I'm not sure when I watched my first Bergman film as like most people in a fashion not unlike that of The Beatles in our lives he has always been there for us, a titan of the film experience, a living God among the pantheon of holy creators of celluloid dreams and nightmares that walked among us like common men. Well...at least that's how he and directors of his stature are typically presented to us although of course as youths we are often fond of belonging to groups of oddly like-minded iconoclasts willing to throw mud where others worship to demonstrate our haughty disdain to the ones we personally deem in our own foolishly narrow focus to be false.

But despite my general familiarity towards his existence, I didn't really associate Bergman as a creator with the films of his I had already seen all that strongly until Fanny & Alexander hit theatres when I was nearing my final year of high school. There was such a big hullaballoo about it and I suppose I only became more aware of it as I was only starting my directionless drifting into the world of serious cinema as my life became somewhat less chaotic. I remembered not being particularly happy with it although to be honest I couldn't exactly tell you why because that was almost 30 years ago and unfortunately my life would spiral even more out of control than I could ever imagine and so my memory of such things then sometimes gets a little hazy. I really should watch it again methinks.

But over the years having enjoyed many a film festival, discovered many a "favorite" film, programmed many a movie endurance runs, and explored quite a lot of strange areas in cinema, but looking back I find myself often dancing around Bergman films. Sure sure since shaking most of my self-afflicted, youthful mental shackles I've watched a film or two of his here and there enough to understand and recognize just why I don't deify some of his films the way some others do. But time flies when you're not paying attention and since it's been a while since I've watched most of his films and now more than any other time in my life even more of his films are readily available for the offering, I thought I'd just dive into his catalogue avoiding those I'd seen in the last 5-10 years and last week decided to watch a movie a day for a week. Will it change my impression of him or his films?

Oh...be aware that these are sloppy transfers of quick knee-jerk impressions that I had on a daily basis from my Facebook profile. So if you're expecting to see some long bits of introspection (which generally is what the films deserve but there's plenty of that on the internet) you're probably going to be disappointed. But to be honest if you're here you're probably used to disappointment aren't you? :P

Persona (1966)

Bergman film o' the day is 'Persona' of which I suppose it's fairly pointless to say that it's a deeply personal film (though it 'tis) as he has few that aren't. This one in particular though marks an important moment as his muse Liv Ullman comes into Bergman's life and thus begins their real life stormy relationship which would profoundly affect both this picture and its companion the nightmarish 'Hour of the Wolf'. Expertly crafted and passionately acted 'Persona' hit me hard on some particular personal issues as the film wrestles with the extremes of narcissism and the masks we give our personalities and how they clash with the masks of others.

Moved though I was I still find the nature of Bergman's symbolism a bit too obvious and somewhat stuck in the era of silent film German expressionism which, though I'm greatly fond of them, in his film their power to affect seems to diminish them somewhat in my eye. Perhaps I shouldn't feel this way as it would be easy to supplant "obvious" with "primal" or "iconic" and I suppose it serves to keep the film from sinking into the more abstract aspects of his films. Regardless...I would still watch it and highly recommend it just to watch the interplay between Ullman and Andersson.

Hour of the Wolf (1968 )

Today's Bergman film 'o the day is 'Hour of the Wolf' a companion piece of sorts to his 'Persona' film. It's another intense examination of the self and how murky the perception of this self can be when reality begins to break down for them as well as the difficulty and dangers that present themselves to those emotionally bonded to them. This time out it's quite a rougher journey however as his real life relationship with Ullmann had become exceedingly rocky and this issue is represented in exceedingly painful fashion upon the screen as Ullmann's character openly questions if staying close to her unstable husband in order to support him will end up not only twisting her own perceptions but possibly completely subverting her entire personality.

