In Ingmar Bergman's "Persona," two women — a nurse and a stage actor — are brought together by sheer circumstance, which forces them to reckon with essential truths about one another. The actor, Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann), has inexplicably stopped speaking while performing "Elektra" onstage, and her silence appears to be self-imposed. With the intention of helping her speak again, the nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), takes Elisabet to a secluded cottage by the sea. What ensues is a fever dream of confessions both spiritual and lurid, and the birth of an intense love-hate relationship between Elisabet and Alma. What do these dreamlike, vivid exchanges in "Persona" mean? There are no easy answers, as Bergman's magnum opus defies expectations and interpretations — like all exceptional art, it accommodates a wide range of truths, which are often unsavory and contradictory.
Film historian Peter Cowie famously opined the following about "Persona:" everything one can say...
Film historian Peter Cowie famously opined the following about "Persona:" everything one can say...
- 12/30/2022
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
They just don't make directors like they used to. Clint Eastwood has had an amazing career that has lasted nearly 70 years. Eastwood has acted in just about every genre you can think of while making a name for himself as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" of Spaghetti Westerns and Harry Callahan in the "Dirty Harry" series.
Eastwood has also been successful on the other side of the camera. He's won a Best Director award for "Unforgiven," a film he took home Best Picture for and was also nominated for Best Actor. His 2004 film "Million Dollar Baby" was nominated for the same trio of awards and took home the same two as "Unforgiven." Suffice it to say, Eastwood's got a handle on this whole directing thing and has continued to do so into his 90s. But what makes Eastwood such a successful director? One of...
Eastwood has also been successful on the other side of the camera. He's won a Best Director award for "Unforgiven," a film he took home Best Picture for and was also nominated for Best Actor. His 2004 film "Million Dollar Baby" was nominated for the same trio of awards and took home the same two as "Unforgiven." Suffice it to say, Eastwood's got a handle on this whole directing thing and has continued to do so into his 90s. But what makes Eastwood such a successful director? One of...
- 9/14/2022
- by Andrew Korpan
- Slash Film
Lionsgate and American Zoetrope are releasing “Apocalypse Now Final Cut,” the third version of Francis Coppola’s 1979 war epic, to commemorate the film’s 40th anniversary. While multiple versions of any mainstream movie are unusual, everything about this movie was unorthodox.
On Oct. 14, 1969, Variety reported that Warner Bros. bought the script by John Milius, with Coppola to produce and George Lucas to direct. They envisioned a scrappy 16mm film for $2 million, to lense in San Francisco, Louisiana and Thailand.
The project remained in limbo until Coppola revived it. He told Variety in February 1976 that filming would begin in a month, on a $12 million budget, with United Artists aiming for an April 7, 1977 release. The movie finally opened Aug. 15, 1979, after endless shooting in the Philippines, on a budget of $30 million-plus.
At the Cannes world premiere in May 1979, Coppola stunned the press conference by comparing the prolonged production to America’s role in...
On Oct. 14, 1969, Variety reported that Warner Bros. bought the script by John Milius, with Coppola to produce and George Lucas to direct. They envisioned a scrappy 16mm film for $2 million, to lense in San Francisco, Louisiana and Thailand.
The project remained in limbo until Coppola revived it. He told Variety in February 1976 that filming would begin in a month, on a $12 million budget, with United Artists aiming for an April 7, 1977 release. The movie finally opened Aug. 15, 1979, after endless shooting in the Philippines, on a budget of $30 million-plus.
At the Cannes world premiere in May 1979, Coppola stunned the press conference by comparing the prolonged production to America’s role in...
- 8/23/2019
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlinale hommage to the always outstanding Charlotte Rampling who also received an Honorary Golden Bear, was concluded with a long and lugrubious movie, ‘Hannah’ (2017).‘Hannah’, photo Courtesty of Parade Deck Flms
In its pacing and depiction of a solitary woman, it recalls Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, but the crime in this story is of her husband and she is left to deal with her life as the movie goes through her mundane existence, step by painful step.
Hannah drops her husband off at prison, where he is to begin serving a sentence. She then stoically goes about her life, household chores, working as a cleaning lady for a rich family, and taking part in an amateur theater group in the evenings. But signs pointing to an abominable crime by her husband accumulate, and Hannah begins to feel the pressure — people turn away from her...
In its pacing and depiction of a solitary woman, it recalls Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, but the crime in this story is of her husband and she is left to deal with her life as the movie goes through her mundane existence, step by painful step.
Hannah drops her husband off at prison, where he is to begin serving a sentence. She then stoically goes about her life, household chores, working as a cleaning lady for a rich family, and taking part in an amateur theater group in the evenings. But signs pointing to an abominable crime by her husband accumulate, and Hannah begins to feel the pressure — people turn away from her...
- 2/18/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
By Alex DeleonCharlotte Rampling in the Festival SpotlightThe first film seen at the festival in the homage to Charlotte Rampling retro was somewhat of a disappointment. I had seen this picture when it first came out in Japan and was favorably impressed at the time by its outrageous sense of the absurd, especially as made by a serious A level Japanese director like Nagisa Oshima (died 2013 at age 80). This time around the humor, at least for me, did not hold up and I was rather bored most of the way.
Today it is of little more than passing historical interest
There is, however, an interesting background to this very offbeat Franco-Japanese co-production from the year 1986 by which timeNagisa Ôshima was regarded as a first class Japanese iconoclast. Outside of Japan he was highly regarded in France where his mainstream hardcore porno films In the realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion...
Today it is of little more than passing historical interest
There is, however, an interesting background to this very offbeat Franco-Japanese co-production from the year 1986 by which timeNagisa Ôshima was regarded as a first class Japanese iconoclast. Outside of Japan he was highly regarded in France where his mainstream hardcore porno films In the realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion...
- 2/14/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Stars: Åke Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Erik Strandmark, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek | Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman
In Skane, a county in southern Sweden, the bedraggled Alberti Circus caravan trundles through the rain and mud. They’ve had to leave half their costumes behind and they’re running out of food. Leader Albert (Åke Grönberg) is seriously considering shooting their performing bear for food. They stop off in a small town, where potential respite comes in the form of the Sjuberg Theatre Group. But it will also create a rift between Albert and his young mistress, Anne (Harriet Andersson). Albert’s wife and kids live nearby and he wants to drop them a visit. Gripped by jealousy, Anne hooks up with a lascivious actor, Frans (Hasse Ekman), from the Sjuberg troupe.
The fallout is toxic. It turns out both Albert and Anne just want to leave the nomadic circus life and settle down.
In Skane, a county in southern Sweden, the bedraggled Alberti Circus caravan trundles through the rain and mud. They’ve had to leave half their costumes behind and they’re running out of food. Leader Albert (Åke Grönberg) is seriously considering shooting their performing bear for food. They stop off in a small town, where potential respite comes in the form of the Sjuberg Theatre Group. But it will also create a rift between Albert and his young mistress, Anne (Harriet Andersson). Albert’s wife and kids live nearby and he wants to drop them a visit. Gripped by jealousy, Anne hooks up with a lascivious actor, Frans (Hasse Ekman), from the Sjuberg troupe.
The fallout is toxic. It turns out both Albert and Anne just want to leave the nomadic circus life and settle down.
- 1/24/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
The first Esposizione d’Arte Cinematografica, later to be known as the Venice Intl. Film Festival, kicked off Aug. 6, 1932, with a screening of Rouben Mamoulian’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” on the terrace of the Lido’s Hotel Excelsior, followed by a grand ball.
The pic, produced by Paramount, went on to win an acting Oscar for Fredric March in an auspicious start, at least as an awards tastemaker, for the world’s oldest international film fest. It kicks off its 75th edition on Aug. 29.
Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night,” above, Edmund Goulding’s “Grand Hotel,” King Vidor’s “The Champ” and “A Nous la liberté” by René Clair are among other titles, now classics, that screened during that first edition. The fest was born from Italy’s desire to be seen as the center of art and culture in the wake of the disastrous World War I,...
The pic, produced by Paramount, went on to win an acting Oscar for Fredric March in an auspicious start, at least as an awards tastemaker, for the world’s oldest international film fest. It kicks off its 75th edition on Aug. 29.
Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night,” above, Edmund Goulding’s “Grand Hotel,” King Vidor’s “The Champ” and “A Nous la liberté” by René Clair are among other titles, now classics, that screened during that first edition. The fest was born from Italy’s desire to be seen as the center of art and culture in the wake of the disastrous World War I,...
- 8/28/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Bille August’s 1987 award winner is yet another full cinema meal, a deeply satisfying drama about working conditions among Scandinavian immigrants back when being poor was a life sentence. Max von Sydow’s performance is stunning, as an aging stock tender forced to begin again as a veritable serf. He and his good son Pelle are surrounded by little dramas dealing with injustices among the workers and servants, as well as between the landholders in the big farmhouse.
Pelle the Conqueror
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1987 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 150 min. / Pelle erobreren / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow, Erik Paaske, Bjorn Granath, Astrid Villaume, Axel Strobye, Troels Asmussen, Kristina Tornqvist, Karen Wegener, Sofie Grabol, Lars Simonsen, Buster Larsen, John Wittig, Troels Munk, Nis Bank-Mikkelsen.
Cinematography: Jörgen Persson
Film Editor: Janus Billeskov Jansen
Original Music: Stefan Nilsson
Written by Bille August, Per Olov Enquist, Max Lundgren, Bjarne Reuter
from...
Pelle the Conqueror
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1987 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 150 min. / Pelle erobreren / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow, Erik Paaske, Bjorn Granath, Astrid Villaume, Axel Strobye, Troels Asmussen, Kristina Tornqvist, Karen Wegener, Sofie Grabol, Lars Simonsen, Buster Larsen, John Wittig, Troels Munk, Nis Bank-Mikkelsen.
Cinematography: Jörgen Persson
Film Editor: Janus Billeskov Jansen
Original Music: Stefan Nilsson
Written by Bille August, Per Olov Enquist, Max Lundgren, Bjarne Reuter
from...
- 5/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a 50th anniversary screening of Richard Brook’s 1967 film In Cold Blood, based upon the novel of the same name by Truman Capote. The 134-minute film, which stars John Forsythe, Robert Blake and Scott Wilson, will be screened on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm.
Please Note: At press time, Actor Scott Wilson is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.
From the press release:
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.
In Cold Blood (1967)
50th Anniversary Screening
Wednesday, March 22, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre
Followed by a Q & A with Actor Scott Wilson
In Cold Blood, the film version of Truman Capote’s immensely popular true crime novel, was nominated for four top Oscars in 1967. Richard Brooks received two nominations, for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay,...
Please Note: At press time, Actor Scott Wilson is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.
From the press release:
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.
In Cold Blood (1967)
50th Anniversary Screening
Wednesday, March 22, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre
Followed by a Q & A with Actor Scott Wilson
In Cold Blood, the film version of Truman Capote’s immensely popular true crime novel, was nominated for four top Oscars in 1967. Richard Brooks received two nominations, for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay,...
- 3/19/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Following last summer’s restoration of Swedish auteur Jan Troell’s directorial debut Here is Your Life (1966), Criterion presents the director’s most notable accomplishment from his most prolific period, the one-two punch of The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972). Though technically released as two distinct features, they are more of a conjoined saga detailing the travails of America’s Scandinavian ancestors. Richly attenuated, they’re adapted from the celebrated series of four novels by Vilhelm Moberg, Upon a Good Land, hailed as cornerstones of Swedish literature. Until now, these, along with most of Troell’s 1970s titles, (who is known best for his 2008 masterpiece, Everlasting Moments) have been largely unavailable, a pity considering the level of achievement and a handful of Academy Award nominations (including a Best Picture nod) between both features. It’s difficult to imagine a more authentic depiction of the early immigration experience, narratives which have...
- 3/1/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Meryl Streep rarely minces words, but when asked last week about the issue of diversity, and the lack of it on the Berlinale jury of which she's currently serving as president, the legendary performer hedged — and blundered into a rare controversy. To hear her remarks in context is to know that it wasn't nearly as bad as the flippant "We're all Africans, really" that circulated in the press and on social media. (Watch highlights from the jury's press conference above, and catch the full version here.) But for Streep, usually so charming and eloquent that her awards-season acceptance speeches are a form of entertainment in their own right, her apparent unwillingness to confront the question head on still struck a sour note. If you could even say that she was "down" in the first place, however, she bounced back quickly at her Berlinale master class, moderated by Peter Cowie, with...
- 2/16/2016
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
Jan Troell knocks us for a loop with his masterful epic of a Swedish farming family in the 1840s, making the big move to the promised green acres in frontier Minnesota. Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann are heartbreakingly deserving and hopeful; the dreamers and the devout and the intolerant come too. The two-film, six-hour saga is a faithful to history and politically neutral. The Emigrants / The New Land Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 796 & 797 1971-1972 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 191 + 202 min. / Utvandrarna & Nybyggarna / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 9, 2016 / 49.95 Starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Sven-Olof Bern, Aina Alfredsson, Allan Edwall, Monica Zetterlund, Pierre Lindstedt, Hans Alfredson, Ulla Smidje, Eva-Lena Zetterlund, Gustaf Faringborg. Cinematography and Editing Jan Troell Original Music Erik Nordgren /Bengt Ernryd, Georg Oddner Production design P.A. Lundgren Written by Bengt Forslund, Jan Troell from novels by Vilhelm Moberg Produced by Bengt Forslund Directed by Jan Troell...
- 2/13/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We've already got a fine domestic disc with both versions of John Ford's fine Henry Fonda western. This Region B UK release duplicates that arrangement with different extras, and throws in a fine HD transfer of an earlier Allan Dwan version of the same story -- with strong similarities -- called Frontier Marshal. It stars Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly, Cesar Romero and Binnie Barnes and it's very good. My Darling Clementine + Frontier Marshal Region B Blu-ray Arrow Academy (UK) 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 + 103 min. (two versions) / Street Date August 17, 2015, 2014 / Amazon UK / £19.99 Starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Ward Bond, Alan Mowbray, John Ireland, Roy Roberts, Jane Darwell, Grant Withers, J. Farrell MacDonald, Russell Simpson. Cinematography Joe MacDonald Art Direction James Basevi, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Dorothy Spencer Original Music Cyril Mockridge Written by Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, Winston Miller Produced by Samuel G. Engel,...
- 10/27/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Upon first impression, the stark, angular and abstract constructions of Hiroshima mon amour (released in a new upgraded edition earlier this month by the Criterion Collection) serve as a kind of filter that separates viewers who find themselves bored or baffled by what they see from those who emerge from the viewing with a distinct affinity for the pair of anguished lovers at the heart of the film. The gist of the story is fairly simple: a French actress, on assignment in Hiroshima to play a part in an antiwar film, has a brief but emotionally intense affair with a Japanese man who lives there. Both are married, and even though they recognize a real temptation for them to prolong their time together to more fully enjoy this rush of passion, there’s no practical possibility of the relationship extending beyond a fling. But over the course of the weekend they spend together,...
- 7/20/2015
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
Criterion brings Jan Troell’s masterful debut feature Here is Your Life into their fold. It’s the Swedish auteur’s second film to join the collection, following his beautiful 2008 film, Everlasting Moments, the title many contemporary audiences may recognize. Though his narrative features are rather few and far between, generally based on expansive novels or real life events (his last work to date is 2012’s The Last Sentence documenting a journalist’s quest to inform the Swedish public on Fascism in the 1930s), his expressive debut would launch his career as a notable European auteur in the 1970s, with his Oscar nominated epic The Emigrants (currently slated to be remade by Daniel Espinosa) leading a pack of titles finding Troell working continually with Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, while crossing over internationally with films starring Gene Hackman and Mia Farrow.
Regarded as a masterpiece in Sweden, Troell based...
Regarded as a masterpiece in Sweden, Troell based...
- 7/14/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“He Said/She Said—Reflections On Love, Unreliable Memories, And The Atomic Bomb”
By Raymond Benson
Director Alain Resnais achieved worldwide acclaim with his documentary short, Night and Fog (1955), which revealed to the world the true horrors of what went on in the Nazi concentration camps. For his first feature film, Resnais turned to fiction; and yet, he maintained a somewhat documentary approach in showing the world the true horrors of what occurred in Hiroshima, Japan when the first atomic bomb was dropped. Beyond that, Hiroshima mon amour (“Hiroshima, My Love”) is an art film that not only signaled the beginning of the French New Wave (although many film historians do not count it as an example of that movement), it also established Resnais’ singular, enigmatic and ambiguous style as an auteur. The director would go on to make even more thematically-mysterious pictures (namely Last Year at Marienbad) and become...
By Raymond Benson
Director Alain Resnais achieved worldwide acclaim with his documentary short, Night and Fog (1955), which revealed to the world the true horrors of what went on in the Nazi concentration camps. For his first feature film, Resnais turned to fiction; and yet, he maintained a somewhat documentary approach in showing the world the true horrors of what occurred in Hiroshima, Japan when the first atomic bomb was dropped. Beyond that, Hiroshima mon amour (“Hiroshima, My Love”) is an art film that not only signaled the beginning of the French New Wave (although many film historians do not count it as an example of that movement), it also established Resnais’ singular, enigmatic and ambiguous style as an auteur. The director would go on to make even more thematically-mysterious pictures (namely Last Year at Marienbad) and become...
- 6/30/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
In today's roundup of news and views: Charlie Fox on Buster Keaton, Danny Leigh on Alan Clarke, Abel Ferrara on collaboration, Adrian Martin on the "New Cinephilia," Martin Amis on Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Sérgio Dias Branco on Roberto Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis, Peter Cowie on Ingmar Bergman's cinematographers, Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist, Benjamin Bergholtz on Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Michael Mann's Heat, David Kalat on Harry Langdon, Duncan Gray on Brad Bird's Tomorrowland—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 6/16/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup of news and views: Charlie Fox on Buster Keaton, Danny Leigh on Alan Clarke, Abel Ferrara on collaboration, Adrian Martin on the "New Cinephilia," Martin Amis on Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Sérgio Dias Branco on Roberto Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis, Peter Cowie on Ingmar Bergman's cinematographers, Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist, Benjamin Bergholtz on Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Michael Mann's Heat, David Kalat on Harry Langdon, Duncan Gray on Brad Bird's Tomorrowland—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 6/16/2015
- Keyframe
'Fanny and Alexander' movie: Ingmar Bergman classic with Bertil Guve as Alexander Ekdahl 'Fanny and Alexander' movie review: Last Ingmar Bergman 'filmic film' Why Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander / Fanny och Alexander bears its appellation is a mystery – one of many in the director's final 'filmic film' – since the first titular character, Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) is at best a third- or fourth-level supporting character. In fact, in the three-hour theatrical version she is not even mentioned by name for nearly an hour into the film. Fanny and Alexander should have been called "Alexander and Fanny," or simply "Alexander," since it most closely follows two years – from 1907 to 1909 – in the life of young, handsome, brown-haired Alexander Ekdahl (Bertil Guve), the original "boy who sees dead people." Better yet, it should have been called "The Ekdahls," for that whole family is central to the film, especially Fanny and Alexander's beautiful blonde mother Emilie,...
- 5/8/2015
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Criterion has announced their July 2015 line-up of releases and it's a rather impressive one with the most notable title being a brand new release of the Alain Resnais' classic Hiroshima mon amour (July 14), a film I have never seen and there's a small bit of shame in that fact considering its influence on so many filmmakers and its importance in establishing what is now referred to as the French New Wave. The release is not without new features as Criterion gives it the Blu-ray upgrade: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Audio commentary by film historian Peter Cowie Interviews with director Alain Resnais from 1961 and 1980 Interviews with actor Emmanuelle Riva from 1959 and 2003 New interview with film scholar Fran?ois Thomas, author of L'atelier d'Alain Resnais New interview with music scholar Tim Page about the film's score Revoir Hiroshima . . . , a 2013 program about the film's restoration...
- 4/15/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Whenever I sit down to review an Ingmar Begman movie I tend to bounce over to IMDb just to see how many of his films I've seen. Obviously when you're talking about Bergman we all pretty much start with the well known classics (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, etc.) and then slowly begin to explore his lesser known films. Well, having now finally seen Cries & Whispers, what very well may be the last of his well known classics I had left to see (except for "Scenes from a Marriage"), I feel there are only lesser known corners of his oeuvre for me to explore. However, with over 65 films credited to him as a director on IMDb it would seem I've still only scratched the surface as I've only 14 of his films under my belt. Criterion's new Blu-ray release of Cries and Whispers is an upgrade from their 2001 DVD release, arriving...
- 4/14/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Criterion repackages one of its earlier Ingmar Bergman inclusions this month, restoring his brilliant, enigmatic 1972 masterpiece Cries and Whispers for Blu-ray release. Financed with Bergman’s own money, the auteur had difficulty securing an American distributor, eventually finding an unlikely champion in Roger Corman, of all people, who had recently established his own releasing company, New World, and was in search of prestige titles to build artistic merit.
Rushed to theatrical release to qualify for Academy Awards consideration, it would secure five nominations, including for Best Picture and Director, winning Best Cinematography for Sven Nyqvist, before going on to be selected to play out of competition at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival (awarded the Vulcain Prize of the Technical Artist). In Bergman’s illustrious filmography, it’s unnecessary (and incredibly difficult) to endow any one title as his best from a body of work that sports a myriad of celebrated examples spanning seven decades.
Rushed to theatrical release to qualify for Academy Awards consideration, it would secure five nominations, including for Best Picture and Director, winning Best Cinematography for Sven Nyqvist, before going on to be selected to play out of competition at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival (awarded the Vulcain Prize of the Technical Artist). In Bergman’s illustrious filmography, it’s unnecessary (and incredibly difficult) to endow any one title as his best from a body of work that sports a myriad of celebrated examples spanning seven decades.
- 3/31/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“Cries And Sisters”
By Raymond Benson
One of the late, great Ingmar Bergman’s skills as a filmmaker was to write and direct memorable roles for women. He was one of the few directors, such as Ford or Altman or Allen, who repeatedly relied on a “stock company” of actors throughout his career. While there were many wonderful male actors who worked for Bergman (Max von Sydow, Erland Josephson, Gunnar Björnstrand), we generally remember the women—Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Eva Dahlbeck, Bibi Andersson, among many—for baring their souls on screen in Bergman’s challenging, difficult works that always elevated the art of film to breathtaking levels.
Cries and Whispers is an excellent example of the power of the female actor. It’s essentially a four-woman chamber piece, taking place in the late 1800s in Sweden, about three sisters and a servant, their relationships to each other,...
By Raymond Benson
One of the late, great Ingmar Bergman’s skills as a filmmaker was to write and direct memorable roles for women. He was one of the few directors, such as Ford or Altman or Allen, who repeatedly relied on a “stock company” of actors throughout his career. While there were many wonderful male actors who worked for Bergman (Max von Sydow, Erland Josephson, Gunnar Björnstrand), we generally remember the women—Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Eva Dahlbeck, Bibi Andersson, among many—for baring their souls on screen in Bergman’s challenging, difficult works that always elevated the art of film to breathtaking levels.
Cries and Whispers is an excellent example of the power of the female actor. It’s essentially a four-woman chamber piece, taking place in the late 1800s in Sweden, about three sisters and a servant, their relationships to each other,...
- 3/30/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Jonathan Rosenbaum's posted the introduction to his 2004 book, Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons as well as his list of 1,000 Favorites. Also in today's roundup of news and views: The new Film Quarterly features a dossier on Richard Linklater, Cahiers du Cinéma on Martin Scorsese in the 80s, Peter Cowie's memories of François Truffaut, Chris Cagle on Michael Glawogger's Workingman's Death, Jake Cole on Eric Rohmer's The Marquise of O, J. Hoberman on Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country and Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid, Artforum and the New York Times on Shirley Yamaguchi and Setsuko Hara—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/21/2015
- Keyframe
Jonathan Rosenbaum's posted the introduction to his 2004 book, Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons as well as his list of 1,000 Favorites. Also in today's roundup of news and views: The new Film Quarterly features a dossier on Richard Linklater, Cahiers du Cinéma on Martin Scorsese in the 80s, Peter Cowie's memories of François Truffaut, Chris Cagle on Michael Glawogger's Workingman's Death, Jake Cole on Eric Rohmer's The Marquise of O, J. Hoberman on Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country and Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid, Artforum and the New York Times on Shirley Yamaguchi and Setsuko Hara—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/21/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Jonathan Rosenbaum's posted the introduction to his 2004 book, Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons as well as his list of 1,000 Favorites. Also in today's roundup of news and views: The new Film Quarterly features a dossier on Richard Linklater, Cahiers du Cinéma on Martin Scorsese in the 80s, Peter Cowie's memories of François Truffaut, Chris Cagle on Michael Glawogger's Workingman's Death, Jake Cole on Eric Rohmer's The Marquise of O, J. Hoberman on Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country and Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid, Artforum and the New York Times on Shirley Yamaguchi and Setsuko Hara—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/21/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Jonathan Rosenbaum's posted the introduction to his 2004 book, Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons as well as his list of 1,000 Favorites. Also in today's roundup of news and views: The new Film Quarterly features a dossier on Richard Linklater, Cahiers du Cinéma on Martin Scorsese in the 80s, Peter Cowie's memories of François Truffaut, Chris Cagle on Michael Glawogger's Workingman's Death, Jake Cole on Eric Rohmer's The Marquise of O, J. Hoberman on Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country and Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid, Artforum and the New York Times on Shirley Yamaguchi and Setsuko Hara—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/21/2015
- Keyframe
Peter Cowie recalls that time in 1992 when Samuel Fuller was introduced to Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. Also in today's roundup of news and views: Giancarlo T. Roma talks money with James Schamus, an assessment of Errol Morris's work, a profile of Adam Curtis, Matías Piñeiro on a scene from The Princess of France—and it's Steve Buscemi Day at DC's. Plus a David Lynch exhibition, a Frank Capra retrospective and notes on forthcoming work from Kenneth Lonergan, Pedro Almodóvar and Scarlett Johansson. And remembering René Vautier. » - David Hudson...
