Movie thoughts and fiction updates.
It's been a long time since I started writing movie reviews, and what really started it all was my desire to review every film in the 39-film boxset of Ingmar Bergman films that the Criterion Collection released (I think I still haven't reviewed A Ship to India). It's not a complete set of his whole… Continue reading Face to Face
Kubrick, Hitchcock, and Bergman What do Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, and Stanley Kubrick all have in common? They're all considered some of the greatest filmmakers to have ever lived. In addition, though, they have another curious connection in that all three have first films that are terrible. The Pleasure Garden, Crisis, and Fear and Desire… Continue reading Bad First Films
(I started writing reviews of the Criterion Collection Bergman films with Wild Strawberries, having missed the first three films. This is the second part of the rectification.) Ingmar Bergman's first movie has a handful of charms, but it's ultimately an unfocused bit of over-assured storytelling that never comes together. It's the work of a young artist… Continue reading Crisis
Ingmar Bergman was one of the greatest of filmmakers. He stands next to the likes of Orson Welles, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, and Jean Renoir as the titans of the art form. He made some of the most iconic images in cinema of the 20th century, and now I'm… Continue reading Ingmar Bergman – A Retrospective
(I started writing reviews of the Criterion Collection Bergman films with Wild Strawberries, having missed the first three films. This is a rectification.) This is one of Bergman's lightest and most easily delightful films. I just wish it added up to a bit more, though I enjoy the film as it is thoroughly. The movie is… Continue reading Smiles of a Summer Night
David Vining, Author 