Students gathered in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts鈥� Martinos Auditorium Tuesday for the first U.S. showing of 鈥淏ergman 鈥� A Year in a Life.鈥� Directed by Jane Magnusson 鈥�92, this documentary focuses on world-famous Swedish film and theater director Ingmar Bergman in 1957, the year he rose to international stardom.
According to Marc Redfield, professor of comparative literature and chair of the department, the event was held to showcase a 鈥渞emarkable film鈥� created by Brown alums while also paying homage to Professor of Comparative Literature Arnold Weinstein, who has been teaching at the University since 1968. The film was directed by Magnusson, with the help of Henrik von Sydow 鈥�82 鈥� both of whom were students of Weinstein as undergraduates. Magnusson hails from Sweden, but it wasn鈥檛 until taking Weinstein鈥檚 鈥淣ordic Legacy鈥� class on Scandinavian literature that she learned about Bergman鈥檚 influence. According to Redfield, Weinstein was present at the documentary鈥檚 premiere in Stockholm, along with the Prime Minister of Sweden and other Swedish dignitaries. When Weinstein asked Magnusson and von Sydow to come to Brown for a screening, they 鈥渒new they couldn鈥檛 miss it,鈥� Magnusson said.
This year marks the centennial of Bergman鈥檚 birth in 1918, so cinemas around the world have stayed busy screening retrospectives and reflecting on his equally cryptic life and work. In 1957 alone, Bergman released the films 鈥淭he Seventh Seal鈥� and 鈥淲ild Strawberries,鈥� as well as directing a made-for-TV movie and several plays. Rumors of Bergman鈥檚 neurotic, dictatorial directing style contributed to his cult of personality. Many of his films are assumed to be autobiographical, but 鈥淎 Year in a Life鈥� features a never-before-seen interview with his brother Dag Bergman suggesting the way Bergman鈥檚 films depicted their shared childhood often strayed from the truth.
Magnusson鈥檚 documentary uses footage from Bergman鈥檚 films, as well as interviews from a number of Bergman scholars and his colleagues, to paint a nuanced, empathetic portrait of the director that Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman called 鈥溾�� Among the many interviewed were American singer, actress and filmmaker Barbra Streisand, 1960s talk-show host Dick Cavett and Weinstein himself.
Weinstein said when introducing the film that Magnusson鈥檚 choice to focus on 1957 was 鈥渂rilliant.鈥� He added, 鈥渦nlike the kind of Scandinavian gloom that most of you probably anticipate if you鈥檝e seen Bergman, you will laugh at many moments in this film. That is much due to the wit of Magnusson.鈥�
Asked why she took on the project, Magnusson said, 鈥淲hen I graduated in 1992 and went back to Sweden, Bergman was just this really grumpy old man who could make anything he wanted with Sweden鈥檚 cultural funding. I wanted to figure out who this grumpy old man once was in order to get at the root of the power he had in Sweden.鈥�
Magnusson is also the visionary behind films like 鈥淐upcake鈥� and 鈥淐hristina Lindberg: The Original Eyepatch Wearing Butt Kicking Movie Babe.鈥� She is currently working on a new documentary about Madeline Stuart, 鈥渢he only professional model with Down Syndrome,鈥� Magnusson said.
Magnusson鈥檚 success is a testament to how 鈥渁 Brown education can change your life in wonderful ways,鈥� Redfield said. 鈥淟earning about literature or film can have unanticipated, wonderful consequences later in life.鈥�
