Ingmar Bergman Dies Aged 89

Just Heard from The Guardian that legendary Sewdish Director Ingmar Bergman has died aged 89. He was one of the few directors in the history of film making that genuinely deserved the label "legend", making films for over half a century, continuing to direct films into his 80s with 2003's Saraband.

Obviously Bergman never made a Bible film as such, yet spiritual issues were never far away from the heart of his films, and he occasionally ventured into direct discussion about stories form the Bible such as his discussion of the crucifixion in Winter Light. His most famous film The Seventh Seal (1957) also touches on a great many biblical themes.

I've been a fan of that film for a long time, but it was one of the other films he made that year that really captured my attention. Wild Strawberries (my review) contained some incredible, memorable, beautiful yet melancholy images. I have a clearer print of the image above in my copy of Stig Bjorkman, Torsten Manns, and Jones Sima's Bergman on Bergman: Interviews With Ingmar Bergman which I could spend hours looking at.

Given how many of those involved in making films die so young, it's almost ironic that Bergman, whose films were, at times, almost obsessed about death, lived to such a grand old age. Sadly, death has finally won its game of chess.