In Memoriam: Rate Ingmar Bergman's Films

Persona 10/10
The Seventh Seal 9/10
Shame
Wild Strawberries
The Virgin Spring 8/10
Through a Glass Darkly
Cries and Whispers
Hour of the Wolf 7/10
The Silence
Passion of Anna 6/10
Winter Light




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Passion of Anna 6/10




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The Seventh Seal (1957) 7
Wild Strawberries (1957) 9
Winter Light (1962) 10
Persona (1966) 10
Hour of the Wolf (1968) 10
Autumn Sonata (1978) 9

"My rule of thumb is, what Siskel and Ebert like, I don't, and vice versa." David Lynch

Saraband (2003, TV) N/S
Efter repetitionen (After the Rehearsal, 1984, TV) N/S
Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander, 1982) 10/10
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten (From the Life of the Marionettes, 1980) N/S
Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata, 1978) 10/10
The Serpent's Egg (1977) 6/10
Ansikte mot ansikte (Face to Face, 1976) 9/10
Trollflöjten (The Magic Flute, 1975, TV) 8/10
Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage, 1973) 8/10
Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers, 1972) 10/10
Beröringen (The Touch, 1971) N/S
En Passion (The Passion of Anna, 1969) 10/10
Riten (The Ritual, 1969, TV) N/S
Skammen (Shame, 1968) 8/10
Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf, 1968) 9/10
Persona (1966) 10/10
För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor (All These Women, 1964) N/S
Tystnaden (The Silence, 1963) 10/10
Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light, 1962) 9/10
Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly, 1961) 9/10
Djävulens öga (The Devil's Eye, 1960) N/S
Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring, 1960) 9/10
Ansiktet (The Magician, 1958) 7/10
Nära livet (Brink of Life, 1958) N/S
Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries, 1957) 9/10
Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal, 1957) 8/10
Sommarnattens leende (Smiles of a Summer Night, 1955) N/S
Kvinnodröm (Dreams, 1955) N/S
En Lektion i kärlek (A Lesson in Love, 1954) 6/10
Gycklarnas afton (Sawdust and Tinsel/The Naked Night, 1953) N/S
Sommaren med Monika (Summer with Monika, 1953) 7/10
Kvinnors väntan (Waiting Women, 1952) N/S
Sommarlek (Illicit Interlude, 1951) 7/10
Sånt händer inte här (High Tension, 1950) N/S
Till glädje (To Joy, 1950) N/S
Törst (Thirst, 1949) N/S
Fängelse (The Devil's Wanton, 1949) N/S
Hamnstad (Port of Call, 1948) N/S
Musik i mörker (Night Is My Future, 1948) N/S
Skepp till India land (A Ship Bound for India, 1947) N/S
Det regnar på vår kärlek (It Rains on Our Love, 1946) N/S
Kris (Crisis, 1946) 6/10

favorite
least favorite

EDIT: I've been doing a bunch of rewatches of Bergman's work lately and even though I still think Persona and Fanny and Alexander are his best, I have to say that The Silence has just become my personal favorite of his.

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Out of four stars:

****
Persona (1966)
Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers, 1972)
Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander, 1982)
Skammen (Shame, 1968)
Tystnaden (The Silence, 1963)
Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal, 1957)
En Passion (The Passion of Anna, 1969)
Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light, 1962)
Ansiktet (The Magician, 1958)
Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage, 1973)
Saraband (2003, TV)
Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries, 1957)
Efter repetitionen (After the Rehearsal, 1984, TV)
Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata, 1978)

***½
Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly, 1961)
Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring, 1960)
Gycklarnas afton (Sawdust and Tinsel/The Naked Night, 1953)
Sommarnattens leende (Smiles of a Summer Night, 1955)
Trollflöjten (The Magic Flute, 1975, TV)
En Lektion i kärlek (A Lesson in Love, 1954)

***
Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf, 1968)
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten (From the Life of the Marionettes, 1980)
Djävulens öga (The Devil's Eye, 1960)
Sommaren med Monika (Summer with Monika, 1953)
Till glädje (To Joy, 1950)
Hamnstad (Port of Call, 1948)
Fängelse (The Devil's Wanton, 1949)

**½
Ansikte mot ansikte (Face to Face, 1976)
Kvinnodröm (Dreams, 1955)
Kris (Crisis, 1946)
Skepp till India land (A Ship Bound for India, 1947)
Det regnar på vår kärlek (It Rains on Our Love, 1946)

**
The Serpent's Egg (1977)

"He was (and remains) my 2nd favorite director."

