A few thoughts on Ingmar Bergman films
I watched The Wild Strawberries (1957) recently (ish). It's the fourth Bergman film I've seen; the other four were thus: The Seventh Seal (1957), Persona (1966), and Saraband (2003). Considering the huge number of films he's directed, it isn't much of a sampling. But so far, I have so many mixed feelings about his movies. The only one I've really, truly loved was The Seventh Seal.
Of the films I'd decided to watch, it wasn't a random selection; The Seventh Seal is set during the medieval period, which is relevant to my interests; it's also probably his best-known film. As for Persona, that one comes roughly a decade after, and I had heard the title before - it had appeared on a list of cult horror films. Regarding Saraband, it was the last work Bergman completed before his death. And finally I chose The Wild Strawberries because it is well-liked and was made in the same year as The Seventh Seal.
The Seventh Seal is an excellent film, and it's what kicked me into watching more of Bergman's work. But it's the only one that I have loved. The conclusion that I've come to is that so far, I tend to like the construction of Bergman's films - the way they're shot, the technical ways the films are set out, the way the stories are structured on a technical/narrative level - but I don't like the films in and of themselves as movies. With the exception of The Seventh Seal, watching Bergman films can be kind of a weird experience.
Speaking of weird - Bergman's Persona is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen in my life. It's a deeply, deeply strange film. There are a lot of interpretations that one can make of it, but the one I favour is "odd modernist horror movie with vampire overtones and vague hints of a lesbian relationship". And that sounds pretty cool, when I put it that way, but the actual movie is hard to get through. Very art house, very slow-moving in places, lots of symbolism of the kind that doesn't necessarily lend itself to easy or certain or comfortable interpretation. Part of me would love to watch this with my horror movie gang so that we could discuss this strange movie, but on the other hand, I wouldn't want to make them actually sit through it. Some parts of it are so tedious, and you have to sit through a lot of slow, boring things before it starts to become satisfying.
Saraband was the third Bergman film I happened to watch. This is one that I appreciated more for the way it was structured than for anything else; the way the story was divided up and the way the recurring theme of music aligned with the structure was neat. But this is a film that, while I don't want to take back the time I spent watching it, I probably would have skipped over if I'd known anything about it. I found the relationship between Henrik and his daughter Karin very unsettling. Then again - that's the point. It's supposed to be unsettling. Their entire relationship with one another has so many problems; his strictness and excessive pressure in his role as her cello teacher is part of it, and the way he clings to the memory of her mother and, eventually, sees Karin as a substitute for her, is another uncomfortable layer to it. But it isn't something I had expected, to say the least.
Now, back to Wild Strawberries. While I liked it better than Saraband and Persona, it's hard to put into words what I did enjoy about it. The format was nothing new: Isak looks back at his life through a series of dreams, and from there, he comes to a revelation about life and death, and his life and upcoming death in particular, and in the end reaches a state of peace, or at least contentment. The dreams which were actually memories of his childhood - those, I do appreciate. But I don't quite understand the symbolism in the non-memory dreams, the ones that are weird and a little unnerving. And there are scenes where I can tell that Bergman is trying to say something, such as the dream in which Isak is told "You are guilty of guilt," but I can't put my finger on what exactly is meant by that.
The general conclusion that I'm coming to is that Bergman's work is varied, and that it's hard for me to judge whether or not I'll like one of his films based on whether I liked others. Some of his well-received work is straightforward but complicated, and incredibly enjoyable - that would be The Seventh Seal. Others, while well-received by critics, are extremely weird - such as Persona.
Over all of these, I would definitely recommend The Seventh Seal, of course. And The Wild Strawberries as well, because even though I found some parts of it a little odd, I had few issues with it. Persona is only worth checking out if you have an appreciation for strange arthouse horror, or if you've already watched a few Bergman films and want to try something that received a lot of praise but is a little weird. There are very few things I liked about Saraband and - in fact, I don't think I would recommend that one at all.
