Ingmar Bergman in five films »Manila Bulletin Entertainment

With some 60 films to his name, many of which have become classics of psychological and conjugal torment, Ingmar Bergman presents both his stylistic range and striking thematic consistency.

Here are five key works from a six-decade career that has marked the history of cinema and influenced generations of filmmakers to date.

– The Seventh Seal & # 39; (1957) –

The masterpiece of Bergman's era at the time of the Crusades contains one of his now iconic scenes: a knight playing chess with Death

. Faith is known as He wins an award in Cannes and is quickly considered a classic art and essay, "The Seventh Seal" has also been a hit with moviegoers of the time, and made the # 39; s object of many popular critics. Fifty years after its release, the British newspaper The Guardian regarded him as "a gold standard of artistic and moral seriousness"

– "Persona" (1966) –

Two women, 84 minutes close constant close-ups and a morphing of their faces – Bergman intensified the psychological intensity in this mysterious drama in an isolated cottage on the island of Faro.

Exploring the relationship between an actress who fell dumb and her nurse, Bergman's beautifully shot film questioned the unstable foundations of identity.

– "Scenes from a Marriage" (1973) –

Bergman was one of the few filmmakers of his generation to successfully transition from film to television, especially with this mini-series of Six low-budget episodes that explore the marital problems of a couple who is going through a prolonged divorce, triggered by infidelity.

Bergman was inspired by his own troubled relationship with Liv Ullmann, who played the woman According to film critic Roger Ebert, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in the United States, who wrote the Chicago Sun-Times in 1974 , the Bergman series was "the truest and brightest of love stories" and surrounded one of its classic themes – communication between two people

– Fanny and Alexander & # 39; (1982) –

Bergman revisits all stages of childhood life from marriage to old age with this epic tale tracing the life of a brother and sister with strong autobiographical connotations. He was filmed mainly on the spot in his hometown, the city of Uppsala.

Shot by director of photography Sven Nykvist, Bergman's latest film was a sumptuous family epic that was compared to the work of Charles Dickens. four Oscars including best foreign film

The three-hour cinema version was cut from an original five-hour television mini-series

"Fanny and Alexander" third after "Apocalypse Now" and " Raging Bull "in a survey of the best films of the last 25 years given to filmmakers and critics around the world by the British magazine Sight and Sound in 2002.

-" Saraband & # 39; (2003) –

After an interruption of almost 20 years, Bergman returns for a last hurray with this sequel to "Scenes from a Marriage". He revisits his characters two decades later and explores the painful lessons of life, from failures of parenthood to selfishness at the heart of human relationships.

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