Ingmar Bergman on Television

“No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.” —Ingmar Bergman

It’s impossible to overstate the deep grooves Swedish master Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) has carved into the style, attitude and legacy of arthouse cinema.  Directing his first film before his 28th birthday (Crisis, 1946), Bergman’s interests evolved and matured as he did, lending to the creation of a robust, expansive filmography that maps his developing interests within each new release.  After devastating audiences with a series of isolated relationship pieces (Persona, Shame), Bergman undertook his most ambitious project to date: a five-hour television drama about a relationship on the brink.  A decade later, Bergman would investigate the dynamics of family through the eyes of a child in a five-part period piece, also made specifically for Swedish television.

To celebrate the centennial of Bergman’s birth, UCLA Film & Television Archive presents two of Bergman’s television epics as part of a citywide retrospective, featuring over 30 newly-restored works across five venues, including the American Cinematheque, LACMA and Laemmle Theatres.  The complete schedule for screenings in Los Angeles can be found at janusfilms.com/bergman.