Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 28, 2005 0:29:56 GMT
_1. Persona 1966 _2. Cries and Whispers 1972 _3. Fanny and Alexander 1982 _4. The Magician 1958 _5. Winter Light 1962 _6. Shame 1968 _7. The Silence _8. The Seventh Seal 1957 _9. From the Life of the Marionettes 1980 10. Scenes from a Marriage 1973 11. After the Rehearsal 1984 12. Wild Strawberries 1957 13. Hour of the Wolf 1967 14. The Passion of Anna 1969 15. Autumn Sonata 1978 16. All These Women 1964 17. The Rite 1969 18. A Lesson in Love 1954 19. The Virgin Spring 1959 20. Prison 1969 21. Saraband 2003 22. Port of Call 1948 23. Crisis 1945
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Jan 11, 2006 13:06:09 GMT
Having only seen it once, I find Fanny och Alexander, or at least my memory of it, to be his finest work. A grandiose, majestic piece of filmmaking, and one by which I was entranced all the way. Persona is due a rewatch very soon.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Jan 20, 2006 3:21:26 GMT
Im embaressed by how little of his work Ive seen The Seventh Seal
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Post by johndav on Jan 24, 2006 12:23:51 GMT
One of the greatest careers, though not a personal favourite. Dreyer's top 5 is much stronger, as is Tarkovsky's. He's one of the great axis of 3, with Fellini + Kurosawa, who have long held sway, certainly in the US- with its massive influence- as world cinema's masters.
Persona 10 (his masterpiece) Fanny + Alexander 9 Shame 8.5 Hour of the Wolf 8.5 The Silence 8.25 Smiles of a Summer Night 8.25 The Magician 8 The Seventh Seal 8 Cries and Whispers 8 Sawdust and Tinsel 7.5 Summer with Monika 7 (marred by its cynical ending) Summer Interlude 6.5 Wild Strawberries 6 Scenes from a Marriage 6 Through a Glass Darkly 6 The Virgin Spring 5 From the Life of the Marionettes 4 Winter Light 4 Autumn Sonata 4 Passion of Ana 4
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Jan 24, 2006 21:06:00 GMT
Johndav, I'm due a rewatch of Persona. It may just be my favourite of his. I wish I owned Fanny and Alexander. That is the film whose images stay with me the most (of Bergman's).
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Jan 27, 2006 14:24:07 GMT
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jake
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Post by jake on Aug 17, 2006 14:59:05 GMT
1. Viskningar och rop Cries and Whispers (1973) 2. Persona (1966) 3. Fanny och Alexander Fanny and Alexander (1983) 4. Det Sjunde Inseglet The Seventh Seal (1957) 5. Smultronstället Wild Strawberries (1957) 6. Såsom i en Spege Through A Glass Darkly (1961) 7. Nattvardsgästerna Winter Light (1962) 8. Tystnaden The Silence (1963) 9. Scener ur ett äktenskap Scenes From A Marriage (1973) 10. Sommarnattens Leende Smiles Of A Summers Night (1955) 11. Aus dem Leben der Marionetten From The Life Of The Marionettes (1980) 12. Vargtimmen Hour of the Wolf (1968) 13. Höstsonaten Autumn Sonata (1978) 14. Skammen Shame (1968) 15. Ansiktet The Magician (1958) 16. Saraband (2005) 17. Sommaren med Monika Summer With Monika (1953) 18. Till Glädje To Joy (1949)
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Aug 17, 2006 15:17:04 GMT
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Post by psdean21 on Apr 25, 2007 16:08:02 GMT
To be completely honest, I believe that the Trilogy of Faith, as a whole, is his best work. The films work so perfectly and beautifully together. Can they really be split apart? However, if I had to choose a single film of his to claim as his best, I would have to choose Persona. Fanny and Alexander is absolute masterpiece, there is no denying that. However, I believe that it is a much easier film to watch, and thus has less impact on the viewer. Wild Strawberries gets better each time I watch it. I believe that it is the dialogue that really makes the movie such a masterpiece.
