Ingmar Bergman is known as one of the most influential filmmakers. He made over 60 films throughout his career… which given that he referred to film as his ‘mistress’ and to theatre as his ‘wife’, is quite the accomplishment (in that time, he also directed over 170 plays).
Bergman influenced some of the greatest filmmakers of the century, including Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, Scorsese stating that ‘it’s impossible to overestimate the effect that those films had on people’.
Growing up, Bergan was the son of a Church minister who had strict ideas on parenting, and would lock him in a dark cupboard for minor misdemeanors. He would be in the church for long periods of time, and by the age of eight, he started to loose his faith. Around that age, he also created his own puppets and started putting on shows, in which he would create all the dialogue and action.
Bergman also lived in Germany when he was a child, and was influenced by Hitler. He was later worried about how easily Hitler managed to influenced him, stating that he was saddened with Hitler’s losses and joyed by his victories – but he was never actively engaged with any Nazi propaganda, nor was he publicly pro or anti-Nazi.
The first film he wrote was Torment, in 1944, which is about his experiences in the Swedish formal school system. The film gained international success and the opportunity to direct a film the following year. His career then blossomed, winning him awards at Cannes.
Then, at the height of his career, Bergman was arrested for tax evasion, an event he found so traumatizing and embarrassing that he suffered a mental breakdown and was hospitalized for depression. The charges were dropped, but he swore that he would never again return to directing in Sweden. The Swedish prime minister pleaded him to come back, but Bergman suspended his remaining film projects and closed his studio.
From then, he mainly operated out of Munich, stating that he’d direct one more film in Sweden then be done. But two years later, he returned to Sweden for his birthday and started overcoming some of his bitterness, and did the occasional play in Sweden. But he didn’t return for another eight years, which he claimed was a loss on his professional life.
References
Barrett, A. Where to begin with Ingmar Bargman, British Film Institute [online] https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/where-begin-ingmar-bergman
