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INGMARBERGMAN

While his name is virtually synonymous with cinema, Ingmar Bergman once observed that his true artistic marriage was to the theatre; the cinema was his mistress. While we can say with certainty that his mistress misses him dearly since his departure in late July 2007, thankfully he recorded this passionate relationship in over 40 feature films and, along with his contemporary genius, Michaelangelo Antonioni (see also our Antonioni tribute programme), helped to establish the cinema as the 20th Century’s greatest art form. This homage to Bergman features five films from five decades of filmmaking, from his first work as writer-director (the astonishing PRISON) to his majesterial farewell to cinema, FANNY AND ALEXANDER. All five films are presented in glorius 35mm English sub-titled prints. If you’ve never seen Bergman in a cinema, this is for you; if you have, this series is also for you. The CFI is honoured to pay tribute to an absolute master of the cinematic art and one of the world’s most emotionally engaged artists, Ingmar Bergman.

Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish Film Institute.

Sun./dim. Feb 24 fév, 19:00
SUMMER WITH MONIKA
Sweden 1953, 96 minutes

Notorious in its time for its graphic depiction of nudity and sensuality, SUMMER WITH MONIKA examines the discord between generations by focusing on a young couple in love who leave the city to escape from the adult pressures of society, only to be forced to return for food, money, and a depressing city life. In the role of Monika, Bergman cast the lovely Harriet Andersson, who became a Bergman regular (she also appears in CRIES AND WHISPERS). In one exceptional scene that captures so much of Bergman’s distinctive style, Andersson breaks the fourth wall of fiction and directly addresses the viewer with a heartbreaking look. According to the young Jean-Luc Godard of 1958, SUMMER WITH MONIKA “is the most original film of the most original of directors. It is to the cinema today what Birth of a Nation is to the classical cinema.” English sub-titles.

Sat./sam. March 1 mars, 21:00
WILD STRAWBERRIES
Sweden 1957, 91 minutes

Long considered a classic of cinema by critics and audiences around the world, WILD STRAWBERRIES tells the story of Isak Borg (Victor Sjöstrom ), an elderly doctor and professor who embarks on a trip across Sweden to receive an honorary degree from a prestigious university. Afflicted by nightmares and visions, Borg is moved to reflect on the long years of his life. With the road he travels mirroring his internal journey, Borg, with his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) beside him, crosses paths with figures from his past. A touching film deep with symbolic meaning and emotion, WILD STRAWBERRIES is a Bergman masterpiece that sympathetically yet unsentimentally explores the travails of mortality, memory, regret and reconciliation. Winner of the Golden Bear at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival. English subtitles.

Sat./sam. March 8 mars, 19:00
THE SILENCE
Sweden 1963, 96 minutes

Sex, death and family mingle in the tight spaces and silences of Bergman’s disturbing and sublime THE SILENCE. One sister, Ana (Gunnel Lindblom), is young and attractive, the other, Ester (Ingrid Thulin), is old and inhibited – together, along with Ana’s son Johan (Jorgen Lindstrom), they travel by train to a hotel in an undisclosed foreign city. Ester, it seems, is dying, while Ana goes out to a theatre only to return to their claustrophobic hotel room with a man. Indeed, the two sisters are locked in a psychic struggle where silence speaks volumes and words and meaning seem to melt away. With mise en scene, story, and dialogue paired down to the essential, THE SILENCE is Bergman’s most formally radical film to date, and is a nod toward his experimental masterpiece PERSONA (1966). A brave film from the modern master. English subtitles.

Sat./sam. March 15 mars, 19:00
CRIES AND WHISPERS
Sweden 1972, 91 minutes

In this haunting dream play set at the turn of the 20th century, two women, Maria (Liv Ullman) and Karin (Ingrid Thulin), reconnect with their dying sister, Agnes (Harriet Andersson), at an English manor. Over the course of the two days of Agnes’ agonizing death, the three sisters engage in a process of self-discovery, confronting their respective jealousies, failures, and fantasies. A film rich in symbolism and metaphor, yet simultaneously a realistic depiction of psychology and family, CRIES AND WHISPERS humanely renders the troubles and redemptions of the human condition. Painting the film in a palette of deep crimson red, what Bergman once referred to as the colour of “the interior of the soul,” cinematographer Sven Nykvist won the 1974 Academy Award for achievement in cinematography. English subtitles.

Sat./sam. March 22 mars, 19:00
FANNY AND ALEXANDER
Sweden 1982, 188 minutes

Intended to be his last feature, FANNY AND ALEXANDER is one of Bergman’s most beloved films and a testament to his continued importance in world cinema. Set in 1907, the story is a tapestry of interwoven relationships between the members of a large theatrical family, the Ekdahls. Told mainly thorough children’s eyes – especially the young Alexander (Bertil Guve) — the film combines the certain yet fragile world of adult existence with the fantastic world of children, presenting both the complexity of family and the interdependence of reality and imagination. In its exploration of family, sex, death, and dream, FANNY AND ALEXANDER navigates familiar Bergman territory; a notable difference, however, is the powerful emphasis on redemption and a sensual positivity that is distinct from Bergman’s more austere exercises from the 1970s. In the words of one critic, the film is “astonishingly beautiful,” a film where the visible and the invisible converge via the magic of cinema. FANNY AND ALEXANDER is an undisputable Bergman masterpiece, and quite possibly is the summation of his cinematic legacy. English subtitles.