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- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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Tag Archives: Ingmar Bergman
“I looked like a bad girl. But I wasn’t a bad girl, really. I was a very nice little girl, until I found out what life was.”– Harriet Andersson
It’s her birthday today. Ingmar Bergman wrote in Images: My Life in Film, “Harriet Andersson is one of cinema’s geniuses. You meet only a few of these rare, shimmering individuals.” It’s difficult to talk about Harriet Andersson without hyperbole. She … Continue reading
“I think I’m invisible sometimes.” — Ingrid Thulin
It’s her birthday today. I’m really proud of the video-essay I wrote on her for Criterion: The Eerie Intensity of Ingrid Thulin One of Ingmar Bergman’s repertory company of actors. As heavy-hitting as Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson. She … Continue reading
“The best thing that can come with success is the knowledge that it is nothing to long for.” — Liv Ullmann
It’s her birthday today. In 2018 I was assigned by the Criterion Collection to write tributes to four of Ingmar Bergman’s actresses: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, (Liv and Bibi were paired together in one video – Bergman saw them as … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Norway, women directors
2 Comments
“Each time I see it, I know I accomplished what I set out to do as an actress, that I created a person.” — Bibi Andersson on Persona
It’s her birthday today. It was my great honor to write and narrate a video-essay for The Criterion Collection about Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann’s collaboration – both separately and together – with Ingmar Bergman: Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson, … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Bibi Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Persona
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“Reality is diabolical.” — Ingmar Bergman
It’s Ingmar Bergman’s birthday today. I saw Persona in college – while studying acting – and was so intimidated by it I thought, “Okay. I can’t ever watch this again.” I needed courage to feel like I still could give … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Bibi Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann, Sweden
6 Comments
Talking 1953 movies with Jason Bailey and Mike Hull: A Very Good Year podcast
My pal Jason Bailey and his pal Mike Hull host a fascinating podcast called A Very Good Year, which they describe as: “Each week we invite a guest (filmmakers and actors, critics and historians, comedians and musicians) who loves movies, … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Billy Wilder, coming of age, drama, France, Harriet Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Japan, Marlon Brando, podcast, romantic drama, Stalag 17, Sweden, war movies, William Holden
12 Comments
Back-ting and Mirrors
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know how I love moments where actors have their back to the camera (back-ting) and moments where characters stare at themselves in the mirror. I started mulling about this 15 years … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged backting, Five Easy Pieces, Harriet Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Jack Nicholson, mirrors
2 Comments
June 2023 Viewing Diary
Succession (2018-2023) I finally watched, having somehow resisted the DEAFENING buzz over the last couple of years. I like Jeremy Strong, liked his small moment in Zero Dark Thirty, he totally stood out in The Big Short (directed by one … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Billy Wilder, Cristian Mungiu, documentary, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., drama, Elia Kazan, Eva Marie Saint, France, Harriet Andersson, Ingmar Bergman, Karl Malden, Katharine Hepburn, Lee J. Cobb, Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront, Otto Preminger, reviews, Rod Steiger, Romania, romantic drama, Stalag 17, Stanley Kramer, Sweden, true crime, war movies, William Holden, women directors
23 Comments
Good artists borrow …
… great artists steal, and etc. and so forth. Moonlighting, 1982, d. Jerzy Skolimowski Persona, 1966, d. Ingmar Bergman Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to … Continue reading
November 2021 Viewing Diary
The Wire, half of Season 3 This is the busiest time of year in re: film-critic-land, so had to stop my re-watch of The Wire to make room for new releases. I’ll get back to it! All Is Forgiven (2007; … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Amy Heckerling, Balkans, Dean Stockwell, documentary, drama, Ethan Hawke, Eugene O'Neill, France, Ingmar Bergman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Japan, Katharine Hepburn, literary adaptation, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Mexico, Mia Hansen-Løve, Mia Wasikowska, New Zealand, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quantum Leap, Rebecca Hall, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Sweden, The Beatles, Will Ferrell, women directors
22 Comments