History Creator / IngmarBergman

* OldShame: He really disliked most of the films he made at the start of his career, but considered his absolute nadir to be ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043019/ This Can't Happen Here]]'', a spy thriller that he made on demand. It's never seen a home video release and is very rarely shown at film festivals.

** Includes cinematographer Sven Nykvist.

His films have a reputation for being gloomy and surrealistic. Although he generally tells identifiable "stories," [[LeFilmArtistique straightforward plot descriptions will rarely give any real indication of what his movies are "about"]]: even criticism of his works tends to sound like psychobabble. Bergman himself even stated that he didn't so much care if the audience understood what he was going for, [[EmotionalTorque as long as they felt something]]. Despite being (rather unjustly) a poster child for TrueArtIsIncomprehensible, the list of filmmakers who regard him as being among the best directors ever is long, including Creator/WoodyAllen, Creator/StanleyKubrick, Creator/MartinScorsese, Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/AngLee and Creator/FrancisFordCoppola. There's a reason so many of his films have been released in America by Creator/TheCriterionCollection. However, it should be noted that in his lifetime Bergman's films were generally box-office successes, not only in Sweden and Europe, but also in America. His film ''Scenes from a Marriage'' was the most popular TV show of its age and according to legend was a cause for a spike in divorce rates after the film's release. ''Cries and Whispers'' was likewise released in America by none other than Creator/RogerCorman who managed to distribute it so well that it became a box-office success there. He was pretty much a household name in TheSixties and TheSeventies across the world.

Not to be confused with, nor any relation to, Creator/IngridBergman (though he once directed her, in ''Autumn Sonata''; people on set got them confused).

* OneOfUs: Bergman was a huge movie buff and contrary to many people's beliefs he actually really liked mass popular culture. He was a huge fan of Golden Age Hollywood, B-Movies, action films, westerns and later on really loved ''Film/JurassicPark'' in general. Bergman was also quite happy that Creator/RogerCorman distributed ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'' and he loved the fact that his films were popular in the States. [[invoked]]

** Also quite a few actors, among them Creator/LivUllmann, Creator/ErlandJosephson, Creator/HarrietAndersson, Creator/BibiAndersson, Creator/MaxVonSydow, Creator/IngridThulin, Creator/Gunnar Björnstrand and Creator/GunnelLindblom.

* ''Film/TheAutumnSonata'' (1978)

* CerebusSyndrome: In a lot of his film things start relatively optimistically but always shift for the worse. And worse. And even worse. ''{{Film/Hour of the Wolf}}'', ''Film/{{Skammen}}'', ''Film/EnPassion'', ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'', ''Film/FaceToFace'', ''Film/TheAutumnSonata'', ''Film/FannyAndAlexander'' are all examples. In the beginning of each of the films listed the situation appears somewhat regular. But it rapidly deteriorates.

* ''Film/{{Persona 1966}}'' (1966)

* ''Film/{{Persona}}'' (1966)
* ''{{Film/Hour of the Wolf}}'' (1968)

* AntiHero: In almost all of his films, the heroes posses glaring personal flaws; either having to do with the way they treat others, the way they look at the world or their inability to see the ramifications of their actions.

* CerebusSyndrome: In a lot of his film things start relatively optimistically but always shift for the worse. And worse. And even worse. ''{{Film/Hour of the Wolf}}'', ''Film/{{Skammen}}'', ''Film/EnPassion'', ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'',''Film/FaceToFace'', ''Film/TheAutumnSonata'', ''Film/FannyAndAlexander'' are all examples. In the beginning of each of the films listed the situation appears somewhat regular. But it rapidly deteriorates.

* {{Devil in Disguise}}: In ''Film/FannyAndAlexander'' and ''Film/TheDevilsEye'', a rigid religious morality and those people who embody it are shown to destroy a true impulse for goodness in people.

* {{Devil in Disguise}}: In ''Film/FannyAndAlexander'' and ''[[Film/TheDevilsEye The Devil's Eye]]'', a rigid religious morality and those people who embody it are shown to destroy a true impulse for goodness in people.

* TheGrimReaper: Death is prominent subject in his work. To the point that the Grim Reaper is actually a character in Film/TheSeventhSeal.

* OneOfUs: Bergman was a huge movie buff and contrary to many people's beliefs he actually really liked mass popular culture. He was a huge fan of Golden Age Hollywood, B-Movies, action films, westerns and later on really loved Film/JurassicPark in general. Bergman was also quite happy that Creator/RogerCorman distributed ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'' and he loved the fact that his films were popular in the States. [[invoked]]

* CrisisOfFaith: He made an entire trilogy about "the Silence of God" and it crops up in a lot of his movies. He was raised in a family of Lutheran priests and had a difficult relationship with his father. He eventually did become an atheist and in his view the movie ''The Silence'' was the point where he stopped asking everyone HaveYouSeenMyGod and religion, while still a part in his films, stopped being as prominent in his later films.

** Also quite a few actors, among them Creator/LivUllmann, Creator/ErlandJosephson, Creator/HarrietAndersson, Creator/BibiAndersson, Creator/MaxVonSydow, Creator/IngridThulin, Creator/Gunnar Björnstrand and Creator/GunnelLindblom.

* SequelGap: A whole '''forty years''' between ''Scenes From a Marriage'' (1973) and ''Saraband'' (2003). The gap is a major PlotPoint in ''Saraband''. [[invoked]]

* CerebusSyndrome: In a lot of his film things start relatively optimistically but always shift for the worse. And worse. And even worse.
* ''{{Film/Hour of the Wolf}}'', ''Film/{{Skammen}}'', ''Film/EnPassion'', ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'',''Film/FaceToFace'', ''Film/TheAutumnSonata'', ''Film/FannyAndAlexander'' are all examples.

* ''Film/EnPassion'' (1969)

* ''/Film/FaceToFace'' (1976)