An incredibly brave film to make but also a fairly unpleasant one to endure as I can't remember the last time a film has made me feeling like I was truly mentally suffocating under the weight of a crumbling psyche. It almost feels childish to rate the performances because this is Ullmann and Max von Sydow in a Swedish film we're talking here...so there you go. My only negative observation for the film is that I felt the film emotional impact was somewhat undermined by the extreme nature of some of the more surreal aspects of the nightmare creations the protagonist must struggle with. Especially towards the end it seemed to go a little too far into overload with the oddness and while this did reduce the overall tension that had built up around my brain, it also somewhat reduced the emotional investment I had in the characters. Still...unlike some Bergman films this is my first pass as this particular one so I don't always weigh in too heavily on first impressions when it comes to films this intense.

The Passion (1969)

Bergman mini-festival continues on with today's being 'A Passion' which in my estimation seemed like decidedly lesser Bergman from what my feeble brain can recall (one reason for revisits) as the film seemed somewhat lacking in any kind of momentum or purpose and seemed more like Bergman having some more good ideas for making his inner demons dance on the silver screen but this time out not really putting enough in the boiling pot of creativity to make a whole meal. As always there were some very nice scenes involving profound bits of introspection which often presents a demonstration of the difficulties presented two highly emotionally broken characters whom eventually try to make a go of it despite their basic nature to curl up and retreat.

I liked the way in which Bergman demonstrates that just because a person can fully understand the difficult mental issues present in someone they love, the fact that their emotional issues are rooted in reasons so different from each other that it still eventually renders them incompatible and of course the reason why the nature of one character's problems reveals that they are also morally in opposition. Some nice and of course emotional stuff, but the scenes feel too disparate and so i felt it doesn't really come together in either a pleasing nor interesting manner.

The Serpent's Egg (1978 )

For today's Bergman film I've jumped ahead a bit and watched another film of his I hadn't seen entitled 'The Serpent's Egg' from 1977. Going into it blind I was a little shocked to find that Bergman was the sole writer on this film as the film really has little of his trademark personal and often painfully individual introspection. But in its stead is a film that appears to strive to paint a dark picture of the future of mankind as every aspect of modern society from social to political becomes slowly overwhelmed and completely controlled by fascistic tendencies -- whether they oppose it or welcome it, all are enablers or active participants. I say "appears" as the film really ambles around a lot attempting to convey this as there is scant relevant dialogue to bolster this idea and to further muddy the collective waters is a sudden surge in unexplained murders story angle that quickly moves far into the background and David Carradine's character wandering around basically just being the most unpleasant person possible at almost every opportunity. Although I'm certainly not unused to an unpleasant protagonist in a Bergman film, usually there is some solid dialogue that lets us into that character's head and helps to explain their behavior. Although the reason for this is actually explained in the last few minutes of the film, it didn't really make for compelling viewing for the length of the film.

Another big shock was to find Liv Ullmann's performance to be rather...lacking, and in a couple of scenes almost amateurish. Yet despite all the shortcomings this film has, I can say that I was absolutely riveted when the final scene comes into play as I found the reasoning behind so many things rather fascinating and a harsh comment on the way in which it represented a relevant concern facing us today in that people are all merely meaningless playthings for the larger forces at work that we have little to no control over. Dark stuff and some rather interesting points, but I just felt the presentation of these ideas to be poorly presented.

Cries and Whispers (1972)

Today's Bergman film was 'Cries and Whispers' a film which along with 'Wild Strawberries' I'm very much struggling to find any personal faults with the film as my initial impression is that there isn't any. Although I suppose it may seem odd to work to find and produce faults with renowned works of art, I find it best to recognize aspects that I personally find fault with and explore just why they bother me and understand whether it's a result of my own shortcomings or perhaps just insignificant to the work's goal as a whole -- and important bit of mental juggling for someone like myself that often traffics and is highly entertained by garbage films as well as good practice to keep the pointless snobbery away the the id likes to create.

