Persona
Hour of the Wolf
The Seventh Seal
Bergman’s death has been a great loss for cinema. His genius endures, but I wonder if we shall ever see his like again.
So far the only one’s I’ve seen are Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Autumn Sonata and Fanny & Alexander. Well, I guess he’s still one of my favorite directors ever, given the fact that I gave 10/10 to all of them. I have an especially strong passion for Wild Strawberries, which I have to see again about every two or three months. Victor Sjöström really gives the main character unbelievable amount of credibility in his journey of self-reflection. Some of the dialogue – f.e. in the second dream sequence – is the wittiest, most touching and profound I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. And then there are the visual and artistic strengths. Every one of those films is special in their own right though.
Fanny and Alexander is kind of the sum of bergman
I haven’t seen a lot of his, but my favorites, in order, are:
01 Cries and Whispers
02 The Seventh Seal
03 Winter Light
04 Fanny & Alexander
05 Persona
06 Scenes from a Marriage
Cries and Whispers and Winter Light.
I still consider Scenes from a Marriage a mini series since I like it a whole lot more than the movie version.
I have to say my all time favorite Bergman movie is definitly “Persona.” For some reason, that movie effected me in multiple levels very strongly. My second and third favorites of his are “The Seventh Seal” and “Fanny and Alexander.”
persona by far
1-Persona
2-Autumn Sonata
3-Shame
4-Cries and Whispers
5-The Hour of the Wolf
6-Through a glass darkly
7-Fanny and Alexandre
8-Woody Allen’s Interiors
Saludos.
Cries And Wispers
Persona
Scenes De La Vie Conjugale
The Seventh Seal
I added Cries and whispers in my top. It was great!
Am I the only one who saw Wild strawberries or you guys just didn’t liked it? I think it is the most underestimated Bergman.
Umm Olivier, I thought I praised Wild Strawberries above, as it’s one of my all-time favorites by ANY director. Anyway, random ramblings to follow.
Haven’t researched how valid it is to call it the first road movie, but it’s definitely among the first. Well, that’s just one aspect of it anyway. The whole film is about self-reflection. Professor Borg’s longing for his childhood love seems to often be interpreted as a naïve way of expressing his regret for his past life and choices, but to me it makes perfect sense, as most people view their past lives through moments they consider turning points. Smulltronstället seems to be just that for Borg. Shortly after leaving the place that summer, I suspect Borg probably went to university, lost Sara to his brother, and started perfecting his art of emotional coldness, to which he himself is mercilessly subjected in the latter dream sequence.
While I’ve semi-seriously thought that you almost invariably need close to two hours to tell a comprehensively satisfying story, I often feel baffled about how much substance Bergman is able to squeeze in only an hour and a half. This is the case with The Seventh Seal and Autumn Sonata as well. I understood from a 2003 (?) Bergman interview that Sjöström very much made Dr Borg (who was modeled after Bergman’s father) his own character, and partly for that reason Bergman himself considered it Sjöström’s movie. Well, some of that could be due to Bergman’s immense respect for the old silent films director, as the other aspects of the film are most likely of Bergman’s own doing. But it is still a very moving testament to Sjöström, and speaks highly of his wonderful acting job in the film. All in all, the subject and the movie are absolutely timeless, which is one of the marks of a classic.
The Seventh Seal – the squire is one of the greatest dark comic roles in film history. just too classic not to put first. “lille kunigunda” is a funny nickname for a sweetheart. seeing this movie more than once, and on a big screen helps to bring out its humor, and makes the film much more multi-faceted than you might expect…
Fanny & Alexander – this is requisite holiday family viewing in my household. 5 hour TV version of course.
Cries and Whispers – deep red. this was my number 1 for a while, but that much suffering isn’t quite as entertaining as some of the others!
The Silence – when that tank rolls through town at night the weight of the film takes on a whole new dimension. Stark!
Persona – you want avant garde, you got it! So much for Bergman declining in relevance amidst the New Wave!
Wild Strawberries – textbook Bergman
Autumn Sonata – beautiful use of music, and hideous use of agony, much like Cries and Whispers!
(you’re basically splitting hairs rating these top 7!, and the rest are in no particular order)
From the Life of the Marionettes – i’ve only seen it once, but i liked how it starts out like a tense film about marital strife like you’d expect from him, then devolves to a thriller… made while he was exiled in Germany
Shame – another refreshingly unique film for Bergman… his war movie, but still uniquely Bergman
Hour of the Wolf – as close as he got to horror
Winter Light – more of what you’d expect from Bergman’s stark existential viewpoint. can’t get enough Max Von Sydow!
