Just a reminder that I'm still yet to finish my homework and watch Persona, Through the Looking Glass, Cries and Whisperers and Wild Strawberries. I've only seen The Seventh Seal, any suggestions where to start?
I just published a quick guide to getting started with Bergman's work in my newsletter (you can read it here without signing up): thomasflight.substack.com/p/a-beginners-guide-to-ingmar-bergman
@@ThomasFlight That's a brilliant piece of writing. For the record, I've been trying to discover the filmography of the master directors (Bergman, Kurosawa, Fellini, Godard, etc) for almost 5 years now time when I watched The Seventh Seal and similar to your experience with Persona, I liked it but didn't enjoy it the same way I liked films like Throne of Blood, 8 1/2 and 400 Blows for example. And so for questions of time, money and watching other films instead, I stopped my retrospective. So I really hope you're right and as an older person I can enjoy those films more than I could as a teen.
My personal favourites are through a glass darkly, wild strawberries and fanny and alexander. I guess persona could be there too but maybe i'll put it half a step behind (again, i am talking about how i personally feel about it). My suggestion is to watch fanny and alexander after you have already watched some of his earlier work
@@alfredo4053 That's an interesting perspective, most people love Persona more. I'm probably watching Persona and Through the Looking Glass next. Fanny and Alexander I actually have on DVD, but it's way too long, and I don't I'd enjoy without watching more Bergman beforehand.
@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 Definitely don't be afraid to revisit stuff again. Some of my favorite films now - Tree of Life and The Big Lebowski to name two - are movies I didn't really love the first time I watched them as a teenager.
Ebert framed a great review of Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly through Bergman's use of faces. This passage in particular has always stood out to me: "Frequently Bergman uses what I think of as "the basic Bergman two-shot," which is a reductive term for a strategy of great power. He places two faces on the screen, in very close physical juxtaposition, but the characters are not looking at each other. Each is focused on some unspecified point off-screen, each is looking in a different direction. They are so close, and yet so separated. It is the visual equivalent of the fundamental belief of his cinema: That we try to reach out to one another, but more often than not are held back by compulsions within ourselves."
brilliant, thank you so much for sharing- off i go to find the entire review, especially after having just watched through a glass darkly last night for the first time... what a film!
it's funny b/c Bergman himself criticised this exact view of film, which I find is common among those who are concerned with appearing more sophisticated than the usual casual plot/character level of discussion yet, to be frank, just don't really know what they're talking about The context is he's saying how he doesn't like another director's films (Michelangelo Antonioni, I've never seen his films so I can't coment on whether the criticism is fair in this case, and not that I even think Bergman is the genius he's made out to be but it's not the point): 'He took great care over a single shot, but didn’t understand that a film is a rhythmic stream of images, a living, moving process; for him, on the contrary, it was such a shot, then another shot, then yet another.' Film is more akin to music than to painting. A film where every single shot is significant or composed to a high degree is as meaningless as a piece of music where every single note is played as loudly as possible (the resulting piece would sound extremely un-musical, monotone in fact). I find it sad that you literally view film as a disjointed sequence of screen-savers and evaluate them on what you see when you PAUSE the flow of images, why would you pause music? Your view is utter philistinism.
American cinema is by and large afraid of the face. If you time the length of the of close up in Hollywood films they usually last under a five seconds. We are given the illusion of seeing faces. But only because of the extreme close ups. The final shot of Juliette Binoche in Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue lasts an entire minute. There are few American films with that much courage.
Makes me think of The Silence of the Lambs. It was an intentional filming choice to show close-ups of most characters staring directly at the camera to further strengthen the claustrophobic sense of this thriller.
"La passion de Jeanne d'Arc" from 1928 was probably the movie in which the faces have the most impact for me in a movie, it's much more raw and vivid. Bergman was much more intellectual with the use of faces. l.e.: Dreyer was a influence in the life of Bergman, I'm sure.
I agree. Dreyer has influenced many authors (Pasolini, Von Trier, ...) but certainly Bergman: Dies Irae and Ordet in particular seem to be really great influences for his cinema.
@@marcelineetyvan3665 I love Dreyer too. He seems slightly underrated. He is highly praised in academic cinema circles, but I don't think he quite gets the attention he deserves by film buffs.
La passion de Jeanne d'Arc is a silent film, though, which is more expressionistic. Bergman's style is more naturalistic as talkies are not so tonally stylized as a silent film is. The way the faces are used in Persona is very raw and vivid, though.
Persona is such a masterpiece of showing faces. The way the overlapping faces add to the complex and surreal themes of identity, depression and loneliness. At times their faces almost seem to morph into one, including in the you-know-what scene. Astounding video as always
Bergman got that overlapping face composition shot from a film by Agnes Varda, La Pointe Courte. Well we can't know if he saw it (unless he mentions it somewhere idk) but she def. did it first. The shot from Cries and Whispers that this vid uses as the first example of a quintessential Bergman shot, almost that exact composition was in another Varda film, Le Bonheur. I don't think thisthe person who made this video is super-knowledgeable about European cinema or cinema in general
This reminds me of another great director who emphasised on faces, Sergio Leone. Every face of his is a map, a landscape matching the rugged environment shrouding his Westerns. Great video as usual.
