Exit of the Titans
The news couldn't have been worse:
Ingmar Bergman, crafter of 50 films of power and imagination, died Monday on Faro, a remote island off the coast of Sweden. He was 89.
Now most of us would say that living until 89, and in reasonably good health, is a blessing, so why was the news so bad?
Because it's good just knowing that certain significant people in your life, even ripherally, are still alive and absorbing the same world you are.
Why was Bergman so important?
Because he could convert his two primary obsessions: how men and women get along, or not, and how people deal with mortality, into haunting, unforgettable images on screen. His movies (usually photographed by Sven Nykvist), were often in black and white, and captured the rapture and the turmoil of being alive.
Bergman's long, long list of remarkable film distillations of his personal torment and joy include "Smiles of a Summer Night,'' "Wild Strawberries,'' "Through a Glass Darkly,'' "The Virgin Spring,'' "Summer Interlude,'' "Monika,'' "Persona,'' "Fanny & Alexander,'' "The Seventh Seal,'' and "The Magic Flute.'' All are available on DVD and VHS, including wonderful packages from the outstanding Criterion Collection.
The following day, another titan of the great post-war European film pantheon died: Michelangleo Antonioni, at 94. His output was smaller and perhaps less groundbreaking than Bergman's but still, stirring, indelible comments on life in Italy, especially Rome, as that country endured the upheaval of rebuilding itself in a new, industrialized world.
Antonioni's movies were about the post-war ennui and dislocation experienced by Italians: his titles are worth your viewing _ "La Notte,'' "L'Eclipse,'' "L'Avventura,'' "Red Desert,'' and two films made outside of Rome _"Blow-Up,'' the notorious movie about a murder in England as seen through a camera's lens, and "Zabriskie Point,'' a story of the disaffection of American youth living in the southwest.
Bergman and Antonioni were giants whose work taught me that creative genius can translate their insights into movies with universal significance.
Ingmar Bergman, crafter of 50 films of power and imagination, died Monday on Faro, a remote island off the coast of Sweden. He was 89.
Now most of us would say that living until 89, and in reasonably good health, is a blessing, so why was the news so bad?
Because it's good just knowing that certain significant people in your life, even ripherally, are still alive and absorbing the same world you are.
Why was Bergman so important?
Because he could convert his two primary obsessions: how men and women get along, or not, and how people deal with mortality, into haunting, unforgettable images on screen. His movies (usually photographed by Sven Nykvist), were often in black and white, and captured the rapture and the turmoil of being alive.
Bergman's long, long list of remarkable film distillations of his personal torment and joy include "Smiles of a Summer Night,'' "Wild Strawberries,'' "Through a Glass Darkly,'' "The Virgin Spring,'' "Summer Interlude,'' "Monika,'' "Persona,'' "Fanny & Alexander,'' "The Seventh Seal,'' and "The Magic Flute.'' All are available on DVD and VHS, including wonderful packages from the outstanding Criterion Collection.
The following day, another titan of the great post-war European film pantheon died: Michelangleo Antonioni, at 94. His output was smaller and perhaps less groundbreaking than Bergman's but still, stirring, indelible comments on life in Italy, especially Rome, as that country endured the upheaval of rebuilding itself in a new, industrialized world.
Antonioni's movies were about the post-war ennui and dislocation experienced by Italians: his titles are worth your viewing _ "La Notte,'' "L'Eclipse,'' "L'Avventura,'' "Red Desert,'' and two films made outside of Rome _"Blow-Up,'' the notorious movie about a murder in England as seen through a camera's lens, and "Zabriskie Point,'' a story of the disaffection of American youth living in the southwest.
Bergman and Antonioni were giants whose work taught me that creative genius can translate their insights into movies with universal significance.
posted by Eleanor's blog at 8:31 AM
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