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Director's Statement
Most of the 2010s decade has for me been strongly linked to Ingmar Bergman. Firstly, I spent three years working on a television series and documentary film titled TRESPASSING BERGMAN. I travelled all over the world talking to filmmakers who have been inspired, terrified, redeemed or, for better or worse, astounded by him. Zhang Yimou told me how he first saw WILD STRAWBERRIES at film school in Beijing directly after The Cultural Revolution, and how his view of cinema changed that day. Ang Lee remembered, with his eyes filled with tears, how seeing THE VIRGIN SPRING in Taipei in 1974 made him feel like he Lost his own virginity – for real. Alexander Payne, sitting in Los Angeles, considered THE SEVENTH SEAL to be overrated, while in New York a nervous Martin Scorsese admitted that he still did not understand Bergman’s films – having, nevertheless, the courage to admit that they will never seem dated. None of these fantastic filmmakers had ever met Bergman. They only knew him through his films. Starting from this material, I began to wonder what people who actually worked with and talked to him would have to say about the master. Would a different picture appear? During the last three years I have been talking to Bergman’s co-workers. From his stars such as Gunnel Lindblom, to his producer and script-girl Katinka Farago, to sound technicians and assistant directors. They paint a multi-coloured image of a great artist who could be very inspiring, but also terrifying. A man who is super sensitive to sound, light, food, dreams, but not really to other people.
A man who worked harder and faster than anyone else in the history of cinema. Bergman lived a very long life and he was incredibly productive. My problem, then, was how to tell his story in less than two hours. It seemed impossible. However, during my research a single year kept popping up: 1957, Bergman’s most magical and productive year. He shoots two films and a special movie for television. His films THE SEVENTH SEAL and WILD STRAWBERRIES have their premieres. He directs four major theatre productions, has 6 children with four different women, and several affairs. I thought – why hasn’t anyone made a film about this? Perhaps one can tell the story of Bergman by focusing on just this one year? This is what I set out to do.
Now it is done.