Bergman’s focus on faces is most comparable to me with Kurosawa’s attention to body language. Both directors liked to use wide shots or frames containing all the characters in a scene, but Kurosawa used the physical posture and movements of his actors to convey emotion compared to the much more subtle facial acting in Bergman’s works. Also, both directors reused a handful of actors many times to great effect, notably Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow for Bergman, and Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura for Kurosawa.
Great video. I became so fascinated with these films while working as a projectionist at the Pacific Film Archive as a student that I ended up applying to the film school in Stockholm. They didn’t want to allow me to come and it was Sven Nykvist who made it happen. He took me along during some of the filming of Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice “. I think back about how fortunate I was to learn cinematography from those artists. I’m glad some young people still appreciate these films.
Bergman directs his film in such a special way. I need at least an hour after every film to find back to myself. Those pictures (he creates) are quite haunting.
More than filming faces, Bergman was also a master at exploring relationships and the human condition/psyche with all its shame, bleakness, trauma, euphoria and bliss. And what better to express these emotions than the human face, through his natural gift for composition and shotmaking. His own troubled life gave him a certain insight into humanity that was unique. His movies, practically every single one of them, are masterpieces.
Please note the legendary Swedish actor/director Victor Sjöström at 2:10. Bergman payed homage to him by giving him the lead in Wild Strawberries. His 1921 film The Phantom Carriage is one of my absolute favorites, it centers around an old drunk who is given a chance to atone himself after death by collecting the souls of the dead for Death himself. That silent movie masterpiece is kept close to my heart since seeing it one afternoon in the seventies when l was 7 years old.
@@ThomasFlight A bit surprising it's Mr Flight himself. I thought an film aficionado would've known about this gem. But now you know and I'm happy to be of assistance.👍
Som svensk känns det lite tragiskt att enbart Bergman har fått inkännedom när flertalekt regissörer var minst lika bra. Dessutom kan du ta vilken Nils Poppe Rulle som helst och se liknande framing...såatteh...
It's been awhile since the last time I've watched a Bergman film. I've always loved his aesthetic, but I never knew how to explain why. Thank you for sharing!
a fixation on 'striking shots' perverts the essence of what film-making is, Bergman himself said this. This is a video ostensibly on the subject of Bergman that's really anti-Bergman in its spirit
Thank you for your great comments ! It was enlightening. I have this complete Bergman dvd-box , watching every one in a chronological order, recently got to the late 50´s (The seventh seal) And was blown away by the complexity of so many fragments told at once ( Religion, sexuality, death, life, art and Antonius Blocks´s stubborn faith in his master) compared with the late 40´s (pretty much) promising attempt to picture social critical awareness on a society born after ww2. Watching a Bergman movie in my collection has become a highligt to look forward to once a week. We all need a Bergman movie from time to time
an absolutely phenomenal video essay, probably my favourite i've seen from you having been subscribed for 2-3 years now - the topic itself was fresh and unique, your writing was insightful and succinct as ever, your editing highlighted every single point you made at each moment and hammered it home. truly amazing stuff, thank you so much thomas :)
I’ve always felt that nobody films faces quite like Sergio Leone, an absolute master at cultivating expression and endless emotion simply by having us glare deep into the eyes of his characters. However this video is truly fantastic, the points you put across and very well explained, and show why Bergman can also be seen as the master of filming faces (for the record I’m not arguing for either Bergman or Leone at this point) but isn’t it just truly magnificent to be able to discuss the finer details of cinema making?! Loving your videos.
I've been chasing the closeups of filmmakers like Bergman & Demme ever since I did a double feature of Persona & Philadelphia. Thanks for the great analysis!
Been interested in Bergman since hearing Rob Eggers and Ari Aster relentlessly swoon over him on the A24 podcast. Thanks for sharing your comprehensive and enlightening thoughts on one of his most revered trademark techniques - outstanding content as always Thomas.
Not much of a surprise that these 2 would talk about Bergman. The lighthouse is almost a modern adaption of Persona. Ari Aster is a mix between Bergman and Polanski
Love so much your video, you chose such beautiful frames from bergman, every time i look at his movies i discover how much passion matters in the way you want to expose your characters! I appreciate your work and I hope you'll continue 🤍
For someone who is interested in movies as a form of escapism, while I appreciate the insight of your video essays, I find I cannot loose myself when I watch movies you critique. I instead, find myself trying to identify your observations. I want to watch your video essays, but I think they are geared more towards people in the craft of making movies as opposed to people who want to escape into them. As an Architect, I’m obsessed with how things are made, what lies underneath. However, TV and movies are the only means of entertainment where I can truly loose myself. I want to be with my emotions, my inner world, instead of how the movie is made. Although, I have to say, if I realize a scene or movie had just taken my breath away, then I might try to figure out why, which might lead time to interviews and video essays such as yours. Anyway...Just thought I’d share.
I think movies have to appeal to you emotionally to be successful, and then analysis afterwards is helpful but it can’t be the basis for liking a movie.
