Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Through a Glass Darkly




Through a Glass Darkly is interesting if for no other reason than Bergman didn’t seem to really care for it all. One could chalk it up to the usual case of the artist’s self-deprecation, but when reading his book Images: My Life in Film you understand that Bergman had a different film in mind before he shot Through a Glass Darkly, and the result — which is certainly one of the most seminal foreign films of the ‘60s — was not to his liking. I think Bergman is too hard on himself and critiquing the movie he had in his head instead of the one he actually filmed. What’s important about this film, aside from helping Americans ingratiate themselves into the foreign film world (along with Fellini and Antonioni), is that it marks a shift in tone for the auteur. With Through a Glass Darkly, Bergman worked out the kinks and used its aesthetic and its themes as a catalyst for what would be the Bergman tableau that everyone recognizes today.

2 comments

  1. Kevin:

    I just placed a very lengthy comment that wound up at Edward Copeland's blog under your essay there. When it is approved and posted I will copy and paste it back here. Great job!

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  2. Thanks, Sam! I'm just now getting caught up with my daily reading, so I'll go look at it in a bit. It's odd...with Blogger's new interface, I don't have the option of getting email notifications when people leave comments on posts that are on other sites. I'm sure I'm still able to do it, but it appears to be a hidden option now whereas before it was simple and easy with the box to check.

    Anyway, thanks for checking this out!

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