Ingmar Bergman

Biography: life and films

In a career spanning six decades, Ingmar Bergman created a body of film work which is virtually unique in its consistent level of profundity, brilliance and thematic coherence. Although his films have a reputation for being bleak and inaccessible, they deal with fundamental truths about the human condition, exploring matters that are of interest to us all - matters of faith, love and identity. No film director has probed the human psyche with such rigour and candour, and with such a blistering insight into what makes us tick. Anyone who takes the time to become acquainted with Bergman's work will soon realise that he was far more than a filmmaker. He was a poet and philosopher, a man who had a profound need to understand his place in the universe and an equal need to articulate this understanding to others through the medium of film.

Ingmar Bergman was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on 14th July 1918. His father was a Lutheran minister who would serve as chaplain to the King of Sweden; his mother was a nurse. The austerity of Bergman's childhood, the disciplined regime to which his father subjected him, would stay with him throughout his life and would have a marked impact on his future work. Crucially, Bergman lost his faith when he was eight years old and this led him to develop an interest in the metaphysical that would also greatly influence his film work.

In 1937, Bergman was admitted to Stockholm University to study art and literature. It was here that he found his interest for the theatre and began writing and directing plays. Although he is best known for his work as a film director, he also had busy parallel career in the theatre throughout his professional life. He was just 26 when he became manager of Helsingborg city theatre. He was director of Gothenburg city theatre from 1946 to 1949 and this was followed by equivalent positions at the Malmö city theatre and the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. His passion for the stage was at least equal to, if not greater than, his love of cinema.

Bergman's film career began in the early 1940s when he was hired by Svensk Filmindustri (SF), Sweden's leading film production company, in a script revising capacity. This led him to write the screenplay for the 1944 film Torment, directed by Alf Sjöberg. The immense success of this film prompted SF to commission Bergman to direct his first film, Crisis (1946). This was not, however, the most auspicious of debuts. The film was a commercial disaster and even Bergman described the experience as a fiasco, thanks to his inability to get on with his cast and crew. Dropped by SF, Bergman was given a second chance by the independent film producer Lorens Marmstedt. Again, Bergman failed to shine, and his films continued to lose money at the Swedish box office.

Bergman's early films may not be masterpieces but they do reveal a gutsy young director assiduously learning his trade, acquiring the skills that would be put to good use in the future. These films have no strong thematic link and are a mix of the experimental and the commercially bland, although they are stylishly made and show a strong influence of French poetic realism and Italian neo-realism. It was the commercial success of Bergman's fourth film, Music in Darkness (1948), that led Svensk Filmindustri to take him back, beginning a long and successful collaboration.

After a few more non-descript works, Bergman seemed finally to find his voice with Summer Interlude (1951), a poignant film on the transience of love and life that prefigures much of his subsequent work. This was followed by the amusing comedy-drama Waiting Women (1952) and the lyrical Summer with Monika (1953), both commercial successes which earned the director acclaim outside his native Sweden. In 1955, Bergman had his first major international hit, Smiles of a Summer Night, a riotous French farce which is the absolute antithesis of Bergman's later films.

At this point, Ingmar Bergman entered what has been described as his existentialist phase. Films such as The Seventh Seal (1957) and Wild Strawberries (1957), along with the trilogy comprising Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light (1962) and The Silence (1963), deal with deeper, metaphysical themes, about faith, man's relationship to God, spiritual identity, and the nature of existence itself. This period encompasses Bergman's best known work and is the one that defines how most people now regard his films - austere, minimalist, looking inwards for answers to life's great mysteries, and ultimately pessimistic. Although this was Bergman's most inspired and productive time, the director was experiencing severe emotional and psychological difficulties and came close to committing suicide.

In the early 1960s, Bergman took up residence on Fårö, a barren island in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Russia. This would provide the location for many of his subsequent film, including Persona (1966), his most experimental film and one which many consider to be his greatest work. It was whilst making this film that Bergman first worked with Liv Ullmann, a little known Norwegian actress who would feature in a total of nine of his films, making her an international star. Of all the actors Bergman worked with, Ullmann was the one with whom he had the closest professional and personal relationship. They lived together for a short time on Fårö and had a daughter, Linn Ullmann. Bergman had a notoriously complicated love life. Not only did he marry five times, he also had affairs with many of his leading actresses.

In the decade that followed Persona, Bergman entered a new phase, in which his films would be less concerned with existential themes and would focus more on human issues - the psychology of women, the flawed nature of marriage and the inability of men and women to communicate. The high point of this period was the five hour series that Bergman made for Swedish television, Scenes from a Marriage (1973), which was then edited into an equally successful film.

Ingmar Bergman's career almost came to an abrupt halt in 1976 when the Swedish authorities began pursuing him for alleged tax evasion. Although the charges were subsequently dropped, the experience came close to destroying Bergman. After a nervous breakdown, the director went into a self-imposed exile in Munich, Germany, where he stayed for eight years. Here, he continued making films - including The Serpents' Egg (1977), his biggest commercial failure, and Autumn Sonata (1978), his one collaboration with actress Ingrid Bergman - but the main outlet for his creative energies during this period was the theatre.

In 1982, Bergman was finally persuaded to return to Sweden to direct Fanny and Alexander, his most lavish production, which won four Oscars (including Best Foreign Language Film). He declared that this would be his last film, although he continued writing scripts for television and film and made a handful of films for Swedish television. At the age of 84, he made a surprise directorial comeback with Saraband (2003), a sequel to Scenes from a Marriage. This was to be his last film. Ingmar Bergman died peacefully in his sleep on his beloved island of Fårö on 30th July 2007, aged 89. His legacy to us is a remarkable collection of films that will long endure.

Filmography

Click here to view complete list of films...