Interesting insight. As a filmmaker myself I'm of course drawn to film analysis videos like this, but I've always wondered how these video essays appeal to non-filmmakers.
@@fweshdude Right! I don’t watch “behind the scene” clips or Actor/crew Interviews as much anymore because they make the movie “real”. I always get the sense that they intent to talk to folks in the business of making the movies, and not folks in the business of escaping into them...😊
@@EmeraldRubyTea I suppose it's kind of like a magic trick. Once the magician goes through the process of explaining his trick, it's not so special and "magic" anymore hahah.
fantastic video! i'm currently going through Bergman's catalog and just watched The Passion of Anna where i'm realizing now the dramatics of the face. in it is an emotional landscape so beautifully explored in his films. thank you for bringing up that dramatic scene shot in only close up for Cries and Whispers. i felt so claustrophobic in that moment without knowing why, and now everything makes sense!
Thankyou so much for this analysis and explanation. Ive been wondering what makes Bergman films feels like that and look like that. For me, they always feel so solid and clean. So far I only got one answer which is composition. But it never cross my mind that one of the main key is the exploration of faces just as how you explained here. Thankyou so much. Now I can rip.
I haven't seen alot of Bergman movies, sadly. So when you showed a bunch of clips, I said "oh my god" out loud several times because I was so blown away by the cinematography!
Immersing myself in Bergman again, as I seem to do at 20-year intervals. Understanding more this time round, and this essay on his use of the face has helped me. Thanks for all the great content.
Bergman more than any other director in capturing a face shows us what’s beyond it. Corinthians 13: Doubt in the love of others, doubt in ourselves, doubt in our faith, doubt in our love. We need faith in love- in that intangibility beyond the surface. This is why I love the Criterion box for Bergman so much. On the front it has the famous shot of the silhouetted hand of Liv Ullmans child in Persona reaching out to her blurred image on screen. On the back it has Bergman concealing his own face creating a vortex of darkness with his hands, as if in the covering inviting us in. Excellent stuff.
Thank you for reminding me of why Bergman is so important and how his films impacted my appreciation of contemporary cinema. His blocking of faces and dialogue is exquisite and reminds me of how lacking contemporary cinema is. Can you do one on Kurosawa’s blocking techniques?
making a still image that looks 'like a painting' is not at all what cinema is. Funny that this is a video obsessing over Bergman's static photography when he criticised film-makers who emphasised that aspect of things
Amazing video! These are the kinds of videos I want to get better at making. Videos about movie composition and techniques. I also really liked the nod you did to Ingmar Bergman's style at the end with how you used lighting and the framing of your shot.
Bergman! Woven into the fabric of my life - art, thoughts, sharing… a stupendous influence upon my life. Thanks for this brief but pithy reminiscence.💐
Great Video! Really well done! I never saw a Berman film, but his films have been on my watchlist for a while. Now that you have shown me some of his shots and his staging...it is truly beautiful! The compositions are unique and really do feel inventive. I've never seen something like it. I can't wait to check out his films!
funny that he acc. would have hated someone being attracted to his films for their 'shots and staging', he was critical of other film-makers (like Antonioni) for the emphasis he felt they put on that aspect of things. static 'shots and staging' viewed in an edit someone made for a youtube vid doesn't give you a feel for what a director's films are acc like anyway
So awesome that you gave a shout-out to Cianfrance at the end of the video. Bergman may be the all-timer, but I don't think any other modern director is utilizing close-ups the way Cianfrance is (especially in his most recent work, I Know This Much is True...there's some gobsmacking craft on display in that one).
Great video, loved your analysis of Bergman’s use of faces. And mubi is indeed “not your usual streaming platform” - amazing for discovering world cinema, not just films that are heavily marketed. Cheers ✌️
It was so cool to have that unexpected reference to Blue Valentine and Derek Cianfrance here. It's one of my all time favourite films. But it's not on Mubi in my country - Mubi has a different selection in different parts of the world.
One of the most beautifully shot films that is almost shot entirely in close up is "Blue is the Warmest Color". It gave the film so much emotion seeing all of the characters facial expressions and eye movement.
I really feel like Portrait of a Lady on Fire really does this great face-work similarly, especially since the film is all about perspective and subjectivity, and the face/eyes are frequently framed to be important, as windows to the soul
Is there a way to like this video more than once? I haven’t had such a visceral response to images before. I love that he used the medium to its furthest reaches and embraced that it is visual.
it's funny b/c he acc criticised other directors (eg. Antonioni) for emphasising shot composition and the 'visual' aspect that you respond to, altho maybe that's just to the edit of his 'images' in this video and you haven't acc. seen his movies. He was first and foremost a dramatist, he considered himself to be that more than a film-maker
In my opinion, it's the Coen brothers, who usually achieve a slightly comedic effect by making quick cuts from face to face, but have also shown that they are able to do it in such a way to keep things serious and even creepy (as with Chigurh in No Country for Old Men). Anyway, thanks for this great take. As much as I think that Bergman's movies have lots of flaws, there's no denying his greatness as a director.
Tarantino does a great form of changing faces, like in Inglorious Bastards, when you see a character like Hans Landa. He goes from looking happy, to straight up murderous and threatening.
