screenings, something Ingy would never deign to do in recent years, as far as I know), despite his stroke.

It's heartening to see so many earnest tributes to Bergman here. I echo the sentiment behind Shears's comment ("Understatement Day"); it's hard to imagine how Bergman's work and influence could possibly have towered any higher. (Also: not that Barmy's comment deserves any more attention . . . but what an incredible creative output this guy kept up for a 69-89-year-old!)

This is a difficult death for me because Bergman was one of those living legends I fantasized about meeting someday. (I'm certain that he would have been instantly struck by my wit, soul, and youthful vigor, and would have cajoled me into collaborating with him on a series of important films. Who's left for me to collaborate with now? McG?)

Anyway. What a brilliant, humane artist, and what a loss for us all.

If Criterionforum were a physical place (a place . . . in Iowa), I'd invite all of you over for an impromptu Bergman film-fest.

My Man Godfrey wrote:If Criterionforum were a physical place (a place . . . in Iowa), I'd invite all of you over for an impromptu Bergman film-fest.

Hopefully fermented herring, a Swedish thing, would not be on the menu.

Cahiers have added a tribute to Bergman on the main site, www.cahiersducinema.com. They reprint Catherine Breillat's recent tribute ("The Film That Invented Me""), and Godard's classic essay from the '50s, "Bergmanorama." Jean-Michel Frodon has written the following (I'm sure it will go up in English soon) —

Ingmar Bergman est mort. Il avait 89 ans. Son décès a été annoncé le 30 juillet. Il est mort à Farö, l'île dont il avait fait non seulement sa résidence et sa retraite, non seulement le décor d'un grand nombre de ses films depuis 40 ans, mais une sorte de planète personnelle, réplique en miniature du monde tel qu'il le voyait - ou, pour mieux dire, du monde réel tel qu'il le transformait pour mieux nous le donner à percevoir. Un monde réel, physique, émotionnel, inquiétant et souvent grotesque, qu'il composa pour rendre plus sensible l'intériorité de chacun, ses peurs, ses désirs, ses attaches essentielles. Chacun, et d'abord évidemment lui-même. Bergman : l'inventeur de moyens strictement cinématographiques pour observer l'âme humaine, dans ces gouffres les plus profonds comme dans ses détails les plus singuliers, et pour partager cette quête.

La relation des Cahiers du cinéma à l'Å“uvre de Bergman est longue et immense. Outre un incessant travail critique poursuivi au travers des décennies, elle est jalonnée par deux livres importants des Editions des Cahiers, le livre d'entretiens composé par Olivier Assayas et Stig Björkman (1990) et l'ouvrage de Jacques Aumont paru en 2003. Cinéaste universellement reconnu et récompensé - Cannes a même créé pour lui la « Palme des palmes », dont il demeure à ce jour l'unique récipiendaire -, Bergman aura été constamment en phase, voire en avance, avec nombre des interrogations au cÅ“ur du travail des Cahiers. La « scène primitive » est à cet égard la compréhension, avec retard, du coup de tonnerre Monica, qui est sans doute le premier grand film d'adolescence (1953 !) de l'histoire du cinéma, avant James Dean et Marlon Brando, avant la Nouvelle Vague et toutes les autres « nouvelles vagues ». Pas seulement le « regard caméra » d'Harriet Andersson, qui fera couler des fleuves d'encre théorique, mais toute l'énergie amorale de la rupture - cinématographique et sociale-de l'escapade dans les îles des deux jeunes gens, et de leur retour en ville.

Pas question de résumer ici, ni même de survoler une telle Å“uvre (50 films), les Cahiers y reviendront avec leur numéro de septembre. Un mot tout de même, à propos des dernières années, des ultimes films : deux chefs d'Å“uvres insuffisamment reconnus, En présence d'un clown (1997) et Sarabande (2003). Ils reprennent avec légèreté, humour, cruauté et simplicité tous les grands thèmes de son Å“uvre, pour finir par s'éloigner en ouvrant grand la porte à une jeune fille, l'héroïne de Sarabande, lui laissant loisir d'inventer sa vie à elle plutôt que de se conformer aux injonctions de ses aînés, fussent-ils des génies, comme un certain Ingmar B.

JM Frodon

CBC's The National had a three minute piece on Bergman's passing in the last quarter of the program's hour.

Ingmar Bergman was everything a creative artist is supposed to be. His inner life and outer sensations were his laboratory. He was in touch. He probed deeper, pushed harder, aimed higher and achieved more than any film maker who ever lived. He gave us all something to aspire to. Creative people, after watching a Bergman film, expect more from themselves and from each other. He was the Michaelangelo of cinema. Compared to Ingmar Bergman, the rest of us are sophomores.

I've met many prominent and accomplished writers, actors, directors, in workshops and lectures, and worked with a few. But the one person I always wanted to meet was Ingmar Bergman. Perhaps in a workshop, or at least hear him speak at a lecture. But I never had the chance. His death is sad because, even in his 80s, he was still working, still writing and directing. Europeans don't banish their older artists like we do in Los Angeles and New York City, and Ingmar Bergman never stopped walking on the razor's edge which is where the creative impulse comes from.

Bergman's films have been important to me my entire adult life; before that, even. I saw Cries and Whispers in 1972 when I was too young to understand it, but I knew I had seen something special. I soon caught up with all his films at repertory screenings, and watched them multiple times. I'll never forget the experience of watching his "faith" trilogy at the New Yorker, of watching Persona for the first time at the Mini-Cinema in Uniondale. His films are the reason I bought a multi-region DVD player and DVD's from foreign countries. Over the years I've invested many hundreds of hours studying the films of Ingmar Bergman.

