Fanny and Alexander - Ingmar Bergman
I didn't realize this thing was nearly five hours long so when I found out I was a little apprehensive as to whether I could actually handle four and a half hours of consecutive Bergman. It was amazing though, eveything about it. I was very surprised by the supernatural elements and enjoyed them very much. The scene in the attic with the ghosts of the bishops two girls puts most horror movies to shame.
10/10
Last edited by Clopin; 01-24-2015 at 06:58 AM.
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
I strongly recommend Through a Glass Darkly, if you haven't seen it already.Originally Posted by Clopin
MY FAVORITE MOVIE. Though I watched the film version - sounds like you watched the TV version.
As do I, my favourite Bergman film.
Vladimir: (sententious.) To every man his little cross. (He sighs.) Till he dies. (Afterthought.) And is forgotten.
Through A Glass Darkly was my favorite Bergman before I saw Fanny and Alexander. Still love it though, of course. And while we're recommending Bergman films, if you're ready for a couple hours of emotional agony, try Cries and Whispers on for size.
It's funny how people always talk about Bergman movies like spicy food: awesome if you can stand it. It's usually true, though.
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 01-21-2015 at 05:29 PM.
Yeh I've seen Through a Glass Darkly, it's great, just behind Wild Strawberries for me. I've been sick this entire week and I watched pretty much every episode of Seinfeld in that time haha, the other movie thread made me remember that I wanted to watch more movies.
Persona - Ingmar Bergman
So many top lists and crtics rank this as one of, if not the best, Bergman film.... I was uh, underwhelmed for sure. The opening collage of imagery seemed to me like a bad cliche of what an 'art house' film looks like, and this same feeling cropped up a few times during the viewing. Overall I liked it, but not overly much.
6.5/10
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
I'm going to have to watch some Bergman movies. I've seen some decades ago. Maybe today I'll understand them.
We finished season four of Breaking Bad last night. It looks like Walt and Skylar are getting back on the same page. Score: 6/10
To wash down Breaking Bad, I watched "Stretch": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2494280/
This is a movie about fate and finding your true love even though you are in a relationship. Luckily for fate, your girl friend dumps you freeing you for the unknown. After realizing you can't end up like your suicidal imaginary friend you face the reality of your situation that your gambling debts have been called to be paid tonight. If you don't pay, suicide will be the least of your worries. You are hoping the tip from a wealthy outlaw the FBI is chasing will be enough to pay off those debts if you can dodge the rival limo gang you've ticked off earlier by stealing one of their clients who left his gun in the limo. Then you have to get even with your ex-girlfriend, since you ran into her, chase your limo as it is being towed, convince some navigation system to let the engine start.
But it all works out in the end. Fate always wins.
Score: 8/10
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
Scenes From a Marriage - Ingmar Bergman
Very real. I've never been married but I have been in a long term relationship and while it wasn't exactly the same (I'm nothing like Johan), a lot of the generalities were pretty close. I was sort of waiting for Marianne to lose her mind and have some sort of intense existential, psychoactive experience or something but I'm glad that didn't happen and the movie stuck to stark realism.
9/10
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Scenes from a Marriage is one of the few artworks that I think follows the rule wherein more life experience brings you a greater appreciation for it. I watched it, and while I could see the intensity, it didn't really hit home for me in a coherent way. I saw the power of the individual pieces, but I couldn't make emotional sense of them. My dad however, who has been divorced twice, could.
I've decided to finish the Bergman films I have on my list of movies to watch, while I remain sick. We'll see if I can do the ten I have left in the next four or so days... Summer with Monika is next anyway.
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Summer with Monika - Ingmar Bergman
I hated Monika, but I liked the movie.
8/10
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
This film has the impossibly beautiful Janet Munro playing the lead in a cautionary
tale of the dangers of falling for the chimera known as glamour.
As a young girl from a defunct mining town who loses her virginity to a slick
business man and ends up in London with nowhere to go, she is befriended by a
young man who works as a barman and takes pity on her. He takes her into his
lodgings and tells her he will think of some way to help her. She is so taken by his
respect and genuineness that she tells him that she is in love with him and they set up
a conjugal home in a larger part of the house.
It is at this point that she starts to think of the opportunities that London has to offer
a beautiful young woman and begins to get ideas of becoming a fashion model.
This leads to friction when she gets an invite to a smart party by an elderly actor who
lives in the same house and comes into contact with a swinging crowd of poseurs
who are very different to the young man.
She eventually leaves him and is taken up by a rich middle-aged wheeler dealer and
from there to numerous liaisons with other men before killing herself with sleeping
pills. Janet Munro gives a superb performance and is ably assisted by the rest of the
cast of seasoned actors. She died tragically at the age of 39 from a heart condition
aggravated by alcoholism.
9/10
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
I saw Bergman's "Through a Glass Darkly" and looked at the following to try to make sense of it:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gr...ss-darkly-1961
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through...kly_%28film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
What I understand is Karin is believed by the three members of her family who are with her to be suffering from some mental illness and there is at least one doctor who diagnosed her with something. Her behavior estranges her from the three males currently with her.
(1) She refuses to have sex with her husband, Martin.
(2) She sexually teases her brother, Minus.
(3) She looks for reasons to justify a feeling of grievance against her father, David, who's wife, her mother, died of some mental illness.
If one views God as a male, which Karin does, we could add a fourth male to the set. She thinks she hears God in a closet and demands that he show himself. The door opens and she screams. She claims that God is a spider wanting to have sex with her. The fact that she has this experience makes me think she is not totally imagining this. Everyone does see the door open.
She agrees to be taken to a hospital. It is like an admission of her failure to establish relationship.
Of all the characters, her father seems to understand best what is going on. He recently attempted suicide, so his mental health may be in doubt as well, but at the moment he does not seem to want anything from Karin except to understand and perhaps write about her illness to further his understanding. This acceptance gives him an edge. He is also blamed by the other three for not being around, for writing in his journal, for writing novels, for giving them gifts they devalue. He doesn't blame anyone. He becomes a sort of God-figure for his son Minus when he explains to Minus how he approaches Karin at the end. Minus is surprised that his father spoke to him. What should have really surprised Minus is this is the first time Minus actually listened to him without judgement.
Anyway, that's what I found out about the movie and my current views of it. I originally saw it when I was an undergraduate as part of some watered-down "existentialist" course to fulfill some cultural requirement for graduation.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
I'm pretty sure Minus and Karin have sex in some form in the boat when they are alone together; also, speaking of incest...
Saraband - Ingmar Bergman
So I'm correct in thinking that Karin and Henrik are involved in some sort of very bizarre incestual relationship right? My reasons for believing this are, they sleep in the same bed, she takes her top off right in front of him before going to bed and there's a very un father-daughter like kiss which takes place around two thirds of the way through the film. I read that Bergman was somewhat preoccupied with incest and it crops up in a few of his other movies so I think it's an open and shut case. All this considered I actually liked Henrik (more than Johan at least) and felt pretty bad for him.
I liked how the movie ended especially, with the suicide attempt and Marianne looking at the photographs. The audience is left unaware of what is going to happen to Henrik, Karin, Johan, etc next, but it almost definitely won't be good. Bergman was 86 when he made the movie and I think it's important to know that before watching the film.
10/10
Last edited by Clopin; 01-25-2015 at 08:40 AM.
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
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