The Cinematic Genius Called Bergman

Guess am a bit late. But had to pay my homage here to the greatest filmmaker of the past century: Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish director, who passed away a few days back. Have managed to devour just 3 classics of his (blame the slow broadband, the insufficient peers) and he's already at the top of my stack. I would also rank Akira Kurosawa with him - shoulder to shoulder - but thats for later.

The most identifying characteristic in his movies is the deep sense of humanism. There is a certain amount of retrospection, fraility of human relationships and the essence of survival. A closer inspection might even make one feel if its a parody on humanity. That's the class of Bergman. Symbolic and wonderfully intuitive. And his favorite characters: Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann are a class apart in acting. So, here are his three gems:

1. Smultronstallet (Wild Strawberries), 1957: A wonderful potrayal of an how an old man at the fag end of his life, struggles to come to terms with all the doings of his life. Reminisces his past, mulls, contemplates his victories and coming to terms with his desires. My first introduction to Bergman, who added a fan to his name.

2. Sjunde inseglet Det (The Seventh Seal), 1957: A knight at the end of the Crusades finds himself facing death at the hands of the Grim Reaper (Death). To save himself, he challenges him to a game of Chess. All around this, the knight is constantly questioning the existence of God and hopes He unravels himself to save the misery of Black Plague around. Lot of philosophy and symbolism abounds in this classic. With a lot of questions asked. It needs to be seen more than once to understand what the director wished to convey.

3. Vargtimmem (The Hour Of The Wolf), 1968: Its the time between the night and dawn, a time when most people die, a time when fear takes over, a time when ghosts and demons are at their best. Bergman's only horror attemp, although there are no horrific elements involved. A lonely artist and his wife in a lonely island. Hallucinations abound. Their relationship is explored. Paranoia. Multiple interpretations can be deduced and that is what makes it a classic. A bit draining but a lot of hidden meaning.

But before you get going with Bergman's genre - a disclaimer that you might either love it or plainly hate it. The movies are slow, takes time to sink and requires complete patience and dedication from the viewer.

I love them. Too many to see - 62 of them - and I have started counting! And I owe it to him to make me fall in love with black-and-white cinema. There's too much beauty captured in those two colours.

May his soul rest in peace forever! Amen!