I'm actually on the verge of calling him my 2nd favorite. I'm between him and Tarkovsky. The difference is I've seen everything by Tarkovsky and highly admire his flawless (although thin) filmography, but I still have a number of Bergmans pending (mainly Fanny and Alexander). I'm thinking, though, of giving him a slight edge, just because he remained prolific and constantly good to excellent (from what I've seen, of course).

Now, since I made a similar comment on the Don Luis thread, I think that Bergman (and to an extent Tarkovsky), was pretty much the opposite of Bunuel; much more emotional and reliant on talent, whereas Bunuel, as I said before, although I'm probably alone on this, was very accurate and pretty much, knew exactly what he was doing. I think, though, that my opinion on Bergman can be backed up by some of the man's famous comments: [quoting IMDb]

[on Orson Welles] For me he's just a hoax. It's empty. It's not interesting. It's dead. Citizen Kane (1941), which I have a copy of, is all the critics' darling, always at the top of every poll taken, but I think it's a total bore. Above all, the performances are worthless. The amount of respect that movie's got is absolutely unbelievable.

[on Orson Welles] I've never liked Welles as an actor, because he's not really an actor. In Hollywood you have two categories, you talk about actors and personalities. Welles was an enormous personality, but when he plays Othello, everything goes down the drain, you see, that's when he croaks. In my eyes he's an infinitely overrated filmmaker.

[on Jean-Luc Godard] I've never gotten anything out of his movies. They have felt constructed, faux intellectual and completely dead. Cinematographically uninteresting and infinitely boring. Godard is a *beep* bore. He's made his films for the critics. One of the movies, Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis (1966), was shot here in Sweden. It was mind-numbingly boring.

[on Michelangelo Antonioni] He's done two masterpieces, you don't have to bother with the rest. One is Blowup (1966), which I've seen many times, and the other is La notte (1961), also a wonderful film, although that's mostly because of the young Jeanne Moreau. In my collection I have a copy of Il grido (1957) and damn what a boring movie it is. So devilishly sad, I mean. You know, Antonioni never really learned the trade. He concentrated on single images, never realizing that film is a rhythmic flow of images, a movement. Sure, there are brilliant moments in his films. But I don't feel anything for L'avventura (1960), for example. Only indifference. I never understood why Antonioni was so incredibly applauded. And I thought his muse Monica Vitti was a terrible actress.


To the point, though, here's how I rank his filmography, with my individual ratings included (which, of course, are very similar to yours):

01. Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers, 1972) - 10/10
02. En Passion (The Passion of Anna, 1969) - 10/10
03. Tystnaden (The Silence, 1963) - 10/10
04. Persona (1966) - 10/10
05. Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light, 1962) - 10/10
06. Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal, 1957) - 10/10
07. Sommarnattens leende (Smiles of a Summer Night, 1955) - 10/10
08. Skammen (Shame, 1968) - 10/10
09. Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries, 1957) - 10/10
10. Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage, 1973) - 9.5/10 (TV version)
11. Gycklarnas afton (Sawdust and Tinsel/The Naked Night, 1953) - 9.5/10
12. Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly, 1961) - 9.5/10
13. Ansikte mot ansikte (Face to Face, 1976) - 9.5/10
14. Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring, 1960) - 9/10
15. Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf, 1968) - 9/10
16. Kvinnors väntan (Waiting Women, 1952) - 9/10
17. Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata, 1978) - 9/10
18. Nära livet (Brink of Life, 1958) - 9/10
19. Ansiktet (The Magician, 1958) - 8.5/10
20. Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage, 1973) - 8/10 (167 min)
21. Riten (The Ritual, 1969, TV) - 8/10
22. Törst (Thirst, 1949) - 7/10

1-Persona 10/10
2-The Magician 10/10
3-The Virgin Spring 9/10
4-Fanny and Alexander 9/10
5-Summer with Monika 9/10
6-Cries and Whispers 9/10
7-The Silence 9/10
8-Hour of the Wolf 8/10
8-Winter light 8/10
10-Shame 8/10
11-Autumn Sonata 8/10
12-Through a Glass Darkly 8/10
13-Wild Strawberies 7/10
14-The Seventh Seal 5/10
15-Passion of Anna 4/10 (need to rewatch this one)