Unveiling Bergman: A Cinematic Voyage into the Human Psyche

Dates and time:
Wild Strawberries | Friday, 22nd September, 2023, 8.30pm
The Seventh Seal | Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 9.00pm
The Virgin Spring | Saturday, 7th October, 2023, 8.30pm
Persona | Saturday, 14th October, 2023, 8.30pm
Cries and Whispers | Friday, 20th October, 2023, 8.30pm
Autumn Sonata | Friday, 3rd November, 2023, 8.30pm

Welcome to the mesmerizing world of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman! Spazju Kreattiv Cinema is thrilled to present a captivating retrospective of this iconic filmmaker’s work. With his profound exploration of human existence, introspective narratives, and innovative visual storytelling, Bergman has left an indelible mark on the history of cinema. Join us for an extraordinary journey into the mind of a true cinematic genius.

From intense psychological dramas to poetic examinations of faith and mortality, his works continue to captivate and challenge audiences worldwide. With a career spanning over six decades, Bergman’s films have become timeless classics, celebrated for their unique blend of artistry and thought-provoking narratives.

This retrospective offers a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Bergman. Experience the power of his cinematic language as we showcase a carefully curated selection of his most iconic films.

Whether you are a seasoned Bergman enthusiast or new to his work, this cinematic journey promises to leave a lasting impression.

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Date and time: Friday, 22nd September, 2023, 8.30pm
Duration: 91mins
Cert: 15

Victor Sjöström is magnificent as the crabby professor taking a nostalgic road trip with his daughter-in-law. One of Bergman’s warmest films, this boasts a magnificent performance by Sjöström as the ageing, grouchy academic driving to Lund to accept an award; the trip also traverses memories, reveries and illuminating encounters with family members and strangers alike. Famous for its early dream sequence, the film is nevertheless most impressive for its rich, vivid characterisations from a superb cast of Bergman regulars.

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The Seventh Seal (1957)

Date and time:Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 9.00pm
Duration: 96mins
Cert: PG

Bergman’s allegorical drama stars Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death. Vividly recreating a medieval world tormented by plague and superstition, Bergman’s allegorical drama – centred on a knight (von Sydow), returned from the Crusades, who challenges Death to a game of chess in order to postpone his demise – remains fascinating (and finally rather touching) as a study of faith in crisis. Packed with powerful images, it punctuates its bleakness with moments of pleasingly pawky humour.

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The Virgin Spring (1960)

Date and time: Saturday, 7th October, 2023, 8.30pm
Duration: 89 mins
Cert: 15

The Virgin Spring is based on a legend from the 14th century. Töre and Märeta have a daughter, Karin, who with her golden hair and blue eyes enchants everyone around her. The deeply religious Märeta thinks her love for her daughter is sinful as it surpasses her love for God. Töre, also a Christian, believes his wife spoils their daughter but he too is unable to refuse any of her wishes. Despite this, Karin is generous and open-minded and possesses the purest of souls.

One morning, wearing her most beauti­ful clothes Karin sets out for church where she is to offer votive candles to the Virgin Mary. Custom demands that a virgin carry the candles. While she is enjoying the sunshine and the wonderful countryside, three men – shepherds she thinks, although they are simple thieves – suddenly appear on the path ahead of her. Karin offers to share her food with them, but they are not satisfied with food; they want the young virgin herself. After brutally attacking her – they rape her, kill her and steal her clothes – the three men end up at Töre’s farm looking for a bed for the night. When the men offer to sell Karin’s clothes to Märeta she realises that her daughter is dead. Töre is frantic with sorrow and anger, and Karin’s slayers pay for their crime with their own lives. But revenge is not enough: how could God allow such a thing to happen? Why did he see fit to sacrifice a young girl on the threshold of life? Heartbroken, Töre goes in search of Karin’s body and when he finds her receives his answer in the form of a divine miracle.

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Persona (1966)

Date and time: Saturday, October 14, 2023, 8.30pm
Duration: 83mins
Cert: 15

Bergman’s modernist masterpiece explores the volatile relationship between an actress and her nurse. After a mischievous montage ‘explaining’ the film’s origins, the narrative proper gets underway, charting the increasingly tense battle of wits between the chatty Alma (Andersson) and the mute Elisabet (Ullmann), who are isolated together in a cottage on the island of Fårö. With a rich, resonant mix of related themes – the vampiric nature of art, the complex fragility of personality, the difficulty of communication – the film is arguably Bergman’s most audacious and formally innovative work, multi-levelled yet utterly lucid. Sven Nykvist’s lustrous camerawork, the subtle sound design and matchless lead performances combine to create a mesmerisingly beautiful work of unforgettable, haunting mystery.

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Cries and Whispers (1972)

Date and time: Friday, 20th October, 2023, 8.30pm
Duration: 91mins
Cert: 18

A dying woman (Harriet Andersson) is attended to in her rural mansion by her sisters. A dying woman (Andersson) is attended to in her rural mansion by her sisters (Ullmann, Thulin) and her maid… That’s the simple premise for one of Bergman’s most resonant studies of familial bonds, solitude, suffering and the female psyche. The remarkable saturated colour scheme transcends mere recreation of early 20th-century furnishings, décor and costumes; performed to perfection, the film is an examination of the human soul.

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Autumn Sonata (1978)

Date and time: Friday, 3rd November, 2023, 8.30pm
Duration: 99mins
Cert: 15

Charlotte Andergast, internationally a fairly successful concert pianist, has just lost Leonardo, the man with whom she has been living for many years. His death shakes her, leaving her in a state of loneliness and bewilderment. Her daughter Eva, who has been married for some years to a clergyman and lives in a small town in Norway, asks her mother to visit her. For several days the two women confront each other. They seek and repulse each other by turns. The encounter is crucial for the future of them both. This is the external action.

On an internal level, this is all about love. The presence and absence of love, the longing for love, love’s lies, love that is deformed and love as our sole chance of survival.

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