The Films of Ingmar Bergman

by Jesse Kalin

• ISBN13: 9780521389778
• ISBN10: 0521389771
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This volume provides a concise overview of the career of one of the modern masters of world cinema. Jesse Kalin defines Bergman's conception of the human condition as a struggle to find meaning in life as it is played out. For Bergman, meaning is achieved independently of any moral absolute and is the result of a process of self-examination. Six existential themes are explored repeatedly in Bergman's films: judgment, abandonment, suffering, shame, a visionary picture, and above all, turning toward or away from others. Kalin examines how Bergman examines these themes cinematically, through close analysis of eight films: well known favorites such as Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, and Fanny and Alexander; and important but lesser known works, such as Naked Night, Shame, Cries and Whispers, and Scenes from a Marriage.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xi
Preface	xiii
1 Introduction: The Geography of the Soul	1	(32)
PART ONE: THE FILMS OF THE FIFTIES
2 The Primal Seen: The Clowns' Evening	33	(24)
3 The Journey: The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries	57	(29)
4 The Great Dance: Smiles of a Summer Night	86	(25)
PART TWO: SECOND THOUGHTS
5 A Dream Play: Shame	111	(23)
6 The Illiterates: Cries and Whispers and Scenes from a Marriage	134	(31)
PART THREE: A FINAL LOOK
7 The Little World: Fanny and Alexander	165	(22)
Afterwords	187	(1)
Biographical Note	187	(4)
Bergman and Existentialism: A Brief Comment	191	(11)
A Note on Woody Allen	202	(3)
Notes	205	(22)
Bibliography	227	(8)
Filmography	235	(10)
Index	245