FILM
His work in the late 40s and early 50s is often neglected, but he already showed a certain daring in his style and themes, in films such as Summer with Monika and The Naked Night, exploring themes of sexuality and humiliation, both foreshadowing later work. 1955's Smiles of a Summer Night was the apex of that period, a comedy that lent a richer tone to the old round-robin bedroom farce. Then came the masterpieces Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, the first one acknowledging the centrality of dreams and reveries, the second one using a medieval backdrop to examine the crisis of religious faith. The Seventh Seal is the movie with the knight playing chess with Death, so famous now that it tends to overshadow some of his later work.
The religious theme continued as Bergman gained international prominence in such works as The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence, each more powerful than the last. Then in 1966, he broke free into a new phase with Persona, an exploration of identity between two women that was also radically experimental in form. It's arguably his greatest film. His work in the late 60s and 70s was less about religion, more about social and personal issues, as in his antiwar film Shame, his portrait of female rage and grief Cries and Whispers, or the great Scenes from a Marriage about a disintegrating relationship. In 1982 came his most popular film, Fanny and Alexander, a poetic story of childhood harking back to his love of theater and his rebellion against the coldness of authority.
Bergman's visual style was focused and intense, but it was his belief in the importance of emotional honesty that makes his films so memorable. We can always turn to the films of Ingmar Bergman to reinvigorate our minds and spirits, and challenge us at ever deeper levels.
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