Wednesday 29 June 2011

Ingmar Bergman Studies

Updated September 19, 2011



Film Studies For Free brings you, below, a very long list indeed of links to online and openly accessible studies of the work of Ingmar Bergman. The list was especially inspired by hearing of the first of the three video studies above, via Adrian Martin, Corey Creekmur and Christa Fuller. This news led to the subsequent discovery of the rest of this amazing videographic trilogy on Bergman's films by Jonas Moberg. Update: FSFF has learned that these videos were devised by Thomas Elsaesser, during his year as Ingmar Bergman Professor at Stockholm University in 2007 in conjunction with the project "Ingmar Bergman in the Museum" (a summary of which is linked to below). Initially, seven of these videos were planned, to go with each of the chapters in the book Film Theory - An Introduction through the Senses. The research for all seven Bergman Senses Videos was carried out by Elsaesser, together with Anne Bachmann, a PhD student at Stockholm University, and Jonas Moberg then edited three of them. Sadly, time ran out on the project and the remaining four planned videos weren't completed.

Bergman scholars and fans should also know about Ingmar Bergman: Face to Face, the beautiful website of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, which showcases and links to numerous further resources. Sight and Sound has also just featured a fascinating essay by Lena Bergman on her father's viewing habits in his unique private cinema, a converted barn on Fårö, the Baltic island where he lived until his death in 2007. This year’s Bergman Week festival takes place in the cinema on Fårö from 28 June to 3 July. Television viewers in the UK might, in addition, like to hear that Film4 will show 16 Ingmar Bergman films in a series beginning next week. Yay!

If FSFF says so itself, the below list is probably one of its best ever (do scroll right down for all the videos). It was certainly one of the most rewarding to compile... It hopes you will find it in equal parts enjoyable and useful.



    Liv Ullmann at the Bergman Week 2010, speaking about the filming of Face To Face with Ingmar Bergman. She talks about the relationship between a director and his actors, and specifically the scene when her character commits suicide in the film.

    Wim Wenders talks about Ingmar Bergman

    Agnes Varda talks about Bergman.

    David Stratton talks about Ingmar Bergman.

    Bergman Center interviews American director John Landis about Ingmar Bergman at Venice International Film Festival.

    Bergman Center interviews French actor Jean-Marc Barr about Ingmar Bergman at Venice International Film Festival.

    2 comments:

    Therese said...

    Wow, Catherine! You've put together some great resources, and they are also very thorough. I have a friend who is a huge Bergman fan, and I forwarded the link to Bergman studies on Film Studies for Free to her. She will be delighted.

    Btw, I deeply appreciate your commitment to open-access materials on film. What would we all do without you?

    Fredrik Gustafsson said...

    Great list as always! I agree with Therese, what would we do without you? As an additional bonus, here's a link to a short piece I wrote about Bergman's soap commercials:
    http://fredrikonfilm.blogspot.com/2010/02/bris-bergmans-soap-commercials.html

    and here's a link to a piece about Bergman and Victor Sjöström:
    http://fredrikonfilm.blogspot.com/2009/12/sjostrom-and-bergman.html