Ingmar Bergman: Dark Knight

This Wednesday, it will be a year since Ingmar Bergman died. A 8220;poet with the camera8221; and an auteur of metaphysical art, his films dealt with faith, desire and human struggle in a world faced with what he called God8217;s silence. The Swedish filmmaker8217;s beguilingly simple cinematic treatment of profound existential dilemmas won him fans8212;in the art house circuit and mainstream cinema8212;and awards, including a special Palme des Palmes at Cannes for lifetime achievement.

Bergman wrote and directed over 50 films, some of them modern classics like Wild Strawberries, Cries and Whispers, and Smiles of a Summer Night8212;the last one a rare, flirtatious comedy from the director known for his dark, introspective genius. Other well-known works by the director include Through a Glass Darkly, a film about a mentally troubled woman, and Persona, which studies the coalescing identities of an actress who goes mute and her nurse. The Seventh Seal, in which a caped Death plays chess with a knight returning from the crusades, ranks among his most critically acclaimed films.

Bergman8217;s films are a theatrical expression of what it is like to be human. He once famously said, 8220;I don8217;t want to produce a work of art that the public can sit and suck aesthetically. I want to give them a blow in the small of the back, to scorch their indifference, to startle them out of their complacency.8221;