Bergman on Bergman: Interviews With Ingmar Bergman [Paperback]

Stig Bjorkman (Author), Torsten Manns (Author), Jones Sima (Author), Paul Britten Austin (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

Ingmar Bergman, an undisputed giant of modern cinematic art, here talks frankly and extensively about himself and his films. This discussion with the great Swedish director ranges from Bergman's childhood memories to his admiration for Strindberg to his relationship with the stars whom he made famous - Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson, among others. Originally published in 1973, this work covers Bergman's career from his early films through the works: "The Seventh Seal", "Wild Strawberries", "Persona", "The Passion of Anna".

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In a series of riveting interviews given between 1968 and 1970, Ingmar Bergman talks candidly about life and the movies. Bergman's company of actors and technicians featured some of the most talented artists of the 20th century. It included Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson, Gunner Bjornstrand, and the brilliant cinematographers Gunner Fischer and Sven Nykvist. Bergman provides a behind-the-scenes look at his work with these men and women, as well as revealing insights into the complexity of his acclaimed films The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly, Persona, and many others.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Swedish

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr; First Edition edition (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306805200
• ISBN-13: 978-0306805202
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,664,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential but dated, November 25, 2001

By 

Scott Spires (Prague, Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BERGMAN ON BERGMAN (Paperback)

Ingmar Bergman fans should all get to know this book. It's a series of interviews done in the late 1960s, in which he discusses his entire career in relevant but not excruciating detail. My local art house cinema just put on a big Bergman retrospective, and it was fun to be able to see the films and then read the director's comments on them. The photos are nice too; they include such famous sequences as the first dream from "Wild Strawberries" and the opening of "Persona."

I have a couple of small objections. First, the book stops in 1970 (not that big a problem, as most of his really good films were made before that date). Second, there are some issues I wish he'd covered in more detail; sometimes the journalists direct the conversation too much. But these are minor flaws in an essential book on one of cinema's great directors.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not always exciting, but always essential Bergman, April 20, 2006

By 

Dr. Thomas Hart - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bergman on Bergman: Interviews With Ingmar Bergman (Paperback)

After heaving read "Trier about von Trier", an interview also conducted by Stig Bjoerkman, it became unavoidable to read the Bergman book, too. So many references to Bergman's films, so huge a relevance he has for today's film-makers not just in Scandinavia, but all over the world. The Interview was conducted quite late, I think 1990, so many films are far and lost in the momories of an old man. He is also very humble about many films, pretending not to remember them propoerly or waving them off as unimportant. Those where he accepts the discussion must be wort seeing, however, and the comments by the two interview partners give you some exciting insight in what it must be like to experience them for the first time (in some repsect, this means, I can be glad that I have hardly seen any Bergman film so far, only "Snake's Egg", I think, and he does not seem to like that one). In particular, I think, the following ones should be on the shelf soon (and maybe seen in the order of initial release): (not sure about the respective English titles): "The Summer with Monika", "For one Summer", Wild Strawberries", "Scenes of a Marriage", "The Silence", "The Face","Hour of the Wolf:, "Light in Winter" "Persona", "Shame", "7th Seal", "Fanny and Alexander". And so on... There's a task at hand!