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Get Breaking News on your cellThe Monday Morning Critic: Death of a Giant
11:53 AM Mon, Jul 30, 2007 | Permalink |
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 Bergman in action, 1957 (AP) Bergman is too often seen as passe in today's hyper-ironic movie environment, a product of the bygone Euro art house days of the '50s and '60s. Don't believe the hype. As a college student in the early '90s, I walked into a repertory house to see Persona, Bergman's 1966 film about a self-assured nurse caring for a mute actress. I left the theater with my wig peeled back, in a trance and transported to a place only cinema can bring you. I've seen just about all of his films since, and I've rarely been less than amazed at his command of the medium and his ability to penetrate the human soul. As luck would have it, The Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art will present a pair of opportunities to see Bergman classics on the big screen in August. The Magnolia at the Modern series Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films will show The Seventh Seal 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14; and a rare Bergman comedy, Smiles of a Summer Night 2 p.m. Sun., Aug. 19. |
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Comments
Posted by stephen becker @ 3:44 PM Mon, Jul 30, 2007
Chris -- for those unfamiliar with Bergman's work, do you have a film people should start with?
Posted by Chris Vognar @ 4:47 PM Mon, Jul 30, 2007
For those who want to get their feet wet before deciding if Bergman is their thing, I have 2 suggestions:
Wild Strawberries (1957), an accessible story about an old man coming to terms with his life on a long road trip. It has many of the surrealistic Bergman touches, but it also has a more universal touch than most of his films.
Fanny and Alexander (1982), Bergman's semi-autobiographical swan song, is a warm-hearted family saga (though not without some darkness) that walks a similar balance betwen art and entertainment. (Warning: it's over three hours long).
Both are available in resplendent Criterion Collection editions. Yes, I just used the word resplendent. So sue me.
Posted by Chris Vognar @ 5:02 PM Mon, Jul 30, 2007
One more Bergman bite: When Max Von Sydow played the regal knight in The Seventh Seal, do you think he foresaw the day he'd appear in Rush Hour 3? That's a fate worse than a chess match with death.
Posted by Kip Mooney @ 10:58 AM Tue, Jul 31, 2007
I don't think Roman Polanski foresaw appearing in that either. Speaking of "Seventh Seal," I remember the first time I heard of Bergman. I was either six or seven and watching my beloved "Animaniacs," and saw a segment in which the Warner Brothers (and Sister) play checkers with Death, demanding he king them and so forth. I asked my dad why that story sounded so familiar, and of course he told me that it was lifted from Bergman's "Seventh Seal," and then I remembered that eerie-looking guy (Bengt Ekerot) on the front of the box of the video store. And yes, Chris, there are few words that describe Criterion versions of films better than "resplendent."