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Post by svsg on Aug 11, 2007 23:41:03 GMT
Smiles of a summer night Seventh Seal (Don't know why, I reduced one star) Autumn Sonata Fanny and Alexander
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Aug 16, 2007 15:17:40 GMT
svsg, if you liked the more talkative, emotionally frank Autumn Sonata, you'll probably fall for Scenes from a Marriage, too. There's a good article by Woody Allen on him, for the NY Times, here. Now that I've cleared OdeonDirect of all they have of Hitchcock, I only have Haneke, Jodowosky and Bergman films on my queue. I think they have all if not most of Bergman's Tartan releases, as well as the ones released under MGM. I've found a new love for him, a fervent desire to see everything he's made. He's an incredible filmmaker - and I shall forever speak of him in the present tense, because his films live on. I'm looking forward to a retrospective.
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Post by connor on Dec 3, 2007 23:24:50 GMT
Im embaressed by how little of his work Ive seen The Seventh Seal As am I... Through A Glass Darkly (1961)
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 20, 2007 9:38:24 GMT
(In response to a deleted post):Wetdog, is Bergman the greatest or your most favorite director ever? I know your question was directed to wetdog, but I couldn't sleep for most of last night, so I put two Bergman films on back to back: The Rite (1969) and Prison (1949). Neither really rank among his best works, though both are intermittently brilliant and always of interest. When I came into this thread to update my ranking of his work, I noticed two films I watched two months ago, Port of Call and A Lesson in Love, and although the former was suitably ranked lower than all his other films bar debut Crisis, A Lesson in Love seemed peculiarly high (#16) considering I can't remember anything about it. My point: I know fine well I enjoyed A Lesson in Love while watching it; it's gripping and tautly handled, if a little shabby here and there. Alas, I didn't write a Proview for it at the time and know now that I'd need to rewatch it in order to do so. But what does it mean, that I don't remember it much by now? Will the same apply in a few months to the ones I just watched this morning? At any rate, surely it's not a good sign...? Ideally, then, since his films are all challenging, quite difficult, not as easily or ordinarily accessible as other directors', you need to be in the right frame of mind. You've got to be feeling patient, attentive, and not distracted by any kind of burden at all, or else the film's richness may well be lost on you. He's an intellectual before he's a filmmaker; that is, a filmmaker by choice but an artist by nature. To return to your question: Is Bergman my favourite director? Possibly. Even his overlooked films scream to be seen; and I haven't, thus far, seen any worth missing. The key to that is not only his feel for direction, but his scriptwriting. People know Bergman first as a great, renowned director, but neglect the fact he wrote the majority of his own scripts - he wrote a lot for the stage, too. While I understand subtitles can make dialogue seem more lucid and literary than it is, his is (or seems to be) of the tallest order; his narratives are far from conventional and all seem grounded in a deep understanding of human emotions and psychology (especially, or significantly, of female emotions and psychology). Amongst the great directors I would call prolific (Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Godard, etc.), I'd definitely say Bergman is the most consistent. I admire and rather quite envy his ability to maintain the highest of standards throughout his career. To me, it's a sign of imagination, determination, creative integrity, natural instinct, ambition and, in a word, artistic talent in the general and genuine sense of the word.
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Post by svsg on Apr 10, 2008 6:17:58 GMT
svsg, if you liked the more talkative, emotionally frank Autumn Sonata, you'll probably fall for Scenes from a Marriage, too. I just finished watching Scenes from a Marriage and just loved it. I watched the theatrical edit. There is nothing greatly cinematic about it, but the sheer power with which it hit me on an emotional level is overwhelming. Though a commentator in the extras of the DVD says that almost two hours of scenes were edited out for this version, I cannot imagine the same impact over 6 separate weeks. I think Bergman is THE master in analyzing relationships, be it Autumn Sonata or Scenes from a marriage (or even to some extent in Smiles of a summer night).
