Bibi Andersson
Born November 11, 1935
“When I was reading a script, I tried to figure out what side of me [Bergman] was trying to use now, or what had he seen, or what it was that he did not want. You can sometimes be very frustrated if you feel the part does not do you justice. When I read Persona I wasn’t flattered. I didn’t understand why I had to play this sort of insecure, weak personality when I was struggling so hard to be sure of myself and to cover up my insecurities. I realized that he was totally aware of my personality. I was better off just trying to deliver that. It’s a good way to know oneself. Sometimes I think artists instinctively are very good psychiatrists. I also think all parts have to be based on oneself, otherwise they will never come across.”
Victor Sjöstrom in Wild Strawberries.
With regard to the extremely moving final shot, which is possibly one of the most beautiful and remarkable moments I’ve ever captured on film in my entire career, it has a bizarre background. And it might be interesting to mention it, since Victor was such a punctual person. He was always ready to start working at 9:00 sharp. He knew his lines, and he had all his props and costumes in order. So he was very meticulous. But he also liked to be home by 5:00, when he would enjoy a glass of whiskey. And that was important too. And the day we shot the final scene, we were, for some reason I can’t recall, we were working overtime. I had to break this to Victor, and he was furious. Truly pissed off. And he said, ‘Let’s do it.’ And we set things up. He stood there and he refused to speak to me. He thought it was mean of me to not let him go home. Then suddenly, when I said ‘action,’ his faced transformed. The surly, unapproachable old man’s expression was transformed and became accessible, beatific and wise.
There was much tension in his life: his excessive self-criticism, his grumpiness, his meticulous nature, the fact that he was so very demanding in his interactions, and hard on himself as well, along with that crushing angst. Yet despite all this, these remarkable images came though. Unforgettable.
— Ingmar Bergman
Victor Sjöström
September 20, 1879 — January 3, 1960
“The fact that I have been able to work with Sjöström, that I have been able to talk to him about his craft, that we could discuss the making of The Phantom Carriage, or the US production The Wind, or Ingeborg Holm, and he could tell me how he worked and thought at the time — being granted the opportunity to talk to such a master of his craft, to listen to him and absorb his words, it made me feel that I was a part of a certain development, a part of a grand tradition.” — Ingmar Bergman
Behind the scenes of The Seventh Seal.
Ingmar Bergman and Sven Nykvist on the set of Fanny and Alexander.
Ingmar Bergman filming Summer with Monika.
The Seventh Seal // dir. Ingmar Bergman
“Film as dream, film as music. No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul. A little twitch in our optic nerve, a shock effect: twenty-four illuminated frames a second, darkness in between, the optic nerve incapable of registering darkness. At the editing table, when I run the strip of film through, frame by frame, I still feel that dizzy sense of magic of my childhood: in the darkness of the wardrobe, I slowly wind on one frame after another, see the almost imperceptible changes, wind faster — a movement.”
Ingmar Bergman (July 14, 1918 -– July 30, 2007)
Ingmar Bergman and the cast of Cries & Whispers.
