Very few people know about Bergman today as even international film festivals do not show much of him, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan says.
He was speaking after inaugurating a Bergman Film Fest organised by the Banner Film Society in connection with Bergman’s birth centenary celebrations at Lenin Balavadi on Sunday. Mr. Gopalakrishnan said though Bergman won international acclaim as a filmmaker, he was active in theatre all his life, shooting films in between.
His films were nothing like his theatre productions based on classics such as Henrik Ibsen’s and August Strindberg’s works. Bergman’s films dealt with the inner struggles of man—questions of spirituality and faith that evolved from the circumstances he was born into.
Even when talking of existential matters, there was spirituality behind them, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said. Significantly, Bergman was a rare director who discussed with his artistes such as Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullman the screenplay, how a scene should be, and how it could be shot, taking their inputs and allowing for improvisations. That was his style, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.
The film festival would be of huge benefit to first-time viewers and Bergman’s fans alike, he said. V. Rajakrishnan, critic, said Bergman straddled the worlds of theatre and cinema alike, but to understand him fully, one needed to fathom the struggles within man in a country that was cold and dark, without any sunlight, for months on end.
In his trilogy of ‘Through a Glass Darkly,’ ‘Winter Light,’ and ‘The Silence,’ he explored the themes of faith and doubt in God, loneliness and lack of communication, the critic said.
Bergman had a few people—cast and crew—with whom he regularly worked. He also managed to capture the hearts of the people through the medium of cinema.
His works were characterised by close-ups that helped capture emotions flicking across the face in depth and the mysteries of the human heart.
He also referred to the change in Bergman’s vision as reflected in the change in his cinematographer from Gunnar Fischer to Svennykvist, he said. Film critic M.F. Thomas, Banner president K.J. Siju, and secretary R. Biju spoke.
