By ch.

Samuels

Interviewing ingmar bergman

Samuels: Mr. Bergman, I would like to start with a general question: if I were asked to name one of the
reasons for your superiority to other directors, I would indicate that you are creating a special
world.Moreover, you are very much like a writer. Why didn’t you become a writer?

Bergman: When I was a child, I suffered from an almost complete lack of words.My education was very
strict, my father was a priest. As a result, I lived in a hidden world of my dreams. I played with my puppet
show.

S .: And ...

B .: Sorry.I had few connections with reality or its sources. I was afraid of my father, mother, older
brother - I was afraid of everything. Playing with this puppet theater and the movie projector I had was
just a form of self-expression. I had great difficulties with fiction and reality. Since I was a child, I mixed
them, so my family called me a liar.

S .: I will kill you, this description of your childhood is more like a classic description of the origin of the
writer.Is it only the case of the puppet theater that caused the choice of theater, and not writing (literary
work)?

B .: Not.When I started writing, I really liked it. But I never felt that writing is mine. I always lacked
vocabulary. It has always been difficult for me to find the right word. I have always been distrustful of
what I said and what they told me. It seemed to me that I was constantly missing something. When I read
a book, I read very slowly. I need a lot of time to read the play.

S .: Do you direct mentally?

B .: From the part.I need to translate words into cues, into human nature. I really need to communicate
with the audience, with other people. Just the words do not suit me .

S .: With the book, the reader is somewhere else.

B .: When you read, words must go through consciousness in order to affect your emotions and soul.In
the film and the theater, the atmosphere is aimed directly at emotions. Getting in touch with people is
what I need.

S .: I understand, but the question is raised, I ’m sure that you often discussed it.Your films have an
emotional impact, but since they are intellectually too complex, is there a contradiction between this?
What reaction will cause you if I say that when I watched the film "Ritual", then my feelings were
prevented by an excessive attempt to understand it.

B .: You are mistaken.I never ask to understand, I ask only to feel.

S .: And the film requires understanding. The film constantly makes us think about what each scene is
about.
B .: No, it's you.

S .: Is this not a movie?

B .: No.The film “Ritual” only expresses my dissatisfaction with critics, spectators, and the government,
with whom I fought constantly when I directed the theater.A year after I left office, I sat down and wrote
the script in 5 days. The film was just fun.

S .: To confuse the audience?

B .: Exactly.I liked writing it, and creating it even more. It was a lot of fun on set. My goal was to simply
amuse myself and the audience. Do you understand what I mean?

S .: I understand, but some of the viewers cannot ignore the fact that Bergman is communicating
something, but what exactly and why?

B .: You must understand - this is very important!I never ask people to understand what I shot. Stravinsky
once said: “I have never understood musical plays in my life. I always only felt them. ”

S .: But Stravinsky is a composer.By nature, music is streamlined, we do not need to understand it.Films,
plays, poems, stories - they contain statements , observations, embody ideas, beliefs, and we follow these
forms.

B .: But you must understand that your point of view is distorted.You belong to the minority that is trying
to understand. I never try to understand. Music, cinema, theater always work directly on emotions.

S .: I have to disagree.I’m afraid that I cannot clarify for myself -

B .: I must tell you before we move on to the more complex things: I create my paintings for use.They are
created so that I can establish contact with other people.My impulse has nothing to do with intellect or
symbolism: it is connected only with dreams and desires, hope and wishes, with passion.

S .: Does it bother you when critics understand you through these things?

B .: Not at all.Let me say, I learn more from critics who honestly evaluate my work than from those who
are devoted to me.And they influence me. They help me change stuff. You know, be that as it may , the
actors often change the film.

S .: May I ask how the film “Touch” is different from what you meant?

B .: I wanted to create a portrait of an ordinary woman, for whom everything around would be a
reflection (reflection).Bibi Anderson is a close friend of mine - a beloved and talented actress.She is fully
focused on reality; she always needs motives for her actions. I admire her and love her. But she changed
the film. What Bibi Anderson did made the film more accessible to ordinary people, and thus more
meaningful.I agreed with all her changes.

S .: You hardly use music in your films.Why?

B .: Because, I believe that a film is music, and I cannot substitute music into music.
S .: If you could shoot all your films in color, would you do?
B .: No.Because shooting in black and white is more fun, thereby enabling people to imagine colors
themselves.

S .: And now you are shooting in color - because you feel that the audience demands it?

B .: No.I like it. It was difficult at first, but now I like it.

S .: Why do you use so many dialogs in your films?

B .: Because human communication takes place through words.Once I tried to exclude speech in the film
“Silence”, and it seemed to me that the picture was inhuman.

S .: Too abstract (incomprehensible).

B .: Yes.

S .: Some people criticized your films for being too unnatural (theatrical), especially the very first
films.How do you react to such a charge?

B .: I am a director.

S .: But are the 2 forms different?

B .: Perfect.In my early paintings, it was difficult for me to switch to directing films.I constantly felt
technically unsuitable , insecure with the team, movie camera, sound equipment - with
everything.Sometimes the film was a success, but I did not get what I wanted. But in the movie "Summer
Game" I suddenly realized that I knew my profession.

S .: Do you have any idea why?

B .: I do not know, but for heaven’s sake, the day must come when at last a person realizes his
profession.I am amazed by young directors who know how to make a film the first time.

S .: But they have nothing to tell.