Enlightenment and Ingmar Bergman

Bergman sitting with Death

Acclaimed Swedish movie director Ingmar Bergman died more than 11 years ago, but the legacy of his genius carries on in new generations of filmmakers.
He directed 60 film and documentaries. Among the standouts were “The Seventh Seal,” “Wild Strawberries,” “Cries and Whispers” and “Through a Glass Darkly.” He also worked in theater and television.

His work has influenced Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Woody Allen, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and many other masterminds of modern cinematography.

His movies explored the concepts of human consciousness, mortality, loneliness, religious faith and repressed sexuality.

Through his characters, Bergman often explores the meaning of existence in a world that has seemingly been abandoned by its Creator. At first glance, it might seem like the futile search for the meaning of life would make for a daunting movie-watching experience.

Yet, Bergman’s genius truly shines through with the way he manages to create a delicate balance between the sorrows of Existentialism and the simple joy of living.

Precisely for this reason, to this day, Bergman’s legacy remains undeniable to his successors and audience alike.

The man is yet another go-to person who can help us meet ourselves.
A few quotes that dive into the void and his eclectic personality are:

•“People ask what are my intentions with my films — my aims. It is a difficult and dangerous question, and I usually give an evasive answer: I try to tell the truth about the human condition, the truth as I see it.”

•”Self-portraiture is something one should never get involved in, since it is wrong to lie even though one endeavours to tell the truth.”

•”I make all my decisions on intuition. I throw a spear into the darkness. That is intuition. Then I must send an army into the darkness to find the spear. That is intellect.”

•”When film is not a document, it is dream.”

•”Film has dream, film has music. No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.”

•”I don’t want to produce a work of art that the public can sit and suck aesthetically…. I want to give them a blow in the small of the back, to scorch their indifference, to startle them out of their complacency.”