Wow amazing work, thank you. I've always thought maybe his religious upbringing and existential fears later got him interested in discovering the human being with free will. For maybe he was partly searching for some sort of guarantee that we are free beings. And maybe he found it most profoundly in fast and tiny changes of emotions reflecting greatly on faces. You are so right in saying there is an almost static nature, or maybe very slow movements, in filming the faces in the way he wishes to. Yet I also feel, even in a very static scene, that the emotions on the faces he filmed almost flow like something liquid and tangible. I guess this is his genius to have me connecting emotions and the sense of touch :) Anyway... Thank you!
This is one of my favorite videos of yours so far Tom! Thank you so much for your content. Cries and Whispers is one of my favorite films ever and I feel ashamed to say this but its the only Bergman Film I’ve ever seen... What Bergman film would you recommend I see next considering my preference for Cries and Whispers?
Excellent video yet again. I still haven't watched any Bergman films. I already knew that was going to have to change eventually, but this video has made me realise how urgently I need to rectify this!
So crazy, I just watched Scenes from a Marriage, the theatrical version, last night as I usually watch the televised one. Great video, I wish I could have seen before my rewatch
10:46 Ngl that shot is a trip. We’re watching you talk to a screen for a video meant for us to see. EDIT:it’s also a segue into an ad promotion but he still creates this scene to show the importance of Bergman’s work.
Bergman amazes me personally, despite having such a particular creative style or rather as a result of it he creates the dryest films I've ever seen and they're so painful to watch because they're more real and more honest than the world I wake up to every single day. I may be biased because I'm swedish and I could not imagine watching them with subtitles.
@@ThomasFlight Very good point. I am not saying that the subtitled experience is worse or anything, I wouldn't know, I only want to point out that for me personally and perhaps to other swedish speakers aswell his films are very intimate.
Wow, one of my favorites of yours --the sideways, upside-down, etc. shots are something I've never consciously thought about but am sure have had a profound emotional affect on me nonetheless. Bergman is the best.
I didn't know this a thing that drew me in as cinematic until this video clearly pointed it out. Like my Instagram is just my face and my drawings are mainly faces.
![กิโลเมตรที่ 0 เดินทางรอบโลกไม่ใช้เครื่องบิน [Around The World Ep. 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/toJG9oofLFY/mqdefault.jpg)
![[ENGSUB] UNPRODUCTIVE DAY ใช้ชีวิต (เปื่อยๆ) ด้วยกัน 1 วัน! | OUROAD CLOSEFRiEND SS2 EP.9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pyYKZ3kra9w/mqdefault.jpg)
Just a reminder that I'm still yet to finish my homework and watch Persona, Through the Looking Glass, Cries and Whisperers and Wild Strawberries.
I've only seen The Seventh Seal, any suggestions where to start?
I just published a quick guide to getting started with Bergman's work in my newsletter (you can read it here without signing up): thomasflight.substack.com/p/a-beginners-guide-to-ingmar-bergman
@@ThomasFlight That's a brilliant piece of writing. For the record, I've been trying to discover the filmography of the master directors (Bergman, Kurosawa, Fellini, Godard, etc) for almost 5 years now time when I watched The Seventh Seal and similar to your experience with Persona, I liked it but didn't enjoy it the same way I liked films like Throne of Blood, 8 1/2 and 400 Blows for example.
And so for questions of time, money and watching other films instead, I stopped my retrospective. So I really hope you're right and as an older person I can enjoy those films more than I could as a teen.
My personal favourites are through a glass darkly, wild strawberries and fanny and alexander. I guess persona could be there too but maybe i'll put it half a step behind (again, i am talking about how i personally feel about it). My suggestion is to watch fanny and alexander after you have already watched some of his earlier work
@@alfredo4053 That's an interesting perspective, most people love Persona more. I'm probably watching Persona and Through the Looking Glass next.
Fanny and Alexander I actually have on DVD, but it's way too long, and I don't I'd enjoy without watching more Bergman beforehand.
@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 Definitely don't be afraid to revisit stuff again. Some of my favorite films now - Tree of Life and The Big Lebowski to name two - are movies I didn't really love the first time I watched them as a teenager.
It helps when you're filming faces like Liv Ulman, Bibi Anderson, and Max Von Sydow !
There’s no face like Bibi
And yet Bibi is an ordinary woman when in private. (A very intelligent one of course. )
And Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom. Tystnaden is a fantastic movie.
Thomas, you're consistently one of my favorite channels. This is not content. This is something much more valuable. Great job.
Thank you!
Martin Scorsese liked this comment.
@@rufashaochicken How can one tell? I am unable to tell who liked or disliked even with my own comments.
@@kanankapoor5036 It was a joke. They're saying Martin Scorcese would agree
Read the title and thought "I swear, if this isn't about Bergman, I'm throwing hands"
Greatest filmmaker of all time for me
Ah, up next, the master of filming hands...
