The Films of Ingmar Bergman

A concise overview of the career of one of the modern masters of world cinema.

Jesse Kalin (Author)

9780521389778, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 October 2003

268 pages, 23 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.43 kg

This volume provides a concise overview of the career of one of the modern masters of world cinema. Jesse Kalin defines Bergman's conception of the human condition as a struggle to find meaning in life as it is played out. For Bergman, meaning is achieved independently of any moral absolute and is the result of a process of self-examination. Six existential themes are explored repeatedly in Bergman's films: judgment, abandonment, suffering, shame, a visionary picture, and above all, turning toward or away from others. Kalin examines how Bergman examines these themes cinematically, through close analysis of eight films: well known favorites such as Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, and Fanny and Alexander; and important but lesser known works, such as Naked Night, Shame, Cries and Whispers, and Scenes from a Marriage.

1. Introduction: The geography of the soul
Part I. The Films of the Fifties: 2. The primal seen: The Clowns' Evening
3. The journey: The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries
4. The great dance: Smiles of a Summer Night
Part II: Second Thoughts: 5. A dream play: Shame
6. The illiterates: Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, and the Films of the 1970s
Part III: A Final Look: 7. The little world: Fanny and Alexander
Afterwards: Biographical note
Bergman and existentialism: a brief comment
A note on Woody Allen
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Individual film directors, film-makers [APFB]