I love foreign cinema. Japanese, French, Nordic, etc. But I find Bergman hard to get in to. He tells stories I have no interest in. Frankly, I'd rather watch an Arne Mattsson film than Bergman. Yes, it looks gorgeous. Yes, the performances are nice. It's not story telling techniques, but the story. I have no interest in the story of a large, well off family as seen through the eyes of two children. The children are sponges, taking everything around them in. It just doesn't work for me. The first time I saw this 25 years ago all I could remember was it was too long and the farting old uncle.
I found this extremely tough sledding to get through. The idea that a 5 hour version exists made me roll my eyes. Pretentious. Why not a 50 hour version where we follow people to the bathroom when they have a bowel movement.
Kurosawa, Cocteau, Dreyer, Carne, Renoir, Mizoguchi, De Sica, all masters. Bergman, not for me.
I found this extremely tough sledding to get through. The idea that a 5 hour version exists made me roll my eyes. Pretentious. Why not a 50 hour version where we follow people to the bathroom when they have a bowel movement.
Kurosawa, Cocteau, Dreyer, Carne, Renoir, Mizoguchi, De Sica, all masters. Bergman, not for me.