INGMAR BERGMAN |
(1918-2007) Sometimes, strange things happen. Directors Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman died the same day: July 30, 2007. Antonioni was 94 years old and Bergman was 89. Both men admired each other's work deeply. Stating the greatest respect and admiration for their breathtaking legacy, IMAGO briefly reviews their careers highlighting the cinematographers they have worked with. May their films never be forgotten.
Ingmar Bergman (b. 1918, Sweden) began his career in a puppet theatre where he, his sister and their friends played. Professionally he began writing in 1941. Bergman's first films where shot by cinematographer Göran Strindberg (and also Hilding Bladh): Kris/ Crisis (1946), Det regnar på vår kärlek/ Man with an Umbrella (1946), Skepp till India land/ A Ship Bound for India (1947), Musik i mörker/ Music Is My Future (1948) and Fängelse/ Prison (1949). After 1948 he starts a long-time collaboration with cinematographer Gunnar Fischer . Bergman was 30 years old, Fisher was 38. Hamnstad/ Port of Call (1948) was their first film together. Fisher had previously worked with Carl Dreyer and Victor Sjöström and those directors approach to film have influenced him. Between 1948 and 1960 they do seven more films: Törst/ Three Strange Loves (1949), Till glädje/ To Joy (1950), Sånt händer inte här/ This Can't Happen Here (1950), Sommarlek/ Summer Interlude (1951), Sommaren med Monika/ Summer with Monika (1953), Kvinnors väntan/ Secrets of Women (1952), Det Sjunde inseglet/ The Seventh Seal (1957), Smultronstället/ Wild Strawberries (1957), Ansiktet/ The Face (1958), Djävulens öga/ The Devil's Eye (1960). For these, Fisher was awarded by Guldbagge Awards in 1993 with the Ingmar Bergman Award and again in 2003 with an Honorary Award. He filmed for the last time 1979 at 69 years old. For Bergman, 1953 marked an important career shifting. He worked for the first time with Sven Nykvist in Gycklarnas afton/ Sawdust and Tinsel (1953). Nykvist at the time a ten years experience and was 31 years old. The film also had the collaboration of cinematographer Hilding Bladh with whom Bergman will shoot Kvinnodröm/ Journey Into Autumn (1955) and Sommarnattens leende/ Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). After Wild Strawberries (1957), the worldwide explosion happened. His work had already been recognized in France, Italy and Spain but this movie got an Oscar nomination and several wins: Golden Globe, Bodil, Golden Bear, Venice Film Festival and other festivals across Spain, Japan and USA.
From 1960 on, allegedly in order to soften his films light (opposed to Fisher's hard use lighting technique) he starts working regularly with Nykvist. On that year Bergman shoots Jungfrukällan/ The Virgin Spring (1960) with Nykvist winning an Oscar and also at the Golden Globes, Cannes and Kinema Junpo Awards (Japan). With Fischer he shoots Djävulens öga/ The Devil's Eye (1960). It was time to change. Both Bergman and Nykvist have collaborated in fifteen film titles: Såsom i en spegel/ Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Nattvardsgästerna/ Winter Light (1962), Tystnaden/ The Silence (1963), För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor/ Now About These Women (1964), Persona (1966), Vargtimmen/ Hour of the Wolf (1968), Skammen/ Shame (1968), En Passion/ A Passion (1969), Beröringen/ The Touch (1971), Viskningar och rop/ Cries and Whispers (1972), Scener ur ett äktenskap/ Scenes from a Marriage (1973), Ansikte mot ansikte/ Face to Face (1976), The Serpent's Egg (1977), Höstsonaten/ Autumn Sonata (1978), Aus dem Leben der Marionetten (1980) and Fanny och Alexander/ Fanny and Alexander (1982).
Out of all of these some of them got strong recognition at its time. Cries and Whispers (1972) got five Oscar nominations but only Nykvist got the actual award that year. Face to Face (1976) got three important nominations by the Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTA having won several awards in festivals across the USA . Fanny and Alexander (1982) was film that has won an overall recognition getting, out of six Oscar nominations, Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography. Golden Globes, the Césars and other festivals at Italy (Venice) and USA also did. Nykvist was awarded by BAFTA and by the British Society of Cinematographers.
Bergman continues then to direct and write for TV and also directing plays at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre. Nykvist continued his film career working
with directors Andrei Tarkovsky, Philip Kaufman, Richard
Attenborough, Lasse Hallström
and Liv Ullmann (Bergman's "fetish" actress). His most constant
collaboration (after Bergman) was director Woody Allen, a Bergman's
strong admirer: Another Woman (1988), New York
Stories (1989) (segment "Oedipus Wrecks"), Crimes
and Misdemeanors (1989), Celebrity (1998).
Sven Nykvist died last September 2006. Diana Soeiro
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