July 30, 2007

Checkmate. Ingmar Bergman dead at 89.
posted by Capt. Renault 17 years ago
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  • *doffs hat* His "Magic Flute" had a huge impact on me as a child.
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  • I'm upgrading my "." to a "*" just because the way the good Captain announced this on his fpp is so artful and maked me done feel reel smart. On the other hand, I don't feel very saddened, partly b/c he left such a rich legacy of art and life, and also because I would have assumed he'd been dead for years.
  • My first Bergman would have been Fanny & Alexander, when I would have been about Alexander's age. I can't remember a more sensual film, in the fullest sense of the word. Tremendous. Like the best/worst of the Brothers Grimm, going from the happiness of the Christmas party with its farting and its magic lanterns, to the horrors of the evil step-father, capped by bittersweet redemption at the end. Wow. After that, it was one pleasant discovery after another. Thanks, Mr. Bergman. Your likes will not pass this way again. (Bergman fans in need of a little cheering up are directed to this wonderful pastiche.)
  • In other news, Woody Allen is still alive.
  • Sayeth the Woody of Ingmar, "probably the greatest film artist ... since the invention of the motion picture camera."
  • And tonight Tom Snyder will host an Ingmar Berman retrospecoshitnevermind.
  • . *plans to fire up a colortini for the retrospective* Farewell Ingemar, Farewell, Tom.
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  • (Bergman fans in need of a little cheering up are directed to this wonderful pastiche.) Thanks. Also check out De Düva.