Saraband – i’d rather watch this one than Scenes from a Marriage… a pretty solid end to a great career!
also tangentially recommended:
The Best of Intentions – i think that’s what it’s called… movie from another Swedish director based on Bergman’s early life…
Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice” – 100% pure Tarkovsky w/ an all Bergman cast taking place on a Swedish isle… deals w/ a similar theme as Winter Light, actually… fear of the threat of nuclear annihilation, but actually blows Winter Light way out of the water… i think Tarkovsky was exiled still and it was his last film. Wonderful!
I’ve heard Woody Allen’s “Interiors” is also heavily inspired by Bergman, but have yet to see it
1.Persona
2.Smiles of a Summer Night
3.Through a Glass Darkly
4.Passion of Anna
5.From the Life of the Marionettes
“Persona”
“The seventh seal”
“Saraband”
“The touch”
“The silence”
“The face”
i personally love all his films. Some leave me in awe especially the serpents egg and shame. Though like i said i love all his pictures and not to brag but i have had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Ullman and she is every bit as beautiful in person as she is in his films. Plus she is a sweetheart. A beautiful women who has aged gracefully and carries a tender heart. A living legend.
I just ordered The Fanny & Alexander Criterion box-set for only 40 bucks shipped in Canada!!!!(I Got it at borders.com with the coupon code BR4906 (work today only))
Can’t wait to see this one…
Pro’lly the five hour cut Olivier, at least should be if it’s Criterion? I’ve only got (and seen, sadly) the three hour version, but even that one is great…
1- Seventh seal
2- Wild strawberries
3- Persona
These are my favs in order. Bergman is one of the most important director for cinema.. He has a great own movie style and does not like any other.. You can usually see about existence , life ,, personality , etc.. when watchin his films.. I think that when he makes these films in 50s 60s , it must be more unacceptable and stranger for the watchers.. Also i believe , he does not give information about people in that times.. This might be his difference …
CRIES AND WHISPERS
The five hour version of FANNY AND ALEXANDER
Moderated
El Huevo y la Serpiente.
Esa pelicula la Rockea!
El Huevo y la Serpiente.
Esa pelicula la Rockea!
the virgin spring.. pretty harsh for the time and the theme seems even harsher in light of very old haridos emulating even older hairdos. A movie before its time.
Winter Light & Persona cut out from the rest.
Others I’ve watched in a more or less descending order:
Cries & Whispers
Fanny & Alexander
The Devil’s Eye
Wild Strawberry
Through A Glass Darkly
The Seventh Seal
Autumn Sonata
The Silence
All These Women
Fanny & Alexander is very interesting because it contains references to most of all his previously made movies and it was also inspired from his life it’s probably why Bergman says it the sum of his work… I don’t consider this film as good as cries and whispers, winter light or wild strawberries but it is great and very interesting to watch and rewatch; maybe the most entertaining Bergman film…
I now have 28 Bergmans movies (+1 on the way) on dvd and there is 12 that I haven’t watched yet… Its a lot of job, he made some very depressive films like summer interlude. I decided to make a little pause after having watching this…
Winter Light
1. Persona
2. Cries and Whispers
3. Winter Light
4. Wild Strawberries
5. The Seventh Seal
6. Scenes From a Marriage
7. Fanny and Alexander
8. Through a Glass Darkly
9. Smiles of a Summer Night
10. Sawdust and Tinsel
1)Shame
2)The Seventh Seal
3)The Virgin Spring
4)Hour of the Wolf
5)The Serpent’s Egg
Thats my top five. There are a lot of his films I have yet to see. Thats the best out of the 10v or so I have seen.
Easy – “Winter Light”
Olivier, Probably
For me:
1.Wild Strawberries
1.cries and whispers
2.The Seventh seal
3.Winter light
4.Persona
5.Autumn sonata
6.The silence
7.Through a glass darkly
I have Passion,serpent egg, hour of the wolf and shame on DVD but I have some problems of player and Cries and whisper will pass on TV soon(I can’t wait). My list will grow soon…Note: The first five of the list are the first 5 in my top 50 movies
Bergman is my favourite director at this time…
It’s your turn…