Eclipse Series 1 - Early Bergman (1963)

For Bergman Completists Only

Early Bergman is surprisingly weak Bergman. The genius shines through in spots but these five movies lack the piercing insight and searing drama of Bergman's most mature work. Here we see Bergman learning to direct and scriptwrite. I would argue none of the five are five star movies and two, Thirst & Crisis, even drop to three stars. These movies are every bit as bleak & serious as Bergman's most mature works but the storytelling and character development aren't there yet. Not until the 50's would Bergman begin to demonstrate his greatness with Wild Strawberries & The Seventh Seal. March 26, 2008

FIVE UNEVEN FILMS MAKE A PERFECT BOX SET

***** 1944-1950. If none of the movies presented here deserves 5 stars, this box set is however essential to whoever is interested in the artistic beginnings of a genius of the seventh art. Indispensable even if the copies are unfortunately not perfect. November 21, 2007

EARLY BERGMAN IS ALSO MINOR BERGMAN, EXCEPT FOR ONE MASTERPIECE

This is an excellent box set of early Bergman works, but after watching all five films I have to conclude that four of them are minor works. Not that they're not interesting, but I recommend the box set above all for THIRST, which is an astounding work. I hadn't seen it before, but after watching it twice now I'm convinced it's Bergman's first masterpiece, introducing many of the themes and techniques he would develop in movies such as THE SILENCE, PERSONA, SHAME, THE PASSION OF ANNA, and SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE. THIRST is not otherwise available on DVD, I think, so the box set is worth getting even if the other films are only ones in which Bergman still hadn't found his way, much less his unique style.

THIRST almost leaps ahead over everything he did in the 50s to connect with what he started doing in the 60s. When he makes THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY in 1961, it seems to me he is picking up where he left off with THIRST. The main character is Rut, played effectively by Eva Henning. She is a ballet dancer whose life and career have gone downhill ever since she had a tragic love affair with a married man who abandoned her, an affair that resulted in an abortion that left her barren and psychologically damaged. She also suffered a knee injury that caused her career to abort. The back story is told in flashback, along with scenes from her dancing school days. The film opens on the last day of her vacation with her husband, Birtil, whom she apparently married on the rebound after her affair with Raoul. The movie opens as they wake up in a shabby hotel room and confront their dissolute life and turbulent marriage. Rut is psychologically dependent on Birtil. She also feels tenderness toward him; she might even love him. But she also feels contempt because he's a stand-in for Raoul, and Raoul, however cruel, however big a male chauvenist pig he was, was an assertive military man (i.e., a real man), while poor Birtil--and Rut can't help throwing it in his face--is timid and wimpy (i.e., not a real man at all). When we first see him, he's asleep in a baby-like position with his rump up in the air. Anyhow, a stunning psychological portrait of their complex relationship unfolds on the last day of their vacation as they travel back home through black fantasies of murder and revenge.

The movie takes place in one day, much of it real time, but gives backstory in Rut's memory-flashbacks, which are deftly weaved in. There's also a second thread to follow, which is confusing at first but makes total sense by the end. Birtil has had an affair with a married woman named Viola, apparently also a dancer. On the very day that we meet Rut and Beril on their vacation, Viola, reeling from both her husband's death and her affair with Birtil, is seeing her psychologist, Doctor Rosengren, a cold, calculating sadist who tries to take sexual advantage of her fragile state. Viola rejects him and flees his office. As she walks down the street, she meets an old friend, who invites her up to her apartment. We had already met this friend in one of Rut's flashbacks from her days at Miss Henriksson's dancing school, so she serves as a link between Viola and Rut. (By the way, Miss Henriksson, an old, tough boozer, is brilliantly played by Naima Wifstrand). Anyhow, we then follow the events that lead up to Viola's suicide. In the apartnment, the friends get drunk, but things turn dark as Viola realizes that she's being seduced into a lesbian encounter. The woman who plays the lesbian seducer--her name escapes me at the moment--gives a tremendous performance. (There are great performances from just about everybody.)

But the film begins and ends with Rut and Bertil, who leave the hotel room to catch a train home. On the train, through a phantasmagoric, war-torn landscape, their marriage comes to a crisis. I won't describe what happens next, but it's all brilliantly done by Bergman. The title, THIRST, can refer to several things in the movie: alcoholism, emotional thirst, suicide (Viola drowns herself); keep the theme in mind as you watch the film. In any case, it's Bergman's first major attempt and well worth buying even if you have to purchase the whole box set. The other films are good if intermittently dull, and they pale beside this one.

September 29, 2007

Eclipse, cinema lovers new lover (a review of the box and Torment)

The new eclipse series by the Criterion Collection is great for bringing cinephiles everywhere the opportunity to see films like this. The film is not perfect nor does it entirely submerge the viewer, but for a real fan of cinema, or more particularly Bergman, you can ask for nothing more. The film reveals Bergman's roots, it has his signature dark, brooding characters and themes, desolate landscapes, if not, at times, his own imagistic stamp.

The story, however, is maybe the engaging side of mediocrity. The film draws you into the downward spiral of the main characters (the central focus of the story) without making the world seem hopeless and desolate. But it doesn't reach the pre-poop-your-pants euphoria it seems to promise. It's almost there, but doesn't realy ever clinch it.

The spiral of these characters is hidden within the world of the film. The torment, is silent, removed, intricate. The film is not what I expected from the early Bergman collection, and is not perfect, but is well worth the rent, for it's politics of the body, insight into Bergman's work and a subtle story that shames American suspense's absurdity, it's over-the-top plot structures, and its star driven sales. It's real, dark, flawed yet engaging. Worth a viewing or two. June 4, 2007

Early Bergman is worthy of classic Bergman

These films though early works are worthy of the genius of Bergman and in many cases more accessible for the understanding of the classic Bergman themes: man's struggle with the anguishes of life.
Recommended for the Bergman lover and those unacquainted with the poet of misery. May 11, 2007

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