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Post by svsg on Apr 10, 2008 6:19:35 GMT
Smiles of a summer night Seventh Seal (Don't know why, I reduced one star) Autumn Sonata Fanny and Alexander Scenes from a marriage
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Post by seyfried on Apr 10, 2008 18:40:19 GMT
Smiles of a summer night Seventh Seal (Don't know why, I reduced one star) Autumn Sonata Fanny and Alexander Scenes from a marriage Liv Ullmann. *sigh* Love to hear a review on this one!
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Post by svsg on Apr 10, 2008 19:14:01 GMT
Scenes from a marriage Liv Ullmann. *sigh* Love to hear a review on this one! I am not as gifted as you are with words. I run out of words after writing a couple of sentences. I'll give it a try, but in short, Liv Ullmann is the best actress in my book. Followed by Naomi Watts. Even if I've missed some big names, I won't be way too off with these two in my top actresses list. I'll try to add a review for SFAM. soon.
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Post by seyfried on Apr 10, 2008 19:25:41 GMT
Exact top 2. Imagine that?
I'm not much of a thespian person, though not as hardcore in the rationale that they're only adumbrations or models (fuck off, Bresson), but there's a few I'll go out my way to see.
I also really like Gong Li, especially not just her Vice work but her Chinese 90s pieces. And Gena Rowlands.
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Kino
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Post by Kino on Apr 10, 2008 21:19:21 GMT
I just finished watching Scenes from a Marriage and just loved it. I watched the theatrical edit. There is nothing greatly cinematic about it, I'm not for medium specificity, but the suffocating medium close-ups and close-ups are lost on the stage. Bergman and Nykvist really thought it was all about the eyes. Don't overlook other aspects of cinematography like the color palette and subtle lighting that the master Nykvist used. Tell me about it. This is hands down my favorite Bergman, well, this and the television version. Stripped down, bare, emotionally raw. "Truthful" is a word overused by filmmakers, but here it's more than appropriate. Bergman holds up a mirror to humanity. Off the top, both versions of SFAM are the ultimate examinations in cinema so far of the realities of love between two people. I noticed in your recent previews that you have an affinity for relationship/love content. I think these would interest you: Annie Hall (Woody Allen) Don't let the fact that it's a comedy-drama make you doubt for a moment that this movie has insights into romantic relationships. It also includes one of the all-time quotes on romantic relationsihps. Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai) People in love do crazy things. Being in a relationship requires giving up things; sometimes it makes you hate yourself. A love relationship takes place in a context of exile and alienation. The cinematography alone carries the fire and coldness of the relationship portrayed on screen. Punch-Drunk Love (PTA) Feeling, passion, and fear expressed damn near-purely via sight and sound. Fuck that, actually, the phrase "punch-drunk love" is all that's needed to be said. Climates (Ceylan) Emotionally constipated and brutal film. My Night at Maud's (Eric Rohmer) Talky, but so are some Bergman films! It's a rare feat when intellectual conversations (some of the stuff goes over my head) of the type found in MNAM don't come off pretentious. Examines the moral and philosophical aspects of love and life with precision. Away From Her (Polley) Kind of overrated with a couple of missteps, but there's some truthful (there it is again) stuff in this movie. Guilt, coping...the human condition. Yi Yi (Yang) In a movie of many plotlines, there are two stories here of romantic relationships. One about discovering such; the other about the dreaded "the one that got away." I found the latter one to be especially resonant. Husbands and Wives (Allen) Sort of a comedy-drama version of Scene From a Marriage. Saraband (Bergman) Sequel to SFAM. Not as strong, but it might interest you. Hong Sang-soo makes some movies on despicable, selfish males that "prey" on women. Great movies about relationships not just love/romantic ones: Tokyo Story; Late Spring (Ozu) You Can Count on Me (Lonergan) Poetic expressions of family and memory: Distant Voices, Still Lives; The Long Day Closes (Davies)
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Post by svsg on Apr 10, 2008 21:36:40 GMT
Thanks, you have given several wonderful recommendations in the past, hope I'll enjoy many of these! From your list I've watched only Annie Hall, which I liked very much.
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