Same here
@@ruthielalastor2209 then filming feet
@@freddiem6805 TARANTINO
@@ruthielalastor2209 that would be Bresson (a far greater film-maker than Bergman, who is acc very 'Hollywood')
that profile shot for the sponsor read is exquisite
Ebert framed a great review of Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly through Bergman's use of faces. This passage in particular has always stood out to me: "Frequently Bergman uses what I think of as "the basic Bergman two-shot," which is a reductive term for a strategy of great power. He places two faces on the screen, in very close physical juxtaposition, but the characters are not looking at each other. Each is focused on some unspecified point off-screen, each is looking in a different direction. They are so close, and yet so separated. It is the visual equivalent of the fundamental belief of his cinema: That we try to reach out to one another, but more often than not are held back by compulsions within ourselves."
Incredible excerpt.
brilliant, thank you so much for sharing- off i go to find the entire review, especially after having just watched through a glass darkly last night for the first time... what a film!
I love movies where you could pause any frame in the film and you can use that frame as a wallpaper. The attention to detail is just so excelent.
Nice Taste (Attention to detail is most important thing) and frames
it's funny b/c Bergman himself criticised this exact view of film, which I find is common among those who are concerned with appearing more sophisticated than the usual casual plot/character level of discussion yet, to be frank, just don't really know what they're talking about The context is he's saying how he doesn't like another director's films (Michelangelo Antonioni, I've never seen his films so I can't coment on whether the criticism is fair in this case, and not that I even think Bergman is the genius he's made out to be but it's not the point): 'He took great care over a single shot, but didn’t understand that a film is a rhythmic stream of images, a living, moving process; for him, on the contrary, it was such a shot, then another shot, then yet another.'
Film is more akin to music than to painting. A film where every single shot is significant or composed to a high degree is as meaningless as a piece of music where every single note is played as loudly as possible (the resulting piece would sound extremely un-musical, monotone in fact). I find it sad that you literally view film as a disjointed sequence of screen-savers and evaluate them on what you see when you PAUSE the flow of images, why would you pause music? Your view is utter philistinism.
American cinema is by and large afraid of the face. If you time the length of the of close up in Hollywood films they usually last under a five seconds. We are given the illusion of seeing faces. But only because of the extreme close ups. The final shot of Juliette Binoche in Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue lasts an entire minute. There are few American films with that much courage.
Last film I can think of that's "American" that held on a face was 12 Years a Slave. But Steve McQueen is British.
@@bobunitone Good Time
PTA does in The Master
Makes me think of The Silence of the Lambs. It was an intentional filming choice to show close-ups of most characters staring directly at the camera to further strengthen the claustrophobic sense of this thriller.
I don't understand what's their to be afraid?
"La passion de Jeanne d'Arc" from 1928 was probably the movie in which the faces have the most impact for me in a movie, it's much more raw and vivid. Bergman was much more intellectual with the use of faces.
l.e.: Dreyer was a influence in the life of Bergman, I'm sure.
I agree.
Dreyer has influenced many authors (Pasolini, Von Trier, ...) but certainly Bergman: Dies Irae and Ordet in particular seem to be really great influences for his cinema.
+1
@@gabrielesegapeli4053 Dreyer was a fucking genius, he single-handedly invented minimalism in cinema.
@@marcelineetyvan3665 I love Dreyer too. He seems slightly underrated. He is highly praised in academic cinema circles, but I don't think he quite gets the attention he deserves by film buffs.
La passion de Jeanne d'Arc is a silent film, though, which is more expressionistic. Bergman's style is more naturalistic as talkies are not so tonally stylized as a silent film is. The way the faces are used in Persona is very raw and vivid, though.
Persona is such a masterpiece of showing faces. The way the overlapping faces add to the complex and surreal themes of identity, depression and loneliness. At times their faces almost seem to morph into one, including in the you-know-what scene. Astounding video as always
Bergman got that overlapping face composition shot from a film by Agnes Varda, La Pointe Courte. Well we can't know if he saw it (unless he mentions it somewhere idk) but she def. did it first. The shot from Cries and Whispers that this vid uses as the first example of a quintessential Bergman shot, almost that exact composition was in another Varda film, Le Bonheur. I don't think thisthe person who made this video is super-knowledgeable about European cinema or cinema in general
This reminds me of another great director who emphasised on faces, Sergio Leone. Every face of his is a map, a landscape matching the rugged environment shrouding his Westerns. Great video as usual.
Bergman’s focus on faces is most comparable to me with Kurosawa’s attention to body language. Both directors liked to use wide shots or frames containing all the characters in a scene, but Kurosawa used the physical posture and movements of his actors to convey emotion compared to the much more subtle facial acting in Bergman’s works.
Also, both directors reused a handful of actors many times to great effect, notably Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow for Bergman, and Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura for Kurosawa.
Bergman, nice! Another great video :)
Thanks! 😃
u 2 should collab
You should do Bergman
Great video. I became so fascinated with these films while working as a projectionist at the Pacific Film Archive as a student that I ended up applying to the film school in Stockholm. They didn’t want to allow me to come and it was Sven Nykvist who made it happen. He took me along during some of the filming of Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice “. I think back about how fortunate I was to learn cinematography from those artists. I’m glad some young people still appreciate these films.
