105th anniversary of Bergman
On July 14, 1918, in Uppsala, Sweden, the second son, Ernst Ingmar, was born in the family of Erik Henrik Fredrik Bergman and his wife Karin, nee Ă kerblom.
Erik Bergman and his second cousin Karin Ă kerblom married in 1913. In 1912-1918, Eric Bergman was the pastor of the Lutheran church in one of the parishes of Estrikland. (In 1941, he was appointed personal chaplain to King Gustav V of Sweden.) Karin Ă kerblom began her studies in nursing before her marriage, but in 1912 she had to interrupt her studies due to tuberculosis. In 1918, the Bergman family, in connection with the new appointment of their father, was in a state of moving from GĂ€strikland to Stockholm. In the process of this move, in Uppsala, in the house of his grandfather and grandmother, Ernst Ingmar was born. These are the official data on the birth of Ingmar Bergman.
But there is another version, based on the testimony of Ingmar Bergman's niece, Veronica Ralston, published in the largest Swedish daily morning newspaper Dagens Nyheter on May 26, 2011. According to this version, the child born in July 1918 to Eric and Karin Bergman died and was replaced by another child, who was born as a result of Eric Bergman's extramarital relationship with another woman. It is difficult to say how true this version is, and what difference does it make to us who was the real mother of the brilliant director. But, on the other hand, this version, if it is true, explains the reason that, although Ernst Ingmar grew up in a very religious family, but already at the age of 8, according to his confession made in his mature years, he lost his faith, and while being a student, he ended his relationship with his father for many years. And also this version provides some explanations for the reasons for Ingmar Bergman's special partiality to the topic of family relations and his special view of the church and its ministers, to which many, if not all, of his films are devoted.
In 1925, the seven-year-old Ernst Ingmar, as expected, went to school. Moreover, not to the usual one, but to the Palmgren Coeducational School in Stockholm. It was the first school in Scandinavia with co-education of boys and girls. What the school years were like for the future director can be judged, firstly, according to the director of this school, and, secondly, according to Ingmar Bergman himself. So, headmaster Henning L. Hokanson, the day after the premiere of the film "Hets (Torment)" on October 3, 1944, in an article published in Aftonbladet, said:
"Den gode Ingmar var ett problembarn, lat men ganska begÄvad, och att en sÄdan typ ej lÀtt inordnar sig i en dagligt ordnad studiegÄng, Àr naturligt. En sÄdan skola kan ej vara anpassad för drömmande bohémer utan för normalt funtade arbetsmÀnniskor."
About a week later, Bergman commented on the words of the director of his school:
"Först var det alltsÄ 'det 12-Äriga helvetet' (ruggigt uttryck förresten. Inte anvÀnt av mig utan av den som intervjuade mig. Jag vill minnas att jag sade 'helsike', och det Àr skillnad det). Ja! Jag var en mycket lat gosse och mycket rÀdd dÀrför att jag var lat, dÀrför att jag sysslade med teater i stÀllet för med skolan och dÀrför att jag avskydde att passa tider, stiga upp om morgnarna, lÀsa lÀxor, sitta stilla, bÀra kartor, ha raster, skriva skrivningar, tugga förhör, kort sagt och utan krusiduller: jag avskydde skolan som princip, som system och inrÀttning. Jag har sÄlunda absolut inte velat komma Ät min egen skola utan alla skolor. Min skola var som jag tydligt pÄpekade i den olycksaliga intervjun efter vad jag förstÄr varken bÀttre eller sÀmre Àn andra inrÀttningar för samma ÀndamÄl."
The aforementioned film "Torment", in the credits of which Ingmar Bergman is listed as the scriptwriter and assistant director, and in fact, without being mentioned in the credits, was also the director of several scenes, became the first full-length feature film in the work of Ingmar Bergman. And, it is quite clear that the script of this film was largely inspired by years of study at the Palmgren school.
Describing his school years in his autobiography "Laterna Magica", Ingmar Bergman said that in 1934, when he was 16 years old, his parents sent him to their friends (or distant relatives?) in Germany during the summer holidays. Friends of the Bergman family were ardent admirers of Hitler, and even a portrait of their Fuhrer was hung over the bed where Ingmar slept. During the short time spent in Germany, Nazi propaganda did its job, and, by Bergman's own admission,
"for many years I was on the side of Hitler, admired his successes and saddened his defeats ... When the doors to the concentration camps were thrown open, at first I did not want to believe my eyes. When the truth came out it was a hideous shock for me. In a brutal and violent way I was suddenly ripped of my innocence."
In 1937, after leaving school, Bergman entered Stockholm University College (later renamed Stockholm University) to study art and literature. Student life allowed Bergman to completely immerse himself in his favorite element from early childhood - the theater. He spent most of his time in the student theater, as well as in the theater at the Stockholm City Mission. Soon Bergman was faced with a choice: study or theater. Bergman chose the theatre. In 1940, he left the university and joined the Stockholm Opera House as an assistant director. In parallel with this work, he wrote stories, plays and screenplays. In 1942, he had the opportunity to stage a play based on his own play, "Kaspers död (Death of Kaspers)". The play received good press, bringing Bergman to the attention of Svensk Filmindustri, a film company that has dominated Swedish film production and distribution since the 1930s. Bergman was offered to work for Svensk Filmindustri's Filmstaden as a script editor.
In 1943, Ingmar Bergman married the dancer Elsa Fischer, with whom the marriage continued until 1946. In total, Ingmar Bergman was officially married 5 times. In addition to official marriages, several more of his long-term romances are known with actresses who often starred in his films, in particular, Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson.
Working at Filmstaden allowed Bergman, firstly, to thoroughly study all aspects of filmmaking from the inside in practice, and, secondly, to realize one of his scripts - in the aforementioned film "Torment". Due to the success of this film, Svensk Filmindustri entrusted Bergman with the production of another film, "Kris (Crisis)", which Bergman had written based on a play by Danish playwright Lek Fischer. This film was not particularly successful, which is why the management of Svensk Filmindustri became disillusioned with Bergman, and he had to leave the film company. It is difficult to say how this disappointment would have affected the fate of Ingmar Bergman, but fate intervened in the person of Lorens Marmstedt.
The films "Torment" and "Crisis" attracted the attention of Lorens Marmstedt, founder of the independent film company Terrafilm and producer of the film distribution company Sveriges Folkbiografer. Marmstedt suggested that Bergman make another film, which Bergman later called with great gratitude a great saving grace for his later career. Thanks to Marmstedt's production, Ingmar Bergman made "Det regnar pÄ vÄr kÀrlek (It Rains on Our Love)" in 1946, and another one a year later, "Skepp till India land (A Ship Goes to India)". These films allowed Bergman, as they say, to get on his feet and returned to him the interest of Svensk Filmindustri.
During his directing career, Ingmar Bergman made 36 full-length feature films on his own, in addition to numerous television films and series. 14 of these 36 films were included in the Golden Thousand, including "Fanny and Alexander", "SmultronstÀllet (Wild Strawberries)", "Viskningar och rop (Cries & Whispers)", "JungfrukÀllan (The Virgin Spring)", "Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata)", "SÄsom i en spegel (Through the Dark Glass)", "Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal)" , "Ansiktet (The Magician)", "Ansikte mot ansikte (Face to Face)", "Skammen (Shame)", "Sommarnattens leende (Smiles of a Summer Night)", "Persona", "NattvardsgÀsterna (Winter Light)", "Tystnaden (The Silence)". This is the highest figure among all directors. On this basis, Ingmar Bergman ranks first in FilmGourmand's list of the 100 greatest directors of world cinema.
The work of Ingmar Bergman has been awarded 79 film awards, including the most prestigious ones: the Golden Bear of the Berlin Film Festival, the Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival, the Mar del Plata International Film Festival Award (Argentina), the Academy Award of the American Film Academy, the Cesar Award of the French Film Academy, the European Film Academy Award , 4 David di Donatello Awards of the Italian Film Academy, 4 Bodil Awards of the Danish National Association of Film Critics.
Many great directors, such as Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Andrei Tarkovsky and others, have repeatedly expressed their admiration for the work of Ingmar Bergman. Stanley Kubrick, in his letter to Bergman dated February 9, 1960, wrote in part:
"Your vision of life has moved me deeply, much more deeply than I have ever been moved by any films. I believe you are the greatest film-maker at work today [...], unsurpassed by anyone in the creation of mood and atmosphere, the subtlety of performance, the avoidance of the obvious, the truthfulness and completeness of characterization. To this one must also add everything else that goes into the making of a film; [...] and I shall look forward with eagerness to each of your films."
As usual, on the birthday of the great Master, I want to remind the fans of his work the frames from his best films included in the Golden Thousand.