- 1/5/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Peter Cowie recalls that time in 1992 when Samuel Fuller was introduced to Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. Also in today's roundup of news and views: Giancarlo T. Roma talks money with James Schamus, an assessment of Errol Morris's work, a profile of Adam Curtis, Matías Piñeiro on a scene from The Princess of France—and it's Steve Buscemi Day at DC's. Plus a David Lynch exhibition, a Frank Capra retrospective and notes on forthcoming work from Kenneth Lonergan, Pedro Almodóvar and Scarlett Johansson. And remembering René Vautier. » - David Hudson...
- 1/5/2015
- Keyframe
Edited by Adam Cook
Above: the incredible new issue of Cinema Comparat/ive Cinema is online now under the theme of "Manny Farber: Systems of Movement". Among the included pieces is a conversation on Farber between Kent Jones and Jean-Pierre Gorin. As a welcome break from the Best of 2014 overload, David Bordwell & Kristin Thompson continue their tradition of instead focusing their attention on the best films of the year...90 years ago:
"These lists are our way of calling attention to important silent films that some readers may have overlooked. In one case here we point out a largely forgotten film that deserves to be better known, in the hope that an archive will take the hint. With the proliferation of silent-film festivals, of DVD and Blu-ray releases with restored prints and supplemental material, and of TCM’s eclectic screenings of foreign and silent titles, there seems to be considerably...
Above: the incredible new issue of Cinema Comparat/ive Cinema is online now under the theme of "Manny Farber: Systems of Movement". Among the included pieces is a conversation on Farber between Kent Jones and Jean-Pierre Gorin. As a welcome break from the Best of 2014 overload, David Bordwell & Kristin Thompson continue their tradition of instead focusing their attention on the best films of the year...90 years ago:
"These lists are our way of calling attention to important silent films that some readers may have overlooked. In one case here we point out a largely forgotten film that deserves to be better known, in the hope that an archive will take the hint. With the proliferation of silent-film festivals, of DVD and Blu-ray releases with restored prints and supplemental material, and of TCM’s eclectic screenings of foreign and silent titles, there seems to be considerably...
- 12/31/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
In today's roundup of news and views: Peter Watkins on the "Media Crisis"; revisiting Philip Roth's film criticism from 1957; Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Robert Bresson; Peter Cowie's brief chat with Jacques Tati in 1974; Adrian Martin on Mike Hoolboom; Robert Greene's talk with Joshua Oppenheimer about The Look of Silence; Bilge Ebiri on David Lynch's Mulholland Drive as a horror movie; a "Barbara Steele Halloween"; a documentary about Samuel Fuller; news of forthcoming films by Todd Solondz and Paul Greengrass; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/25/2014
- Keyframe
In today's roundup of news and views: Peter Watkins on the "Media Crisis"; revisiting Philip Roth's film criticism from 1957; Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Robert Bresson; Peter Cowie's brief chat with Jacques Tati in 1974; Adrian Martin on Mike Hoolboom; Robert Greene's talk with Joshua Oppenheimer about The Look of Silence; Bilge Ebiri on David Lynch's Mulholland Drive as a horror movie; a "Barbara Steele Halloween"; a documentary about Samuel Fuller; news of forthcoming films by Todd Solondz and Paul Greengrass; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/25/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Persona
Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman
Sweden, 1966
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona is probably the great Swedish filmmaker’s most perplexing and thought-provoking work; it’s certainly his most surreal. Unusual imagery and curious narrative developments aren’t necessarily foreign to the rest of his filmography, but they have never been as frequent as they are here, nor have they been as overtly inexplicable. (Even if their meanings remain unclear, at least the dream sequences in Wild Strawberries can be clearly identified as dreams; there is no such easy rationalization here.) With so much happening in this 1966 feature, so many levels of story and visual complexity, it’s little wonder that Persona has yielded a great deal of discussion and analysis. And subsequently, it’s little wonder that the newly released Blu-ray/DVD from the Criterion Collection is accompanied by an excellent gathering of supplemental material, enhancing an already fascinating film,...
Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman
Sweden, 1966
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona is probably the great Swedish filmmaker’s most perplexing and thought-provoking work; it’s certainly his most surreal. Unusual imagery and curious narrative developments aren’t necessarily foreign to the rest of his filmography, but they have never been as frequent as they are here, nor have they been as overtly inexplicable. (Even if their meanings remain unclear, at least the dream sequences in Wild Strawberries can be clearly identified as dreams; there is no such easy rationalization here.) With so much happening in this 1966 feature, so many levels of story and visual complexity, it’s little wonder that Persona has yielded a great deal of discussion and analysis. And subsequently, it’s little wonder that the newly released Blu-ray/DVD from the Criterion Collection is accompanied by an excellent gathering of supplemental material, enhancing an already fascinating film,...
- 4/4/2014
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
It's hard to believe it has already been more than three years since I first saw Ingmar Bergman's Persona. The first Bergman film I saw was The Seventh Seal back in 2007 and I was immediately hooked. I quickly followed that up with Wild Strawberries and have since come to own many of the iconic Swedish director's films, and as much as I never believed anything he directed could effect me as much as Seventh Seal, Persona is a whole new level of filmmaking. I've been asked before if a film can still be enjoyable even if you don't entirely understand it. Persona is evidence that the answer is a resounding yes. The film came about after Bergman fell ill in 1959 as he was planning on beginning work on a film with Liv Ullman and Bibi Andersson titled The Cannibals. That film never came to fruition. While recovering in the hospital,...
- 4/3/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Few films have ever been as dissected and analyze as Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona”, recently released on Criterion Blu-ray for the first time with new special features. It’s somewhat ironic that so many people have spent so much intellectual energy on a film that Bergman admits came to him at a point of low health almost in a dream. In fact, “Persona” somewhat becomes less interesting to me as it’s dissected, much like Lynch’s “Mulholland Dr.” or Malick’s “Tree of Life”. They are distinctly emotional, symbolic pieces and perhaps they should just be appreciated as such instead of such analysis of “what they mean.” However you choose to appreciate one of Bergman’s most influential films, you should do so with the Criterion edition from this day forward.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
As for special features on this new edition, the two that are most powerful for me are...
Rating: 4.5/5.0
As for special features on this new edition, the two that are most powerful for me are...
- 4/1/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona is now available in a sharp and stunning Blu-ray from Criterion. This 1966 production has attained a special place in critics’ hearts over the years, and stands proudly at #17 on Sight & Sound’s prestigious greatest films list; the highest ranking earned by any Bergman product. Persona contains many of the distinct elements – and a number of the iconic images – that have come to define the late Swedish master’s oeuvre, and at the time the film was considered an artistic breakthrough, tilling new grounds of style and substance.
In fact, Persona deals with universal themes that had deeply fascinated Bergman ever since his transition from interpreter to auteur in the early 1950s. The silence of God, and man’s floundering follies in response, is a major conceptual catalyst, surging through Persona’s bleak gray skies like a web of jangled nerves. What makes the film unique is...
In fact, Persona deals with universal themes that had deeply fascinated Bergman ever since his transition from interpreter to auteur in the early 1950s. The silence of God, and man’s floundering follies in response, is a major conceptual catalyst, surging through Persona’s bleak gray skies like a web of jangled nerves. What makes the film unique is...
- 3/25/2014
- by David Anderson
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray/DVD Review
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona
The Criterion Collection
A Mystery of Faces
By Raymond Benson
Much has already been written about Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 head-scratcher, Persona—it’s been analyzed, dissected, reconstructed, and debated, and it still remains a cinematic enigma, and a brilliant one at that. Of all of the Swedish master’s challenging works, Persona is undoubtedly the most complex, audacious, radical, and experimental film Bergman ever made. It’s also been widely parodied and imitated. Its influence on other filmmakers, and on pop culture itself, cannot be taken lightly.
Persona, which means “mask” in Latin, is all about artifice. Bergman makes no pretentions that what the audience is viewing is make-believe—it is an invented drama about personalities hiding behind “masks,” if you will, performed for a camera that translates the images onto celluloid. In fact, Bergman begins Persona with an extraordinary prologue consisting of...
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona
The Criterion Collection
A Mystery of Faces
By Raymond Benson
Much has already been written about Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 head-scratcher, Persona—it’s been analyzed, dissected, reconstructed, and debated, and it still remains a cinematic enigma, and a brilliant one at that. Of all of the Swedish master’s challenging works, Persona is undoubtedly the most complex, audacious, radical, and experimental film Bergman ever made. It’s also been widely parodied and imitated. Its influence on other filmmakers, and on pop culture itself, cannot be taken lightly.
Persona, which means “mask” in Latin, is all about artifice. Bergman makes no pretentions that what the audience is viewing is make-believe—it is an invented drama about personalities hiding behind “masks,” if you will, performed for a camera that translates the images onto celluloid. In fact, Bergman begins Persona with an extraordinary prologue consisting of...
- 3/23/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Why Filmmakers Like Neil Jordan Are Drawn to Television Even While Feeling Cinema Is 'Irreplaceable'
As part of the Berlinale Talents creative summit earlier this month, Irish director Neil Jordan (who created the now concluded Showtime historical drama "The Borgias") and Hollywood producer Martha De Laurentiis ("Hannibal"), the widow of the late legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis, joined moderator Peter Cowie for a panel entitled "Expanding Stories: Successfully Creating Television Series." Its aim was to understand the secret alchemy that lies behind every successful television series, but, as we know, creativity, unlike medicine, is hard to prescribe. While any discussion revolving around art cinema usually features heavy doses of pessimism, the debate around TV series is punctuated by uplifting considerations and a more general sense of possibility. The fact that the two guests present on the panel are veterans of cinema who've both recently lent their respective expertise to the small screen somehow embodied some of the issues that emerged during the...
- 2/25/2014
- by Celluloid Liberation Front
- Indiewire
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 25, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Liv Ullmann (l.) and Bibi Andersson get into each other's heads in Ingmar Bergman's Persona.
By the mid-sixties, Ingmar Bergman (The Magician) had already conjured many of the cinema’s most unforgettable images. But with 1966’s radical psychological drama Persona, this supreme artist attained new levels of visual poetry.
In the first of a series of legendary performances for Bergman, Liv Ullmann (Face to Face) plays an actress who has inexplicably gone mute; an equally mesmerizing Bibi Andersson (Wild Strawberries) is the garrulous young nurse caring for her in a remote island cottage. While isolated together there, the women perform a mysterious spiritual and emotional transference that would prove to be one of cinema’s most influential ideas.
Acted with astonishing nuance and shot in stark shadows and soft light by the great Sven Nykvist (Fanny and Alexander), Persona is a penetrating,...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Liv Ullmann (l.) and Bibi Andersson get into each other's heads in Ingmar Bergman's Persona.
By the mid-sixties, Ingmar Bergman (The Magician) had already conjured many of the cinema’s most unforgettable images. But with 1966’s radical psychological drama Persona, this supreme artist attained new levels of visual poetry.
In the first of a series of legendary performances for Bergman, Liv Ullmann (Face to Face) plays an actress who has inexplicably gone mute; an equally mesmerizing Bibi Andersson (Wild Strawberries) is the garrulous young nurse caring for her in a remote island cottage. While isolated together there, the women perform a mysterious spiritual and emotional transference that would prove to be one of cinema’s most influential ideas.
Acted with astonishing nuance and shot in stark shadows and soft light by the great Sven Nykvist (Fanny and Alexander), Persona is a penetrating,...
- 12/17/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Well, it’s the middle of the month, which means The Criterion Collection has announced yet another batch of releases to help keep your wallet from feeling too heavy. This March features a long-awaited title from one of the label’s most celebrated directors, as well as a silent classic, and a film that came out this past year that is destined to get nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar. The release of Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona” comes as a special surprise. Considering that the film is such an essential title in Bergman’s filmography, you would think Criterion would have gotten their hands on it a long time ago. But, as these things tend to happen, rights issues most likely prevented a Criterion release all these years. Thankfully, the label has stuffed the “Persona” release with an abundance of supplements, including a visual essay with Bergman scholar Peter Cowie,...
- 12/17/2013
- by Ken Guidry
- The Playlist
Bergman Meets Bergman
By Raymond Benson
It was the first and only time two famous filmmaking Swedes worked together—the enigmatic, existential, and brilliant director Ingmar Bergman, and the glamorous, international star of Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman (no relation). According to Ingmar in a filmed introduction he made in 2003, he and Ingrid had met and agreed that one day she would act in one of his films. Then, apparently he and Ingrid met again at a film festival in the mid-70s. She reminded him of their promise; he told her about the script he was working on, in which Liv Ullmann would play the daughter, but he hadn’t cast the mother yet. Done deal. But, in a recently-filmed interview, Ullmann relates how the two Bergmans did not get along very well for the longest period. Ingrid wanted to do it one way, Ingmar another—and he had never dealt...
By Raymond Benson
It was the first and only time two famous filmmaking Swedes worked together—the enigmatic, existential, and brilliant director Ingmar Bergman, and the glamorous, international star of Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman (no relation). According to Ingmar in a filmed introduction he made in 2003, he and Ingrid had met and agreed that one day she would act in one of his films. Then, apparently he and Ingrid met again at a film festival in the mid-70s. She reminded him of their promise; he told her about the script he was working on, in which Liv Ullmann would play the daughter, but he hadn’t cast the mother yet. Done deal. But, in a recently-filmed interview, Ullmann relates how the two Bergmans did not get along very well for the longest period. Ingrid wanted to do it one way, Ingmar another—and he had never dealt...
- 9/28/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Chicago – “Autumn Sonata,” Ingrid Bergman’s last film and first collaboration with cinema’s other great Bergman (Ingmar), is a challenging film. Is it pure melodrama or is it raw human emotion? The line is a fine one, enhanced by the theatricality of the film, one that opens with a character breaking the 4th wall. And yet I choose to take “Autumn Sonata” seriously and not as emotional manipulation, a decision enhanced by the enlightening essay in the Criterion edition by Farran Smith Nehme, which reveals how much of both Bergman’s own issues with parenthood may have impacted this caustic commentary on how we don’t really change, even as death is staring us in the face.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Bad parents are as old as the form of fiction and yet Charlotte (Bergman) is a particularly loathsome one. In “Autumn Sonata,” the famed pianist is coming home to visit her...
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Bad parents are as old as the form of fiction and yet Charlotte (Bergman) is a particularly loathsome one. In “Autumn Sonata,” the famed pianist is coming home to visit her...
- 9/25/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
When I really began digging into classic cinema, one of the films I started with was Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and it wasn't that long ago. According to Netflix, I returned the disc on January 8, 2008 after returning Bergman's Wild Strawberries about a month earlier (I wrote about them both briefly right here). I'd actually received both discs at the same time, but kept Seventh Seal a little longer because it had so truly captured my imagination. I've written about it a few times since, including a review of the Criterion Blu-ray a little over four years ago. I've found Bergman's work captivating ever since, several as a result of the Criterion Collection including reviewing Smiles of a Summer Night, Summer Interlude and Summer with Monica, Fanny and Alexander and The Magician along with my discovery of Persona two years ago, whose two-shot imagery is repeated in a highly...
- 9/24/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Two of the 20th Century’s best actresses team up – or square off, to be more precise – in Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata from 1978. This simple, austere production peels away every layer of a tortured mother/daughter relationship, revealing decades of toxic damage deep within. The film presents an uncomfortably frank appraisal of one family’s stark dysfunction, and the bonds of codependency that ensure a continuing spiral of guilt. And after the wreckage is thoroughly surveyed and assessed, most viewers will recognize scattered bits of their own lives amid the emotional debris.
Here we meet Eva (Liv Ullmann), a mousey preacher’s wife in the rural south of Norway. She spends her quiet days performing musical selections for her husband’s church and dusting the tidy parsonage they call home. One morning Eva composes a letter to her mother Charlotte, a globetrotting concert pianist, inviting her for a visit.
Here we meet Eva (Liv Ullmann), a mousey preacher’s wife in the rural south of Norway. She spends her quiet days performing musical selections for her husband’s church and dusting the tidy parsonage they call home. One morning Eva composes a letter to her mother Charlotte, a globetrotting concert pianist, inviting her for a visit.
- 9/17/2013
- by David Anderson
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – Every month, Criterion mixes in a few HD upgrades for films in their collection to sit alongside new releases for the collection. One of those titles this month is spine #139, Ingmar Bergman’s adored “Wild Strawberries” (1957). It’s not one of my favorite Bergman films as I’ve always found its structure more frustrating than enlightening but “Wild Strawberries” has loyal fans who will be satisfied by this strong HD transfer and interesting special features.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
The highlights of the Criterion blu-ray release of “Wild Strawberries” are the new, restored 2K digital film transfer that perfectly captures the aesthetic of Bergman’s visually strong film without looking overly polished, and a 90-minute documentary on the legendary director called “Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work.” The stellar HD work and the doc alone make for a solid addition to the collection. As I said though, “Strawberries” is a film that...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
The highlights of the Criterion blu-ray release of “Wild Strawberries” are the new, restored 2K digital film transfer that perfectly captures the aesthetic of Bergman’s visually strong film without looking overly polished, and a 90-minute documentary on the legendary director called “Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work.” The stellar HD work and the doc alone make for a solid addition to the collection. As I said though, “Strawberries” is a film that...
- 6/24/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 17, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Ingrid Bergman (r.) and Liv Ullmann are mother and daughter in Autumn Sonata.
The 1978 Swedish film drama Autumn Sonata was the only collaboration between cinema’s two great Bergmans—Ingmar, the iconic director of Wild Strawberries, and Ingrid, the monumental star of Casablanca.