Bergman directs his film in such a special way. I need at least an hour after every film to find back to myself. Those pictures (he creates) are quite haunting.
I’m a portrait photographer starting to learn about cinematography. This video was informative, engaging and inspiring. Great job.
More than filming faces, Bergman was also a master at exploring relationships and the human condition/psyche with all its shame, bleakness, trauma, euphoria and bliss. And what better to express these emotions than the human face, through his natural gift for composition and shotmaking. His own troubled life gave him a certain insight into humanity that was unique. His movies, practically every single one of them, are masterpieces.
Please note the legendary Swedish actor/director Victor Sjöström at 2:10. Bergman payed homage to him by giving him the lead in Wild Strawberries. His 1921 film The Phantom Carriage is one of my absolute favorites, it centers around an old drunk who is given a chance to atone himself after death by collecting the souls of the dead for Death himself. That silent movie masterpiece is kept close to my heart since seeing it one afternoon in the seventies when l was 7 years old.
I'll have to check that out, sounds great!
@@ThomasFlight A bit surprising it's Mr Flight himself. I thought an film aficionado would've known about this gem. But now you know and I'm happy to be of assistance.👍
@@mattiasjansson733 cuz he isn’t one.
You're right, he hates movies.
Som svensk känns det lite tragiskt att enbart Bergman har fått inkännedom när flertalekt regissörer var minst lika bra. Dessutom kan du ta vilken Nils Poppe Rulle som helst och se liknande framing...såatteh...
It's been awhile since the last time I've watched a Bergman film. I've always loved his aesthetic, but I never knew how to explain why.
Thank you for sharing!
This is fascinating, those shots are incredibly striking.
a fixation on 'striking shots' perverts the essence of what film-making is, Bergman himself said this. This is a video ostensibly on the subject of Bergman that's really anti-Bergman in its spirit
Toodling over to my favorite streaming site to re-watch Wild Strawberries.
I watched it day before yesterday
Thank you for your great comments ! It was enlightening. I have this complete Bergman dvd-box , watching every one in a chronological order, recently got to the late 50´s (The seventh seal) And was blown away by the complexity of so many fragments told at once ( Religion, sexuality, death, life, art and Antonius Blocks´s stubborn faith in his master) compared with the late 40´s (pretty much) promising attempt to picture social critical awareness on a society born after ww2.
Watching a Bergman movie in my collection has become a highligt to look forward to once a week.
We all need a Bergman movie from time to time
Just bought the bergman collection recently, and I can't believe how much I was neglecting this man's work. Absolutely incredible work.
an absolutely phenomenal video essay, probably my favourite i've seen from you having been subscribed for 2-3 years now - the topic itself was fresh and unique, your writing was insightful and succinct as ever, your editing highlighted every single point you made at each moment and hammered it home. truly amazing stuff, thank you so much thomas :)
Thanks so much! That's great to hear. :)
I’ve always felt that nobody films faces quite like Sergio Leone, an absolute master at cultivating expression and endless emotion simply by having us glare deep into the eyes of his characters. However this video is truly fantastic, the points you put across and very well explained, and show why Bergman can also be seen as the master of filming faces (for the record I’m not arguing for either Bergman or Leone at this point) but isn’t it just truly magnificent to be able to discuss the finer details of cinema making?! Loving your videos.
I've been chasing the closeups of filmmakers like Bergman & Demme ever since I did a double feature of Persona & Philadelphia. Thanks for the great analysis!
Been interested in Bergman since hearing Rob Eggers and Ari Aster relentlessly swoon over him on the A24 podcast. Thanks for sharing your comprehensive and enlightening thoughts on one of his most revered trademark techniques - outstanding content as always Thomas.
I love that podcast episode!
Not much of a surprise that these 2 would talk about Bergman. The lighthouse is almost a modern adaption of Persona. Ari Aster is a mix between Bergman and Polanski
Hey Thomas, I was wondering which song is playing during “the landscape of the face” section? Great video btw!
Love so much your video, you chose such beautiful frames from bergman, every time i look at his movies i discover how much passion matters in the way you want to expose your characters!
I appreciate your work and I hope you'll continue 🤍
This is what Art Appreciation should be like ! Great piece of work ! Thank you Thomas Flight.
For someone who is interested in movies as a form of escapism, while I appreciate the insight of your video essays, I find I cannot loose myself when I watch movies you critique. I instead, find myself trying to identify your observations. I want to watch your video essays, but I think they are geared more towards people in the craft of making movies as opposed to people who want to escape into them.
As an Architect, I’m obsessed with how things are made, what lies underneath. However, TV and movies are the only means of entertainment where I can truly loose myself. I want to be with my emotions, my inner world, instead of how the movie is made. Although, I have to say, if I realize a scene or movie had just taken my breath away, then I might try to figure out why, which might lead time to interviews and video essays such as yours.
Anyway...Just thought I’d share.
I think movies have to appeal to you emotionally to be successful, and then analysis afterwards is helpful but it can’t be the basis for liking a movie.
At what point is it more of an essay than a story
Interesting insight. As a filmmaker myself I'm of course drawn to film analysis videos like this, but I've always wondered how these video essays appeal to non-filmmakers.
