Ingmar Bergman Ain’t No Jerry Bruckheimer

AH Bergman. Important. Very. See any of his films? Stephen Pollard notes in the Times:

Bergman is one of a large category of “important artists” whose defining quality is an almost total absence of public acclamation or popularity. Every art form has its equivalent – think James Joyce or Sir Harrison Birtwistle – but cinema is exceptional in its preponderance of such “important artists”. The latest is Lars von Trier, a maker of terminally dull films that are, nonetheless, lauded by cineastes (they have their own word, signifying that they’re a cut above bog-standard moviegoers).

It’s tempting to think that Bergman’s films were treated with such awe by critics because he was Swedish and the Swedes are, you know, deep. Like the Danish von Trier. So even if they’re yawnathons, they should be revered because they must mean something important.

Anorak

Posted: 1st, August 2007 | In: Twitterings Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink