Scene - Blogs - Well always have Ingmar

We'll always have Ingmar
Published: 7/31/2007 2:57 PM
Last Modified: 7/31/2007 2:57 PM

The films of European directors Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni, both of whom died this week, wouldn’t translate to today’s moviegoers.

How does a man make a defining film about death without blood being splattered everywhere? How does another man make a film called “Blow-Up” and not stage a sequence of mind-blowing explosions?

Quite the opposite with these fellows, whose lingering, claustrophobic cameras and firm beliefs in pregnant pauses in between dialogue defined their style and more closely define life.

These creative souls’ works didn’t attract the masses decades ago, either, but we talk about their films still today because they thought outside the projection box, outside the box office.

As foreign as the concept may seem to some, motion pictures are an art form, and these masters took that challenge to task.

The amusing truth today is that those who have been exposed to Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” or “Cries and Whispers” are likely to have seen one of them in a college film appreciation course.

You know, someplace where an authority figure forced them to watch – or else.

Even more likely is that Americans saw something like Woody Allen’s Bergmanesque “Interiors” (a wannabe if you know the inspiration) or John Travolta’s 1980s “Blow Out” thriller, which is not bad, but essentially “Blow-Up as envisioned by Brian De Palma.”

Just know this: Ingmar Bergman is not the blond beauty that Humphrey Bogart put on a plane in “Casablanca,” in case that was your first thought at hearing of Bergman’s death.

Beyond that, you don’t need any further written appreciation of the life and work of Bergman and Antonioni. The proof is waiting at your local video store, probably with a little dust on the plastic case.

Reader Comments

3 Total

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

ghapkxdc@mail.com (5 years ago)

afqetnxdz ubwrzxghs cvdwa rknpx zatlhm lebkfoi khdjnbmqg

yonmfkUDSRNM (5 years ago)

doors1.txt;3;5

LJOltDaorXCWOoLQAxy (4 years ago)

url2.txt;20;25

3 comments displayed

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

Follow Michael Smith on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog

Archive

Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

Michael Smith's Blog Archive:

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011	5/2011	4/2011	3/2011
2/2011	1/2011	12/2010	11/2010	10/2010	9/2010
8/2010	7/2010	6/2010	5/2010	4/2010	3/2010
2/2010	1/2010	12/2009	11/2009	10/2009	9/2009
8/2009	7/2009	6/2009	5/2009	4/2009	3/2009
2/2009	1/2009	12/2008	11/2008	10/2008	9/2008
8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
2/2008	1/2008	12/2007	11/2007	10/2007	9/2007
8/2007	7/2007	6/2007

michaelsmithTW
michaelsmithTW

Join the conversation

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :