Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc

Decided to watch both of these because, why not. Both are first time watches. I enjoy these type of docs where the subjects are just let to ponder what makes their little corner of the world tick. Always great for giving insight into how different and how alike we all are at the same time. Faro is both very beautiful and very harsh. You see that in almost every inhabitant. I really like the way that Bergman sets up the juxtaposition in ‘79 between the tourist aspect and the reality for those who live there year round. I also enjoyed how ‘79 returned to some of the subjects from the first doc. At the end of ‘79 we see that he intended to do another one a decade later, but obviously that never happened.

The cinematography here is very beautiful at times. I believe we het a pretty good sense of Faro and its landscapes. We see the weather changes and the farming. We get a nice glimpse into why Bergman loved this island as much as he did. Not my favorite films of his, but certainly glad he took the time to make them.

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Letterboxd

There’s a few movies I don’t like writing about, and Persona is one of them. It’s too good, too unique. I credit Persona and Tree Of Life with being the two movies that made me stop caring if I figured everything out in a movie. With being able to say I love a movie and still be willing to say I don’t know. That didn’t come easy for me. I don’t normally like puzzles, not a fan of being bewildered. Even after six viewing Persona still leaves me bewildered. I have read interpretations. They make sense, and there are also parts of the film that make them unravel. Schizophrenia, God of silence, repressed sexuality, feminism, it’s probably all there if you want to mine it. I don’t think I do anymore. I want to bask in the hazy cinematography that makes it feel like a ghost story. I want to listen to the sharp dialogue, mostly all coming from one person, so the movie feels like a poem. I want to be horrified when Alma describes her infidelity, and cry with her when she can’t cope with it emotionally. I want Elisabet to tell me all about her family and her silence, but am also pleased to settle into the mystery with Alma.

Yeah, Persona is not only my favorite Bergman, but one of my favorite movies period. I love everything about it. It looks amazing. The performances are both astounding. Ullmann has become one of my favorite actresses and is doing so much here with no words. Anderrson knocks it out of the park here for me though, doping all the heavy lifting and giving one of my favorite female performances of all time.

I’m already ready to watch it again.

Persona




This is my third watch and I come away about the same as I did the previous two times. I can certainly see why a lot of people consider this Bergmans masterpiece. The acting by Anderson and Ullman is really good, it's super well directed, shot well, and looks amazing. But there's a missing component for me. I feel disconnected and uneducated with the film and that's on me. But I also don't feel like I need to know everything that is going on to appreciate it. It gives me a very similar feeling to how I feel about Lynch's Mulholland Drive. So yeah it's up there for me in terms of respectability but there's a lot that I need to understand for me to truly appreciate it and admire it the way I want to.

Faro Document 79

I wish I had more to say about this. I really like the concept of analyzing the island and it's even more interesting when you consider he did two ten years apart and wanted to do a third. You can tell it was a passion project for Bergman, kind of curious why the third never materialized. But yes it's definitely interesting to see the people on the island talk about their lives. Nothing fascinating, but a good concept.

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In Scenes From A Marriage Bergman goes out of his way to tell you he is showing you scenery of Faro over the end credits after every episode. You can tell he has an undying love for the island. Wish I had the kind of money to go someday.

Do it brother! Up next for me will be The Magician

Good deal. Almost watched that instead of Sawdust, so that’s where I will go next too. I will get something up on Sawdust tomorrow.

This one hits my pleasure points. I love the stripped down circus setting. Just the covered wagons and dirty feel of this circus caravan is enough to draw me straight in. Of course Bergman fills his film with colorful characters. Gronberg and Anderrson are both fantastic as the leads Albert and Anne. Gronberg is also in Summer With Monika, but a small role. He gets his chance to shine here and takes advantage. His anger is always bubbling underneath the surface, and when it explodes it feels terrifying for the other characters in his path. Yet somehow you still want the best for him. He seems earnest in his desire to better himself and those around him, but is stuck in a life of roadblocks to that end. A situation most of us can relate to in one way or another. Anderrson is a Bergman staple of course, and never disappoints. her scenes feel dangerous and add a lot of tension to the plot. She’s kind of on another level at times. I do also love the character of Frost the clown here. Always drunk and bumbling. He adds humor and sadness to his interactions. He seems to just blow whichever way the wind is moving with no direction at all.

