Lise-Lone Marker

This is an incredibly useful, at times gripping, resource, documenting in an intelligent way Bergman's theatrical career, which started before his filmmaking, progressed simultaneously with it and then extended well into the late 80s and 90s after 'Fanny and Alexander' was made in 1983.

There is a full chronology at the end of the book with a lot of information and the authors decide sensibly in the main part of the book not to trace a sequential narrative but to focus on the three playwrights - Strindberg, Molière and Ibsen - who dominated Bergman's directorial output, a body of work which often saw him returning to the same plays on sometimes three separate occasions in different theatres and sometimes in German rather than Swedish. All of the chapters are absolutely fascinating, most of all the first of them on Strindberg, perhaps because he was Bergman's obsession and whose influence is felt very obviously in the films. The chapter on Molière was perhaps the most surprising to me as I simply had not realised the extent of Bergman's fascination with the playwright which started with a visit to the Comedie Francaise in the late 1940s which was, as they say, game-changing.

The book has plenty of photographs plus a wealth of blocking diagrams from Bergman's productions, so it really is possible to get a feel for what the theatrical experience was like.

Anybody interested in Bergman and/or theatre will find this a compelling read. I must warn prospective readers though that the non-stop hagiography practiced by the authors is profoundly off-putting, indeed almost nauseating at times, and so completely unnecessary. Get past it though and you will learn so much.… (plus d'informations)