Ingmar Bergman’s films are often compelling and disturbing in equal measure, psychological puzzles about the tragedy of the human condition. In some ways his movies mirror his childhood, when he played with marionettes he’d made himself.
“Life around me,” Bergman recalled in an interview with Dick Cavett from 1971, “the darkness, the emptiness of the house, the sunshine, everything could have some magic inside, that could be suddenly very unsecure, and suddenly I didn’t know if I had dreamt things or if they existed. Life could be very strange, and very hard, and very cruel.”
For Bergman’s centennial year, the Pacific Film Archive is programming screenings of his films throughout 2018, starting with a tribute honoring his favorite actress, titled ‘Bergman 100: A Tribute to Liv Ullman,’ including Cries and Whispers, Persona and Hour of the Wolf. It runs Feb. 1–24; details here.