The cinematography here is again fantastic. I like the initial shot of the silhouette of the caravan moving down the countryside especially. This is kind of a Bergman special, but a shot I don’t tire of ever. The dirtiness of the circus is felt. It is mentioned by many characters and comes through in the photography. Not a circus many would want to go to I would think, even in this small town most seem to be going as a lark. Certainly adds to the sadness of the picture.

There is a hopelessness to almost every scene of this movie that I can see making it a tough watch for some. It doesn’t seem to be one that many hold high up in Bergman’s filmography. It is one that he seems exceptionally proud of though, which is kind of an interesting dichotomy. Anyway, I love it. Maybe top 5 Bergman for me? Tough ask, we will see after all these viewings.

Top 5 wow glad you enjoy it a lot!

Perfect example of why Bergman is one of my favorite directors at 48 years old, but if I had discovered him 25 years ago I probably would have hated him. Incredibly straight forward narrative but littered with enigmatic themes. The characters aren’t dense, but they are very fun, the Bergman dialogue just lends itself to so much interpretation, and just when you feel like you are getting a sense of what he may be driving at he jumps to another scene, or character, or plot point altogether. It is pretty standard in his films, and the type of thing that would definitely have frustrated young stupid Sean. Old stupid Sean loves it though. Makes it feel like a mystery. Makes it feel like life. How do we ever know what truly motivates people. Sex, love, God, fear of death, fear of supernatural, desire for the supernatural. It’s all baked in here, as it is in much of Bergman’s work. Very hard, for me at least, to put a finger on exactly what the underlying thesis is. I am just along for the ride.

This, again, is littered with Bergman regulars. The performances are really good all around. Going to praise the cinematography as always. I think it stands out here because of the sharp contrast though. The black and white just pops immediately in way that it doesn’t always in every movie. I read a review or two afterwards and one called in “monochrome” cinematography I believe. I hadn’t heard that phrase before, but that line stood out to me because of how the images jumped off the screen at me.

Another fantastic one. Sean the broken record signing off till my next Bergman gush.

The Magician



This is certainly one of the more impressive looking films that Bergman has. Even though it's black and white it seems so rich and detailed. And I really liked a lot of the characters and the performances. Thulin and Von Sydow are both great and I really enjoyed the performance of the granny. The biggest problem for me is that sometimes it feels like there's almost too much going on for me and that it just from one thing to another and can even be hard for my pea brain to follow. But still, a film that I can appreciate and one that I will check out at sometime again.

Yeah dude, the cinematography in this one seems really special. Glad you enjoyed.

I enjoyed this one a good bit for the visuals and Bibi Anderson. Unfortunately, I was really looking forward to it to see Gould in a Bergman movie, but I think he was miscast. He just seemed out of sorts here to me, and he is an actor I really love, especially in these 70’s movies. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it exactly, but I never grabbed onto anything that was happening with the character. I didn’t buy Anderson’s character falling in love with him. I didn’t buy his sudden fits of anger. Ultimately I didn’t buy the angst he has for her towards the end of the film.

It’s a bummer, because Bibi is selling hard. This is probably my favorite performance of hers outside of Persona. Von Sydow is very good too, but given too little to do. He has a great scene with Gould, and a couple of really strong scenes with Anderson as well.

The movie looks fantastic. Lots of fall colors, giving a very strong Autumn Sonata vibe. I dig Bergman in the 70’s aesthetic for sure. Pretty straightforward plot, but as usual the Bergman script makes it feel a little greater than its parts.

Not a bad movie by any means, but probably towards the bottom third of his filmography for me.

Summer with Monika



This one was a rewatch but I feel like I enjoyed it more this time around. I think the two leads had really good chemistry and Bergman did his best to make sure that we cared about the two characters journey. I like how it feels as if nothing can go wrong between the two although that is obviously not what happens. Again it's a really beautiful Bergman film too. He just seems to have a great feel for how much a rich setting can really amp up viewers interests in films. Almost to the point where you wonder if he has put an insane amount of time into it. And the performances like I said are quite good, especially enjoyed Anderson here.

The reason I picked Summer With Monika is because I always felt like I underrated it. It’s happening again. Every time I go to put a movie on the new list I’m making I feel like I can’t put it above Summer even though I give it a half star more. Don’t know what it is with me and this movie but I already need to watch it again.

From 3 to 3.5 for me with maybe even some room to grow.