Richard--W wrote:Ingmar Bergman was everything a creative artist is supposed to be. His inner life and outer sensations were his laboratory. He was in touch. He probed deeper, pushed harder, aimed higher and achieved more than any film maker who ever lived. He gave us all something to aspire to. Creative people, after watching a Bergman film, expect more from themselves and from each other. He was the Michaelangelo of cinema. Compared to Ingmar Bergman, the rest of us are sophomores.

I couldn't have said it better.

I found this news extremely sad today when I first heard it, and I sat down and watched Wild Strawberries again this evening to mark his passing. Truly a giant loss. Persona is my favorite Bergman film, and The Virgin Spring was one of my introductions to international film. Two of my favorite film-going experiences were double features including Bergman films, one of The Seventh Seal and Sokurov's Mother and Son, and the second of Persona and Last Year at Marienbad. I don't really have much to add to the mourning of his death that hasn't been expressed better earlier in this thread.

However, I do have a bone to pick with the North American coverage of his passing. Every article I've read has included the quote by Woody Allen that Bergman was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", the sentiment I would agree with. However, I just can't get over the sheer stupidity of this quote: were there better film artists before the invention of the motion picture camera? isn't that just a little bit redundant? I wish I weren't distracted by that every single time I hear it on the radio or read it in print coverage, it frustrates me to no end.

I bought the Guardian and Independent this morning.

Guardian - the front page is dominated by a colour picture of Bergman, with Peter Bradshaw's obituary the single largest item (and it carries over to page two). Brian Baxter's obituary spans more than one and a half pages (the second page needs three out of five columns). Bergman's death also gets the second lead op-ed (very unusual, this: the passing of cultural figures usually gets noted in the third, shorter one), and the G2 supplement has a three page feature with various people giving personal memories of Bergman.

As already noted, the Independent devotes its entire front page to Bergman, with essays by Paul Schrader and Bergman biographer Geoffrey Macnab running into pages two and three. James Kirkup's obituary is spread across six columns, running into the opposite page (though it's ultimately probably the equivalent of a full page), while his death gets mentioned in the third op-ed leader.

Note that the links to the front page facsimiles are only good for today (31 July 2007).

I have both The Guardian & Indo in front of me... It really is an incredible moment to see a great arthouse director dominate again the headlines and leading articles so comprehensively... Interesting times...

Notably also both newspapers have similar political cartoons - Bush and Brown as Death and The Knight respectively (they're agreed on that one) in scenes from The Seventh Seal!...

I was very upset when I read the small article in my local paper this morning. Tonight I will revisit my favorite films of Bergman. Long live the legend.

Barmy wrote:He could have done a few more flix

No, he couldn't. His stomach problems were bad to begin with and got steadily worse over the years, and by the end of Fanny and Alexander it had become impossible for him to work on a film set (and I'm sure travelling was uncomfortable, too). All his later films were made for television and shot in studios. In the Saraband making-of doc, you see him literally phoning in his direction of the one or two exterior shots.

Yes, technically he might have been able to continue to make films that were all set in interiors... and what do you know, he did, it's just that they were made for TV, and it's hardly his fault if American TV wouldn't show them.

Yes, theater is transient (I've often wondered why so little theater gets released on DVD), but I don't think that's a reason to tell a brilliant theater director to do something else. Especially after he's already made almost twice as many films as Antonioni.

Just heard that Michelangelo Antonioni passed away as well. Two of the greatest filmmakers of all time now dead. Sad day indeed!

ellipsis7 wrote:Notably also both newspapers have similar political cartoons - Bush and Brown as Death and The Knight respectively (they're agreed on that one) in scenes from The Seventh Seal!...

The Telegraph has something similar, only there it's Bush playing chess with Death.

ola t wrote:(I've often wondered why so little theater gets released on DVD).

Rights complications, usually - the author (if still in copyright), theatre, director, designer and numerous other people all have a say, and just one problem (for instance, the moving image rights being owned by someone else) can torpedo the entire project.

A nice tribute from the On Five blog.

colinr0380 wrote:A nice tribute from the On Five blog.

This helped me realize why I feel such a sense of loss over someone I didn't know: I have, in fact, spent dozens of hours with him and his friends (and their creations) over the course of many years, hours that have had a tremendous impact on my outlook on life. Because of this, I felt I knew him quite intimately.

Barmy wrote: He could have done a few more flix, but instead chose to wallow in Scandanavian gloom.

Barmy indeed!
I know just the perfect island for you to grow up on...

Not surprisingly, perhaps, almost every single major Scandinavian newspaper carried big stories on Bergman today, and most of their front pages were dedicated to large photos of Bergman.

As I had some waiting time at Malmö Central Station this morning, I decided to walk into the large press shop in the entrance hall (to pick up the latest issue of Sight and Sound, ironically).

As I walked into the shop, I literally froze -- right at the entrance they have an isle with the domestic newspapers (both Swedish, Danish, and some Norwegian ones, I think), and today it was a virtual altar to Bergman. More than a dozen papers with full front page images of Bergman, mostly in black and white -- photos from his youth, and particularly from the '60s, a few in faded color from the '70s, and some more recent ones (also in B&W) -- one in particular struck me, having been taken by one of his grandchildren a year or two ago, where Bergman was wearing a scarf, his hair slightly longer than usual, and a little unkempt, a certain fatigue mixed in with the gentle, loving expression in his face, as he was of course looking at the young girl taking his photo.

Such an intimate moment to be captured on film, and then to be featured on that most public of places -- the front page of a newspaper. I felt this image more than anything, said something about the power of Berman's own films, and it certainly said something about my own feelings in relation to the event of Bergman's death, and coming upon this wall of commemoration in the midst of the morning bustle at the train station -- something very intimate, and a little sad, made very public.