Enough is Enough
Ingmar Bergman died last weekend, or maybe Monday. Michelangelo Antonioni died Monday. I feel unqualified to write an obitiuary for these men because I feel unqualified to write an obituary of anyone and because I am way, way underinformed of their work. As bad as it may sound both Bergman and Antonioni have always sounded more like homework than sitting down and watching a movie, and its that sort of thinking that allows someone to go an entire life loving a field of pursuit without properly informing themselves of said field of pursuit.
Bergman I’m slightly more familiar with. Of his intimidating list of supposed masterpieces I’ve seen four: Wild Strawberries, Persona, Scenes From a Marriage and The Seventh Seal. The Seventh Seal didn’t move me as much as I thought it would, but its a strange, well performed film that is worth seeking out at least once for the experience of it, and for seeing an early Max Von Sydow. Wild Strawberries was my first Bergman film, and its a great Bergman for beginners, wedding Bergman’s obsessions to a more conventional (for him) story of regret. Woody Allen, the most famous Bergman fan, later reworked this story as Deconstructing Harry. Persona and Scenes From a Marriage are intense, pretentious, terrifying, intimate, brilliant, and unforgettable. Yes, these films are draining and demanding, but they have an after effect that is worth it, and I’m not just saying that because the guy is dead.
Of Antonioni, I’ve only seen Blowup, and that is a more approachable masterpiece than any of the Bergman I’ve seen. The film has frustrated many, but the existential thriller trappings lured me in, and while I certainly don’t claim to entirely understand it, I found it memorable and deeply haunting. Though, full disclosure, I return to Coppola’s sort of remake, The Conversation, much more often. I guess it’s easier for me to relate to a man tearing his place apart in the throes of paranoid agony than a guy who appears to be fucking his life away, though I wish the opposite were true.
I’m watching The Passenger and Smiles of a Summer Night over the next few days, and will try to post my reaction next week. These men accomplished more, and were revered more, than anyone can ever hope, and they lived nine decades. Nothing to be sad about here, so let’s just watch the movies.
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