@@fweshdude Right! I don’t watch “behind the scene” clips or Actor/crew Interviews as much anymore because they make the movie “real”. I always get the sense that they intent to talk to folks in the business of making the movies, and not folks in the business of escaping into them...😊
@@EmeraldRubyTea I suppose it's kind of like a magic trick. Once the magician goes through the process of explaining his trick, it's not so special and "magic" anymore hahah.
Loved this video! A masterclass, I dont know how you did it, but an essay made me feel emotional.
I also love Pasolini’s knack for shooting faces
I've been in a sort of creative rut for a long time and this is really frickin inspiring
this is my version of film school
That was really amazing, one of those essays I can't tear myself away from. Truly some great writing
fantastic video! i'm currently going through Bergman's catalog and just watched The Passion of Anna where i'm realizing now the dramatics of the face. in it is an emotional landscape so beautifully explored in his films.
thank you for bringing up that dramatic scene shot in only close up for Cries and Whispers. i felt so claustrophobic in that moment without knowing why, and now everything makes sense!
Thankyou so much for this analysis and explanation.
Ive been wondering what makes Bergman films feels like that and look like that. For me, they always feel so solid and clean. So far I only got one answer which is composition.
But it never cross my mind that one of the main key is the exploration of faces just as how you explained here.
Thankyou so much.
Now I can rip.
I haven't seen alot of Bergman movies, sadly. So when you showed a bunch of clips, I said "oh my god" out loud several times because I was so blown away by the cinematography!
Thanks for covering my favorite director!
Immersing myself in Bergman again, as I seem to do at 20-year intervals. Understanding more this time round, and this essay on his use of the face has helped me. Thanks for all the great content.
Bergman more than any other director in capturing a face shows us what’s beyond it. Corinthians 13: Doubt in the love of others, doubt in ourselves, doubt in our faith, doubt in our love. We need faith in love- in that intangibility beyond the surface.
This is why I love the Criterion box for Bergman so much.
On the front it has the famous shot of the silhouetted hand of Liv Ullmans child in Persona reaching out to her blurred image on screen.
On the back it has Bergman concealing his own face creating a vortex of darkness with his hands, as if in the covering inviting us in.
Excellent stuff.
Thank you for reminding me of why Bergman is so important and how his films impacted my appreciation of contemporary cinema. His blocking of faces and dialogue is exquisite and reminds me of how lacking contemporary cinema is. Can you do one on Kurosawa’s blocking techniques?
3:48 the tones and contrast seems so much like a painting. This is cinema.
Yup
Story through visuals is one of the points of cinema
making a still image that looks 'like a painting' is not at all what cinema is. Funny that this is a video obsessing over Bergman's static photography when he criticised film-makers who emphasised that aspect of things
Amazing video! These are the kinds of videos I want to get better at making. Videos about movie composition and techniques.
I also really liked the nod you did to Ingmar Bergman's style at the end with how you used lighting and the framing of your shot.
you seriously inspire me. thanks for another great video.
Bergman! Woven into the fabric of my life - art, thoughts, sharing… a stupendous influence upon my life. Thanks for this brief but pithy reminiscence.💐
ps. the shot at the end from your voice over, is GOLD.
Would love to see more videos about bergman, this was amazing! thank you.
This. Was. Incredible. Thank you for this masterpiece.
Great vid. Bergman always touches something so, so very deep inside me.
Great Video! Really well done!
I never saw a Berman film, but his films have been on my watchlist for a while. Now that you have shown me some of his shots and his staging...it is truly beautiful! The compositions are unique and really do feel inventive. I've never seen something like it. I can't wait to check out his films!
funny that he acc. would have hated someone being attracted to his films for their 'shots and staging', he was critical of other film-makers (like Antonioni) for the emphasis he felt they put on that aspect of things. static 'shots and staging' viewed in an edit someone made for a youtube vid doesn't give you a feel for what a director's films are acc like anyway
So awesome that you gave a shout-out to Cianfrance at the end of the video. Bergman may be the all-timer, but I don't think any other modern director is utilizing close-ups the way Cianfrance is (especially in his most recent work, I Know This Much is True...there's some gobsmacking craft on display in that one).
One of the best video essays I’ve seen of late. Great work!
This channel is a hidden treasure. This guy edits + Thomas Flight, make youtube a high level film school.
Ingmar Bergman is my favorite filmaker of all time
Brilliant editing and selection parts!
your analysis is so stunning!! I have been and always will be a fanatic of Bergman.
As soon as I read the title I knew this was about Bergman. Great work.
Wow that transition from 7:15-7:20. Goosebumps. Thank you for this video, it's beautiful and masterful.
What is amazing about this transition ? It's not to be contemptuous, it's just to know
Bravo. Very eloquently done. Bergman was never matched.
your video essays are just phenomenal, wow
Good one. Bergman was my covid depression tonic last year around this time.
@unknown What makes you comment that way ?
This was fantastic. Helped, of course, because the subject matter is fantastic. Beautiful work making it all flow together.
