Films/DVD Asylum

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

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: 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 an a bug-eyed monster character TNT used to host a Friday night monster movie series back in the early 90's: "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

Follow Ups:

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