Ingmar Bergman dies. (1 Viewer)

[spiny norman]

The Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman has died at his home on the small Baltic island of Faro.

His daughter Eva told the Swedish news agency TT yesterday that her 89-year-old father had died a peaceful death.

Bergman sought to exorcise a traumatic childhood through cinematic masterpieces whose major themes were sexual torment and the vain search for the meaning of life.

His work encompassed 54 films, 126 theatre productions and 39 radio plays.

Through his films, Bergman's vision encompassed all the extremes of his beloved Sweden: the claustrophobic gloom of unending winter nights, the gentle merriment of glowing summer evenings and the bleak magnificence of the island where he spent his last years.

Bergman who approached difficult subjects such as plague and madness with inventive technique and carefully honed writing, became one of the towering figures of filmmaking.

He was born Ernst Ingmar Bergman on July 14, 1918, in the university town of Uppsala. His father, a Lutheran priest who became chaplain to the king of Sweden, humiliated and caned the young Ingmar, a sickly child.

His break into the film world came in 1955 with Smiles of a Summer Night, a sophisticated comedy of manners set in turn-of-the-century Sweden. It won a prize for best comedy at the 1956 Cannes film festival.

He gained international recognition with the 1956 film The Seventh Seal, in which a Crusader searching for God and the meaning of life plays chess with Death. It won the jury prize at the 1957 Cannes film festival.

Offstage, Bergman's private life was often thrust into the limelight. He was married five times to beautiful women and was known for liaisons with his leading actresses.

He was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", Woody Allen said in a 70th birthday tribute.

He lived an incredibly long life, but it doesn't soften the blow any. Undoubtedly one of cinema's finest.

 

[walrusbear]

i feel bad for thinking he was already dead

good reminder to see more of his films

 

[spiny norman]

No, he actually continued working until 2003, releasing Saraband. It was on SBS a few weeks ago and really was excellent, especially when you consider its director was 85.