Great video, loved your analysis of Bergman’s use of faces. And mubi is indeed “not your usual streaming platform” - amazing for discovering world cinema, not just films that are heavily marketed. Cheers ✌️
Excellent Bergman study Thomas! You're a talented curator and analyst. Thank you. J.
It was so cool to have that unexpected reference to Blue Valentine and Derek Cianfrance here. It's one of my all time favourite films.
But it's not on Mubi in my country - Mubi has a different selection in different parts of the world.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World has a moment where the lights of a party dim when Scott sees Ramona. But Wright makes it into a gag, and I loved it.
One of the most beautifully shot films that is almost shot entirely in close up is "Blue is the Warmest Color". It gave the film so much emotion seeing all of the characters facial expressions and eye movement.
I will reference this video and the movies in it for future cinematography projects. Thank you for your work!
The strings in the background of this were really beautiful. Source?
This channel is such a gem!
I really feel like Portrait of a Lady on Fire really does this great face-work similarly, especially since the film is all about perspective and subjectivity, and the face/eyes are frequently framed to be important, as windows to the soul
Is there a way to like this video more than once? I haven’t had such a visceral response to images before. I love that he used the medium to its furthest reaches and embraced that it is visual.
it's funny b/c he acc criticised other directors (eg. Antonioni) for emphasising shot composition and the 'visual' aspect that you respond to, altho maybe that's just to the edit of his 'images' in this video and you haven't acc. seen his movies. He was first and foremost a dramatist, he considered himself to be that more than a film-maker
Ullman and Sydow in bed in Hour of the Wolf is my favorite dual face Bergman composition. (5:48)
Thanks!
In my opinion, it's the Coen brothers, who usually achieve a slightly comedic effect by making quick cuts from face to face, but have also shown that they are able to do it in such a way to keep things serious and even creepy (as with Chigurh in No Country for Old Men). Anyway, thanks for this great take. As much as I think that Bergman's movies have lots of flaws, there's no denying his greatness as a director.
Tarantino does a great form of changing faces, like in Inglorious Bastards, when you see a character like Hans Landa. He goes from looking happy, to straight up murderous and threatening.
Absolutely love your channel. Such an immense source of knowledge and inspiration especially for those who are engaged in filming on their own.
Wow amazing work, thank you. I've always thought maybe his religious upbringing and existential fears later got him interested in discovering the human being with free will. For maybe he was partly searching for some sort of guarantee that we are free beings. And maybe he found it most profoundly in fast and tiny changes of emotions reflecting greatly on faces. You are so right in saying there is an almost static nature, or maybe very slow movements, in filming the faces in the way he wishes to. Yet I also feel, even in a very static scene, that the emotions on the faces he filmed almost flow like something liquid and tangible. I guess this is his genius to have me connecting emotions and the sense of touch :) Anyway... Thank you!
This is one of my favorite videos of yours so far Tom! Thank you so much for your content. Cries and Whispers is one of my favorite films ever and I feel ashamed to say this but its the only Bergman Film I’ve ever seen... What Bergman film would you recommend I see next considering my preference for Cries and Whispers?
Nice work. Great lighting and comp on your own shots!
A great analysis of the importance of face on a screen. 🙂👍
Wow ! Thanks for value addition !
Excellent video yet again. I still haven't watched any Bergman films. I already knew that was going to have to change eventually, but this video has made me realise how urgently I need to rectify this!
If this video gets even one person to start watching Bergman my job is done.
I knew this was gonna be about Bergman. GOAT director imo
Very intresting topic. Great to see a lot of my fathers shots, CG Nykvist
I am huge Bergman fan! Great video, I found this video insightful!
So crazy, I just watched Scenes from a Marriage, the theatrical version, last night as I usually watch the televised one. Great video, I wish I could have seen before my rewatch
I saw a video like this once but about Bergman and faces it was about Bresson and doors. It was pretty great.
Really good video, man! well done!
10:46 Ngl that shot is a trip. We’re watching you talk to a screen for a video meant for us to see.
EDIT:it’s also a segue into an ad promotion but he still creates this scene to show the importance of Bergman’s work.
I can't put into words how much I love and appreciate your videos
Another technique that fascinates me is the Wong Kar Wai formula. People seem to act with their eyes, specially Tony.
The way Bergman frames the face in Persona is exceptional.
Bergman amazes me personally, despite having such a particular creative style or rather as a result of it he creates the dryest films I've ever seen and they're so painful to watch because they're more real and more honest than the world I wake up to every single day. I may be biased because I'm swedish and I could not imagine watching them with subtitles.
It's definitely unfortunate to have to watch with subs- but it just means there's more reward on repeat viewings.
@@ThomasFlight Very good point. I am not saying that the subtitled experience is worse or anything, I wouldn't know, I only want to point out that for me personally and perhaps to other swedish speakers aswell his films are very intimate.
Wow, one of my favorites of yours --the sideways, upside-down, etc. shots are something I've never consciously thought about but am sure have had a profound emotional affect on me nonetheless. Bergman is the best.
such an unique and amazing videoessay! thank you very much!
LOVE BERGMAN
I didn't know this a thing that drew me in as cinematic until this video clearly pointed it out. Like my Instagram is just my face and my drawings are mainly faces.
This was brilliant