Ingmar Bergman

My last post probably came off as condescending. It was. However, I will avoid that route this time in favor of something more positive. If you are looking for me to give an update on myself, here it is: I am fine, 'Nuff said. The real reason I decided to post was to profess my growing admiration for Ingmar Bergman. I know, he didn't live the most wholesome life, but the man is a genius. I just finished his movie The Seventh Seal. Not long ago, I watched The Virgin Spring. In the German and Scandinavian Cinema class that I took a few semesters ago I also watched Fanny and Alexander, Persona, and Wild Strawberries. After viewing some of Bergman's films, I can definitely say he is one of my favorite directors (Fritz Lang in second and Lars von Trier in a distant third). There are many others that deserve praise, but I would prefer to focus on Ingmar. Really, if you haven't seen any of his movies you should start with either The Virgin Spring, The Seventh Seal, or Wild Strawberries. After having watched these movies, I added more of his movies to my queue on Netflix and moved them to the top of the list. I will be sure to enjoy Bergman's films for some time because only a few are available online. With that said, I hope you take this seriously and WATCH some of his films.

The Virgin Spring

A few semesters ago I took a German and Scandinavian cinema class at BYU. During the class, the professor introduced many geniuses like Fritz Lang(M and Metropolis), Lars von Trier (The 5 Obstructions, Dancer in the Dark, and Dogville), Jorgen Leth (The 5 Obstructions and The Perfect Human), Aki Kaurismaki (The Man Without a Past), and many others that I cannot recall. However, there was one among the many that stood out; Ingmar Bergman. Bergman is literally a genius. I feel it is important to state this as clear as possible especially now because many people are referring to Michael Bay, James Cameron, and others as geniuses. Such people provide as evidence of their genius such successes as Transformers and Avatar. I feel that referring to such directors as geniuses is more offensive than stepping in dog poop. First, I find it suspect that such people are qualified judges; this because of their evident lack of depth or experience in good movies. I know, by now I sound very presumptuous and haughty; nevertheless, I maintain that it should be a grievous sin to use the same word to compare great minds to the weak money-driven minds behind Transformers or Avatar. After all, I find it hard to believe that Ingmar Bergman or Fritz Lang would ever cast Megan Fox in a film. So what brings this scathing rant to the forefront of my mind? After watching another film by Bergman, I realize how superficial today's world is. People used to make films because that is what they liked doing (fortunately some still do "film as literature"). The film that brought this about, is Bergman's 1960 The Virgin Spring. This movie touches themes as revenge, virtue, and religion. Just as many of Bergman's films, there is an evident tension between religion and reason. The film's plot is simple; the only daughter of devoutly religious parents is raped and murdered. Her murderers stumble upon the farm that belongs to their victim's parents. How will the family react when they discover they have given shelter to the daughter's murderers? I guess all I can do is encourage all who actually read this to watch good movies before hastily passing judgement on the mind-numbing porqueria that is out there. If you have the time here is a link to watch The Virgin Spring on Youtube. Here are some other Bergman movies: Wild Strawberries, Persona. As I watch more, I will be sure to recommend more.