I'm relatively new to the world of Bergman's films, I had picked up The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and The Magic Flute from Criterion recently and have thoroughly enjoyed each. Which of his other films do you guys recommend, I mainly enjoy how he handles the topics of death, dreams and life itself, not to mention how visually stunning and attractive each is.

Just see as many as you can, particularly the ones from the 60s. A list of my favorites:

Summer With Monika
The Virgin Spring
Through a Glass Darkly
Winter Light
The Silence
Persona
Shame
Hour of the Wolf
Fanny and Alexander

Lots of people love Cries and Whispers but it's never been one of my personal favorites.

Any reason why? I didn't much care for it the first time I saw it but it's certainly grown on me. It's depiction of emotional isolation is very haunting and the acting is excellent.

Honestly, I don't remember. I haven't seen it in about 15 years, so maybe I should watch it again. My immediate reaction was just that I couldn't latch onto whatever Bergman was trying to get across very easily. Also, I think it was the film of his I'd seen in color, which might have been offputting.

Will have to check those out, what about Autumn Sonata? Bergman & Bergman seems like a pretty nice combination.

in addition to wendersfan's recommendations, i need to tack on my favorite Bergman film -- the original six episode version of Scenes from a Marriage.

Wonderful film with brilliant acting from the 2 stars. Filmicly more like one of his made-for-tv works, though, visually not as exciting as a lot of his other work.

Personally, I love just about everything he has done, but then I'm half Swedish and can identify with him. My own personal favorite is 'Smiles of a Summer Night', which I consider probably the single greatest film ever made.

I forgot about that one, since I think of it as a miniseries rather than a film.

Does anyone else remember when it aired on US television back in the 70s?

Yes, there are a few of us 'old farts' out there.

this movie is excellent, but without a doubt the most depressing movie I've ever seen. highly recommended!

I definately recommend the Criterion 5 disc edition of Fanny and Alexander. Its probably not only his most accessible film but also one of his best.

So basically about everything he's done haha. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll most likely start with those available on Criterion as I always enjoy adding those onto my collection, always nice finding interest in a different auteur.

Autumn Sonata is very good. My faves are Persona and Face to Face. I found neither Cries and Whispers nor The Passion of Anna involving. Shame and From the Lives of the Marionettes are worth catching.

Last year many theatres in the Washington DC/Silver Spring Maryland area played host to a city wide retrospect to Ingmar Bergman's films: while I had seen "The Magic Flute" "The Seventh Seal", "Fanny and Alexander" before, it was a great event to catch up on my favourite director:

what I saw (and ranked in preference)

1) Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) (1957)

2) Scenes From A Marriage (Scener ur ett äktenskap) (282min version)(1973)

3) Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop) (1972)

4) Secrets of Women (Kvinnors väntan) (1952)

5) Smiles of A Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende)(1955)

6) The Virgin Spring (Jungfrukällan) (1960)

7) The Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen) (1968)

8) Persona (1966)

9) Through A Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel) (1961)

10) The Silence (Tystnaden) (1963)

11) Dreams (Kvinnodröm) (1955)

I tried posting this in the books thread but got no response, so I thought I'd bring it back here. Does anyone know if 'Scenese From A Marriage' was a book or a movie first? I just picked up the book off eBay for $1 and was curious before I started reading it whether or not to try and get the movie first?

i think what you bought is the published screenplay.

oops.

Definitely Scenes From A Marriage.

Liv Ullmann is, bar none, one of the top five actresses of all time. Glad she did so much with Bergman.

umm, my favorite is Sawdust and Tinsel - the only problem is that there's no DVD with english subtitles yet. If you can catch it at a retrospective or find a VHS copy at your local video store, I would highly recommend it. This is a somewhat earlier Bergman film (1953) that deals more with human relationships (both with among humans and humans with their own lives) than death, etc. I caught it at a Bergman retrospective and was blown away. Just waiting for the DVD to be released by somebody...anybody...

could be useful, i've heard that the screenplay's translation is more accurate than the english subtitles on the film (dont know how criterion's subs compare, however).