Anyhoo...needless to say I found the film quite stellar and for the obvious realization that I could spend pages writing my thoughts I'll just let it go with a couple of impressions as I don't want to go on and on with the character dynamics...as fruitful as they are. Firstly I was a little surprised by the overwhelming use of red juxtaposed with the white of the two active sisters who greatly resist or otherwise are unable to come to terms with the passion and warmth that color represents. At first I thought Nykvist was making up for rarely engaging in subtle use of color, but then I realized it was just the inverse of his usual stress on the bleak aspect of many other of Bergman's films when he typically bleaches out colors or otherwise greatly subdues them -- in the context of this film it seems to fit well. I also found it interesting how profoundly sad the film left me feeling, not so much for the continuing problem betwixt the sisters and their inability to communicate, but the very obvious and simple nature of Anna's departure. For me it put me in mind of the ending to a couple of Kurosawa's films, an obvious one being 'Ikiru', in which a supposed lesser person manages to accomplish great things and basically be the sole arbiter of decency and yet despite all their hard work it seems to all amount to naught in this at times awful, cruel and indifferent world full of emotional cowards and social vampires. Such a powerful work I must admit it took a bit out of me and silly me went and watched 'Noriko's Dinner Table' right after this which probably wasn't a great idea.

Harbour City (1948)

Today's Bergman film 'Harbour City' AKA 'Port of Call' his fourth film from way back in 1948...an important note of interest considering the subject matters approached in this film. For those mainly familiar with Bergman's more notable works this film may come as a slight surprise considering its fairly basic trappings. There is little of the kinds of compositions and tight, almost claustrophobic, shots that he would later become quite famous for. Along with that the film is also fairly ordinary in its execution and somewhat hampered by its heavy tendency to lean too heavily towards melodrama as it somewhat excessively draws out the emotional plight of its protagonist Berit (Nine-Christine Jonsson) and the reactions of her love interest / source of emotional salvation Gösta (Bengt Eklund). That being said the actors are all pretty darn solid and Nine-Christine in particular does a good job of making her drawn out scenarios resonate with a bit more gravitas than it would in the hands of a lesser actress.

Of course it's also worth noting that considering the very frank and slightly disturbing manner in which this film deals with abortion, the plights of the undercl@ss and the rather dismissive manner in which the young are dealt with by the government system as well as the apathy of the parents who refuse to take any kind of responsibility or almost any kind of sympathy is pretty shocking considering the year this film was made in. Most of these subjects alone would make them taboo for Hollywood films at the time -- although another mental note would be that Hollywood was very close to becoming this frank on these very matters in the late '20s and early '30s before the dreaded Hays Code stopped it all. All in all it's a decent film if slightly uneven and melodramatic film which is still worth watching even if you're not a Bergman fan.

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

My Bergman film o' the day 'Smiles of a Summer Night' a period comedy film one in which Bergman was apparently completely unaware he was making a Gilbert and Sullivan play. Truthfully though that's a shallow and somewhat glib summation as similar though the pattern may be to 'ol G&S, the content itself is exquisite and moves with clockwork precision as it constantly radiates life affirming wisdom but in a juxtapozed manner as it flips from bitingly precise tongue-lashings to the warm and soothing comfort of kind words or a kind embrace.

I was tremendously impressed with this movie because as emotionally devastating and personally soul-searching as a great drama can be, the ability to make a comedy this good with this much precision is not something I take lightly even though it somewhat disarms my emotionally with its inherently amusing nature. The dialogue is a wonderful thing to experience in this and I found myself almost overwhelmed at times as the film is nigh infinitely quotable and though at times it seems to hit you with wave after wave of unending verbal poetry, it never feels forced and you never question of the sincerity of the actor who is delivering it. Speaking of which the acting is tremendous in this film as they not only are all delightfully amusing or appropriately emotional in their respective parts, but I was particularly impressed by their body language as their every movement and cock of the eye spoke volumes. These solid performances are especially critical in this film because though the cast is fairly wide, the construction of the movie makes all of their parts very important to the work as a whole and both director and actors execute everything with amazing clarity. Really a stunner of a film which not only put a smile on my face with the multiple aspects of comedy and the disarming approach to melodrama, but one which amazed me with its execution. Really a great, great film. Did I mention it's awesome?