All of this makes me a little curious about the films Bergman made before The Seventh Seal, and whether it would be worth taking a look at them. I very well might. While there was a lot about the later films I watched that I did not love, I didn't dislike them enough to not watch any more of his movies. With such a large filmography, I'm sure I'll hit on something that, just like The Seventh Seal, pushes all the right buttons.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3407820.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
Of the films I'd decided to watch, it wasn't a random selection; The Seventh Seal is set during the medieval period, which is relevant to my interests; it's also probably his best-known film. As for Persona, that one comes roughly a decade after, and I had heard the title before - it had appeared on a list of cult horror films. Regarding Saraband, it was the last work Bergman completed before his death. And finally I chose The Wild Strawberries because it is well-liked and was made in the same year as The Seventh Seal.
The Seventh Seal is an excellent film, and it's what kicked me into watching more of Bergman's work. But it's the only one that I have loved. The conclusion that I've come to is that so far, I tend to like the construction of Bergman's films - the way they're shot, the technical ways the films are set out, the way the stories are structured on a technical/narrative level - but I don't like the films in and of themselves as movies. With the exception of The Seventh Seal, watching Bergman films can be kind of a weird experience.
Speaking of weird - Bergman's Persona is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen in my life. It's a deeply, deeply strange film. There are a lot of interpretations that one can make of it, but the one I favour is "odd modernist horror movie with vampire overtones and vague hints of a lesbian relationship". And that sounds pretty cool, when I put it that way, but the actual movie is hard to get through. Very art house, very slow-moving in places, lots of symbolism of the kind that doesn't necessarily lend itself to easy or certain or comfortable interpretation. Part of me would love to watch this with my horror movie gang so that we could discuss this strange movie, but on the other hand, I wouldn't want to make them actually sit through it. Some parts of it are so tedious, and you have to sit through a lot of slow, boring things before it starts to become satisfying.
Saraband was the third Bergman film I happened to watch. This is one that I appreciated more for the way it was structured than for anything else; the way the story was divided up and the way the recurring theme of music aligned with the structure was neat. But this is a film that, while I don't want to take back the time I spent watching it, I probably would have skipped over if I'd known anything about it. I found the relationship between Henrik and his daughter Karin very unsettling. Then again - that's the point. It's supposed to be unsettling. Their entire relationship with one another has so many problems; his strictness and excessive pressure in his role as her cello teacher is part of it, and the way he clings to the memory of her mother and, eventually, sees Karin as a substitute for her, is another uncomfortable layer to it. But it isn't something I had expected, to say the least.
Now, back to Wild Strawberries. While I liked it better than Saraband and Persona, it's hard to put into words what I did enjoy about it. The format was nothing new: Isak looks back at his life through a series of dreams, and from there, he comes to a revelation about life and death, and his life and upcoming death in particular, and in the end reaches a state of peace, or at least contentment. The dreams which were actually memories of his childhood - those, I do appreciate. But I don't quite understand the symbolism in the non-memory dreams, the ones that are weird and a little unnerving. And there are scenes where I can tell that Bergman is trying to say something, such as the dream in which Isak is told "You are guilty of guilt," but I can't put my finger on what exactly is meant by that.
The general conclusion that I'm coming to is that Bergman's work is varied, and that it's hard for me to judge whether or not I'll like one of his films based on whether I liked others. Some of his well-received work is straightforward but complicated, and incredibly enjoyable - that would be The Seventh Seal. Others, while well-received by critics, are extremely weird - such as Persona.
Over all of these, I would definitely recommend The Seventh Seal, of course. And The Wild Strawberries as well, because even though I found some parts of it a little odd, I had few issues with it. Persona is only worth checking out if you have an appreciation for strange arthouse horror, or if you've already watched a few Bergman films and want to try something that received a lot of praise but is a little weird. There are very few things I liked about Saraband and - in fact, I don't think I would recommend that one at all.
All of this makes me a little curious about the films Bergman made before The Seventh Seal, and whether it would be worth taking a look at them. I very well might. While there was a lot about the later films I watched that I did not love, I didn't dislike them enough to not watch any more of his movies. With such a large filmography, I'm sure I'll hit on something that, just like The Seventh Seal, pushes all the right buttons.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3407820.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.