Biography of Ingmar Bergman

Magic look

14 July 1918 30 July 2007 the great Swedish filmmaker was born on July 14, 1918 in Stockholm, son of the chaplain of the Royal Court. So easy to understand how the little Ingmar was educated according to the concepts of Lutherans "sin, confession, punishment, forgiveness and grace", also will be recurring themes that somehow in his films. As if that wasn't enough, it was not uncommon for punitive purposes, the baby was locked up in the closet where, cowering, matured his hatred for his father and his rage against God-master falsely introjected in that cultural climate. At nineteen he enrolled at the University of Stockholm and settled in the capital. With a family not too well-off, but also due to a natural inclination and a strong existential discomfort that does not allow him to integrate too with peers, leads a dissolute life as an artist, what would be called "bohemièm". However, never fails to elaborate on specific studies which hold dear, first those plays or those related to the art of the seven notes. Soon, however, the passion for the arts is transformed into something radical, which can no longer be associated with other activities. The consequence of this "fever" is leaving the "regulars" University studies to dedicate himself solely to the theatrical activity, especially by staging shows student protests. Starting from that mess Tin Bergman builds a solid reputation thanks to his talent. His name begins to circulate in the right circles, until it gains access to more prestigious stages of those schools. It is the moment when begins to collaborate with leading theatres of the city. In 1942 he writes a satirical comedy and bawdy, centred on rough relationship between a priest and a stripper. The play, predictably, arouses great scandal, with the only silver lining to make his name known further, until it reach the ears of right-thinking people. For the performances of which he is Director, author-fetish of the moment is Strindberg, although the Visual Word widens often to other writers. The 1944 is the year of another representation, written independently and staging: "Hets", an allegory against Nazism who is lording on the continent and in nearby Norway. The staging of another drama, "the death of Punch" (1942), draws instead upon him the attention of Svensk Filmindustri, where he began working as a screenwriter in 1943. The following year the Swedish filmmaker Alf Sjöberg brings to the screen the first screenplay by Bergman, "Yelp". Two years later he made his debut in film directing, showing attention to existential problems of young people and an unpredictable neorealistic vocation. After two more screenplays (this time for Director Molander), Bergman concludes his apprenticeship in cinema. You can tell that for him the camera has no more secrets: begins to assimilate the lessons of the greatest contemporary masters and to consider issues dear to neorealism (or what you will define poetic realism), not to mention the symbolic reality taking himself or the role of women in society, always in light of what is his teacher unconscious , its lighthouse, its artistic and spiritual guide, Strindberg. His films are characterized by fierce attention to the narrative, the same that would appreciate internationally movies like "the seventh seal" (1956) and "wild strawberries" (1957), movies that put even in highly lyrical approach highlights in dealing with the stories and the characters. Gli anni ' 70 lead to Bergman, already known to the European public, worldwide fame thanks to film productions that have become an emblem of a certain art films. Are titles now entered in its own right in the history of cinema as "cries and whispers", "the magic flute", "autumn Sonata" or "scenes from a marriage". Over the years ' 80 Bergman has mostly retired from film and television business, while continuing to achieve theatrical productions. "Fanny and Alexander", a rare film made in 1982, was for Director a kind of summary of all his work. Later he concentrated mostly on writing, editing autobiographical works ("the magic lantern" in 1987 and "Images" in 1990) and by dramatizing "the best intentions", the film directed by Bille August of 1992. Among the many awards received include the Golden bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1958 with "wild strawberries", an Oscar in 1960 for "the Virgin spring", an Oscar for Best foreign language film in 1961 with the film "in a mirror," four Oscars for "Fanny and Alexander" and many others, until the Federico Fellini Prize for excellence in film , received in 2005. In her biography, entitled "magic lantern", the Director said: "the truth is that I always live in my childhood around the apartments in dim light, strolling along the quiet street of Uppsala, I stop in front of the Sommarhuset listening to the huge two-Birch trunks. I move with the speed of seconds. In truth, always dress in my dream and every now and then I make a visit to reality". The father of nine children, the death of the fifth wife Ingrid retreats on the island of Faaro, in the Baltic Sea. Here, in his home, died on July 30, 2007.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.