Ingmar Bergman (July 14, 1918 – July 30, 2007) was a Swedish director, writer, and producer who worked in film, television, theatre and radio. Considered to be among the most accomplished and influential filmmakers of all time, Bergman’s films include Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), and Fanny and Alexander (1982); the last two exist in extended television versions.
Bergman directed over sixty films and documentaries for cinematic release and for television screenings, most of which he also wrote. He also directed over 170 plays. He eventually forged a creative partnership with his cinematographers Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist. Among his company of actors were Harriet and Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. Most of his films were set in Sweden, and many films from Through a Glass Darkly (1961) onward were filmed on the island of Fårö.
English film critic Philip French referred to Bergman as “one of the greatest artists of the 20th century … he found in literature and the performing arts a way of both recreating and questioning the human condition.” Director Martin Scorsese commented; “If you were alive in the 50s and the 60s and of a certain age, a teenager on your way to becoming an adult, and you wanted to make movies, I don’t see how you couldn’t be influenced by Bergman ….It’s impossible to overestimate the effect that those films had on people.”
Each review will be linked to the title below.
Writer/Director
- Crisis (1946)
- It Rains on Our Love (1946)
- A Ship Bound for India (1947)
- Music in Darkness (1948)
- Port of Call (1948)
- Prison (1949)
- Thirst (1949)
- To Joy (1950)
- This Can’t Happen Here (1950)
- Summer Interlude (1951)
- Secrets of Women (1952)
- Summer with Monika (1953)
- Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
- A Lesson in Love (1954)
- Dreams (1955)
- Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
- The Seventh Seal (1957)
- Wild Strawberries (1957)
- Brink of Life (1958)
- The Magician (1958)
- The Virgin Spring (1960)
- The Devil’s Eye (1960)
- Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
- Winter Light (1963)
- The Silence (1963)
- All These Women (1964)
- Persona (1966)
- Stimulantia (1967) – anthology, directed with Hans Abramson, Hans Alfredson, Arne Arnbom, Tage Danielsson, Lars Görling, Jörn Donner, Gustaf Molander, and Vilgot Sjöman
- Hour of the Wolf (1968)
- Shame (1968)
- The Rite (1969) – TV movie
- The Passion of Anna (1969)
- The Touch (1971)
- Cries and Whispers (1972)
- Scenes from a Marriage (1973) – also has longer TV version
- The Magic Flute (1975) – TV film
- Face to Face (1976) – also has longer TV version)
- The Serpent’s Egg (1977)
- Autumn Sonata (1978)
- From the Life of Marionettes (1980)
- Fanny and Alexander (1982) – also has longer TV version
- After the Rehearsal (1984) – TV movie
- The Blessed Ones (1986) – TV movie
- In the Presence of a Clown (1997) – TV movie
- Saraband (2003) – TV movie
Writer/Co-Writer
- Torment (1944) – directed by Alf Sjöberg
- Woman Without a Face (1947) – directed by Gustaf Molander
- Eva (1948) – by Gustaf Molander
- Divorced (1951) – by Gustaf Molander
- Last Pair Out (1956) – irected by Alf Sjöberg
- The Pleasure Garden (1961) – directed by Alf Kjellin
- The Lie (1970) – directed by Jan Molander – TV movie
- The Best Intentions (1991) – directed by Bille August – TV movie
- Sunday’s Children (1992) – directed by Daniel Bergman
- Private Confessions (1996) – directed by Liv Ullmann – TV movie
- Faithless (2000) – directed by Liv Ullmann
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