Box Set

SynopsisFive films here, making a very coherent package.Persona is probably the most famous of the bunch, and is arguably Bergman’s mosticonic film. The images are among the most famous in cinema, though they are slightly moredifficult to take seriously thanks to SCTV’s parody. The plot concerns Liv Ullmann as an actresswho has suddenly fallen silent, and Bibi Andersson as the nurse hired to look after her. In theface of Ullmann’s silence, Andersson talks and talks ...nd talks, and her identity is graduallystolen by Ullmann. But this is really a meditation on the nature of storytelling and filmmaking, asthe startlingly postmodern imagery constantly disrupts the narrative.If Persona can be considered a psychological thriller, then Hour of the Wolf isBergman’s gothic horror film. As Max Von Sydow succumbs to madness, tormented by spirits thatmay be imaginary (or may not), the film is very much in the spirit of the Italian gothic filmsbeing produced at the same time.Shame is Bergman’s take on the horrors of war. Ullmann and Von Sydow are the couple whose lives are destroyed by a conflict they do not understand. These are all dark films, and thisis one of the most uncompromisingly bleak.The Passion of Anna is more personality disintegration, and is the first of this set(chronologically) in colour. I’ll confess that I prefer the luminous black-and-white of the others,but the effect does humanize the movie somewhat. This time around, secrets from the pastdisrupt and destroy the lives of four people, including Kinski and Ullmann.Odd man out in this collection is The Serpent’s Egg. Shot much later (1977,compared to the late 60s for the others), and on a much bigger budget, this is the story ofUllmann and (wait for it) David Carradine encountering the nightmare of rising Nazism in 1920sBerlin. The genre Bergman is playing with here is film noir. Not as highly regarded as the otherfour (which are widely hailed as masterpieces), its inclusion in this set might lead to its re-evaluation.AudioAll the films are mono. There has been no messing around with stereo remixes, which is agood thing. Such treatment would be very inappropriate with these films, which have a verycarefully constructed aural environment. What is even better is the clarity and cleanliness of thesound. There is no hiss at all, and so we have beautifully rendered soundscapes where the totalsilence is as important is crashing cacophony. (Persona is a particularly good example ofthis principle in action.)VideoExcellent picture quality on all the prints. Sven Nykvist’s gorgeous cinematography isbeautifully rendered, and nowhere better than in the black and white films, where the grey tonesare jaw-dropping. The clarity is excellent, the tones luminous. There is no noticeable edgeenhancement (or not much, anyway), and the contrasts are beyond reproach. Now and again,there is a bit of grain, but very little, especially when the vintage of the movies is taken intoaccount. All the features are in their original aspect ratios, all of them in 1.66:1 (except forPersona in 1.33:1).Special FeaturesAll five films come with a commentary track. David Carradine does the honours on TheSerpent’s Egg, and has many behind-the-scenes anecdotes to recount. Bergmanbiographer/film professor Marc Gervais comments on the other four. Though he does sometimeslapse into unhelpful rhetorical questions about what’s on the screen, he is still an interestingspeaker, and provides a real sense of commentary from film to film, and so the set becomes an-in-depth course on Bergman. Gervais also turns up on all the featurettes (about a half-hour each)for each film, and Liv Ullmann is the other constant presence. Gervais goes solo on TheSerpent’s Egg short extra on the film’s relationship with German expressionism and filmnoir, and his recontextualization of the film is most helpful. The films are also accompanied by aphoto gallery and theatrical trailer, while The Passion of Anna has Bergman’s short story(which his uses instead of a screenplay) read by Elliott Gould.There is a sixth disc, and this one provides more general background to Bergman and hisfilmmaking. There are two (rare) interviews with the director: “Intermezzo” (a 40-minutedocumentary from 2002) and “An Interview with Ingmar Bergman” (from 1970). DP SvenNykvist’s contributions to the films can hardly be overstated, and he is given his due with “SvenNykvist: With One Eye He Cries.” “Fårö Island Mystique” explores the island which served assetting for many of Bergman’s films (and was also his home). A special issue of AmericanCinematographer (from April 1972) is reprinted, providing six articles on Bergman. Andthere’s another photo gallery.” The menus have scored main screens, but are otherwisebasic.Closing ThoughtsSome of the most important films from one of cinema’s most important directors.Essential.Special Features List