The operative phrase is "...may have been...".

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Posted by Audiophilander (A) on July 31, 2007 at 10:29:00

In Reply to: For the Bergman bashers... posted by EBerlin on July 31, 2007 at 05:54:46:

>>> "For the Bergman bashers..." <<<

I'm neither a fan nor basher of Bergman's films, but I can think of many filmmakers who are more deserving of that mantle in spite of Bergman's rich repertoire of lauded work.

>>> "Ingmar Bergman changed the face of filmmaking -- and may have been the 20th century's greatest artist." <<<

Assuming the context of "artist" to be specific to cinema, examples of other highly regarded filmmakers with a body of work of similar distinction:

Charles Chaplin
F.W. Murnau
Erich Von Stroheim
Joseph Von Sternberg
Fritz Lang
Billy Wilder
Stanley Kubrick
Chuck Jones >;0B

...and individual masterpieces arguably superior to Bergman's best:

Orson Welles: Citizen Kane
Carl Theodore Dreyer: The Passion of Joan of Arc
F.W. Murnau: Sunrise
Abel Gance: Napoleon
Fritz Lang: M
Terry Gilliam: Brazil
Peter Jackson: LoTR trilogy ;0)

Bergman is primarily remembered today for that chess match he filmed between a returning knight and The Grim Reaper in The Seventh Seal even though his accomplishments certainly exceed one memorable concept. Note: My favorite line about Bergman came from the funky looking bug-eyed Mantis character that hosted a late night monster movie series on TNT back in the early 90's, and I quote: "It ain't Bergman, but things blow up!"

When it comes right down to it there are only a couple of his films that I've gone out of my way to watch (The Seventh Seal; Virgin Spring), but that's due to my interest in period dramas, supernatural fantasy and historical fiction. Regardless, it's certainly fair to revere the Director's vision and creative talent.

AuPh

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - For the Bergman bashers... - EBerlin 05:54:46 07/31/07 (13)

The operative phrase is "...may have been...". - Audiophilander 10:29:00 07/31/07 (1)

RE: (pete Jackson better than...Who? - patrickU 11:45:45 07/31/07 (0)

Oh for pete's sake...the 20th Century ?? Get real - DWPC 09:36:57 07/31/07 (3)

Not for a second, the real man of the century is... - dave c 00:59:55 08/02/07 (0)

ELVIS! ...? - Audiophilander 11:14:24 07/31/07 (1)

Gotcha! * - DWPC 11:26:19 07/31/07 (0)

What?? - C.B. 08:31:15 07/31/07 (5)

Frank Lloyd Wright... nt - clarkjohnsen 08:48:23 07/31/07 (4)

He made movies too?? * - DWPC 11:14:39 07/31/07 (3)

At least as many as "Picasso, Matisse, Joyce, Hemingway, Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence..." nt - clarkjohnsen 08:39:51 08/01/07 (0)

One degree of separation & only in the abstract: Gary Cooper's take on Howard Roark from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. - Audiophilander 11:33:06 07/31/07 (1)

attempting to blow up a tower block... - dave c 13:42:37 08/02/07 (0)

RE: Do you know one? - patrickU 08:26:40 07/31/07 (0)

Follow Ups

The operative phrase is "...may have been...". - Audiophilander 10:29:00 07/31/07 (1)

RE: (pete Jackson better than...Who? - patrickU 11:45:45 07/31/07 (0)

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