Ms. Bergman, portraying an icy concert pianist, is matched beat for beat in ferocity by the filmmaker’s recurring lead Liv Ullmann (Face to Face) as her eldest daughter. Over the course of a long, painful night that the two spend together after an extended separation, they finally confront the bitter discord of their relationship.
Evocatively shot in burnished harvest colors by the great Sven Nykvist (Fanny and Alexander), Autumn Sonata ranks among one of Ingmar Bergman’s greatest later dramatic works.
Presented in Swedish with English subtitles, the Criterion DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Ingrid Bergman (r.) and Liv Ullmann are mother and daughter in Autumn Sonata.
The 1978 Swedish film drama Autumn Sonata was the only collaboration between cinema’s two great Bergmans—Ingmar, the iconic director of Wild Strawberries, and Ingrid, the monumental star of Casablanca.
Ms. Bergman, portraying an icy concert pianist, is matched beat for beat in ferocity by the filmmaker’s recurring lead Liv Ullmann (Face to Face) as her eldest daughter. Over the course of a long, painful night that the two spend together after an extended separation, they finally confront the bitter discord of their relationship.
Evocatively shot in burnished harvest colors by the great Sven Nykvist (Fanny and Alexander), Autumn Sonata ranks among one of Ingmar Bergman’s greatest later dramatic works.
Presented in Swedish with English subtitles, the Criterion DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film...
- 6/20/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Produced fifty-six years ago, Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries remains a venerable warhorse in the hallowed halls of Arthouse. But unlike this reviewer, who shares a similar vintage, the film shows no loss of vitality or any sign of imminent creakiness. Despite its strengths, Wild Strawberries often gets a bit lost within the contrasty folds of Bergman’s legendary filmography. Sight and Sound’s vaunted list of The Greatest Films of All Time pegs Wild Strawberries at sixty-three; not exactly a diss but way far behind Persona. The film doesn’t even appear on Roger Ebert’s lengthy List of Great Movies, although the late critic partially compensated by including Bergman’s equally underrated Winter Light.
The inherent silliness of film ranking aside, Wild Strawberries is a stunning cinematic experience. Filled with mystical beauty and chewy philosophical constructs in a tidy, perfectly tailored ninety-two minute package, the film is a...
The inherent silliness of film ranking aside, Wild Strawberries is a stunning cinematic experience. Filled with mystical beauty and chewy philosophical constructs in a tidy, perfectly tailored ninety-two minute package, the film is a...
- 6/11/2013
- by David Anderson
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 11, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Victor Sjöström and Bibi Andersson travel across the Swedish countryside in Wild Strawberries.
In the 1957 classic film drama Wild Strawberries by the Swedish master Ingmar Bergman (Face to Face), one man embarks on a remarkable voyage of self-discovery–and then some.
Traveling to accept an honorary degree, Professor Isak Borg—masterfully played by veteran director Victor Sjöström (The Phantom Carriage)—is forced to face his past, come to terms with his faults, and make peace with the inevitability of his approaching death. Through flashbacks and fantasies, dreams and nightmares, the film dramatizes that aforementioned voyage.
A richly humane masterpiece that deserves every bit of praise that’s been heaped onto it over the past half-century, Wild Strawberries is a genuine treasure from the golden age of art-house cinema and one of the films that catapulted Bergman to international acclaim.
Here’s...
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Victor Sjöström and Bibi Andersson travel across the Swedish countryside in Wild Strawberries.
In the 1957 classic film drama Wild Strawberries by the Swedish master Ingmar Bergman (Face to Face), one man embarks on a remarkable voyage of self-discovery–and then some.
Traveling to accept an honorary degree, Professor Isak Borg—masterfully played by veteran director Victor Sjöström (The Phantom Carriage)—is forced to face his past, come to terms with his faults, and make peace with the inevitability of his approaching death. Through flashbacks and fantasies, dreams and nightmares, the film dramatizes that aforementioned voyage.
A richly humane masterpiece that deserves every bit of praise that’s been heaped onto it over the past half-century, Wild Strawberries is a genuine treasure from the golden age of art-house cinema and one of the films that catapulted Bergman to international acclaim.
Here’s...
- 3/22/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
The key ingredient to the success of any film book is to what extent the source is illuminated by the work. Given the critical and commercial success of Francis Ford Coppola’s film and the legacy which has been poured over by both fans and academics what new light can be shone on The Godfather?
It has become something of a tradition when creating highly illustrated movie books to mine the archives for rare and often unpublished photos, memos and other movie miscellany which are reproduced to support the book’s text. Peter Cowie has done just that, and you would be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive visual document of the film that this one. That said the commentary provided can seem superfluous and excitable, with the access granted it’s a shame that a more candid approach wasn’t taken.
In terms of setting the scene the...
It has become something of a tradition when creating highly illustrated movie books to mine the archives for rare and often unpublished photos, memos and other movie miscellany which are reproduced to support the book’s text. Peter Cowie has done just that, and you would be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive visual document of the film that this one. That said the commentary provided can seem superfluous and excitable, with the access granted it’s a shame that a more candid approach wasn’t taken.
In terms of setting the scene the...
- 11/27/2012
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Godfather trilogy is one of the most well-known film series of all time. Mario Puzo’s uncompromising tale of the Mafia gangland and the families who fight for control is rightly hailed as one of the most influential films of all time.
In creating The Godfather: The Official Motion Picture Archives Peter Cowie illuminates the complex story of bringing Francis Ford Coppola’s vision to the big screen. It goes into detail on the players on all sides of the production and has a number of wonderfully crafted pieces of esoteria which are a must for fans of the trilogy.
it’s a stunning slip-cased hardback book, full of reproduced memorabilia which tells the story of The Godfather, from the initial novel, casting, filming, and its lasting legacy. And you can win a copy.
We have five copies of this wonderful book to give away courtesy of Carlton...
In creating The Godfather: The Official Motion Picture Archives Peter Cowie illuminates the complex story of bringing Francis Ford Coppola’s vision to the big screen. It goes into detail on the players on all sides of the production and has a number of wonderfully crafted pieces of esoteria which are a must for fans of the trilogy.
it’s a stunning slip-cased hardback book, full of reproduced memorabilia which tells the story of The Godfather, from the initial novel, casting, filming, and its lasting legacy. And you can win a copy.
We have five copies of this wonderful book to give away courtesy of Carlton...
- 11/26/2012
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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