The Criterion Collection

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by Vinyl

Seventh Seal is really good and comes with a movie about Bergman as a supplement (Bergman Island). if you look up the review here it gets 5 stars across the board. The other options are The Magician and Wild Strawberries on Blu. All of those movies are good, but very different.

Wild Strawberries is very good but very slow plot-wise. It does feature the director of The Phantom Carriage as the main protagonist, though.

The Magician has Max Von Sydow as the main protagonist (a magician) I think in the 19th century and the story moves quicker.

Look up the summaries to see what interests you more.

Personally I really like Summer Interlude. For what it's worth, Godard called in "the most beautiful of all films".

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by belcherman

Make sure you're looking at the right version. The digipack version is OOS but the new plastic case version should be in stock. The two versions have the same content but different packaging and different ASINs.

Originally Posted by Page14

I'm not sure how you searched for it, but it seems to be in stock at B&N. ??

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-...n=715515120418

Thanks you two. Glad that was cleared up

[miller_time22]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Anyway, I want another Bergman, have Persona and Autumn Sonata and love both. Which one should I get next? Is it weird not to have The Seventh Seal? I always intend to buy it, and always decide to get something else.

I had never seen a Bergman film before yesterday. Blind bought the Seventh Seal and watched it and now can't stop thinking about it. I don't think you'd regret picking it up. Now, I'm thinking about where to go next. I may try and work chronologically through what's on BD.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Has anyone else watched the two short films included on the Insomnia blu-ray?
I was really impressed with them both. Really well made film-school shorts. You can really see and feel Erik's handle of atmosphere in them.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by miller_time22

I had never seen a Bergman film before yesterday. Blind bought the Seventh Seal and watched it and now can't stop thinking about it. I don't think you'd regret picking it up. Now, I'm thinking about where to go next. I may try and work chronologically through what's on BD.

I had a similar experience. Once I watched one of his movies, I was hooked. Working through them chronologically is a good idea. Even though it's not his last movie, I would personally recommend getting plenty more bergman under your belt before diving into Fanny and Alexander. It's often considered his best work.

Whether you agree with that or not is subjective of course, but it feels like Bergman's swan song and while I love almost everything of his I've seen so far, I fall into the camp that thinks F&A is his best work and shouldn't be one of the first you watch. If you end up being one of us that fell in love with it, it could leave his other great work feeling somewhat underwhelming.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Anyway, I want another Bergman, have Persona and Autumn Sonata and love both. Which one should I get next? Is it weird not to have The Seventh Seal? I always intend to buy it, and always decide to get something else.

The Seventh Seal was my first Bergman film and I was very underwhelmed by it upon my initial viewing of it. I need to really watch it because since then, he has become my favorite director of all-time.

You can't really go wrong with any of his films in The Criterion Collection, but I would probably recommend Fanny and Alexander, Smiles of a Summer Night, and Wild Strawberries.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Has anyone else watched the two short films included on the Insomnia blu-ray?
I was really impressed with them both. Really well made film-school shorts. You can really see and feel Erik's handle of atmosphere in them.

Erik Skjoldbjerg's two short films on this Blu-ray are both incredible. Near Winter was my favorite, and it hits home, because I've been driving out of town more often to look after my elderly parents. Close to Home is a good early taste of the sinister vibe that would later characterize Insomnia.

[Member-260138]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Has anyone else watched the two short films included on the Insomnia blu-ray?
I was really impressed with them both. Really well made film-school shorts. You can really see and feel Erik's handle of atmosphere in them.

I have not seen the films yet. I just picked up Insomnia during the Criterion sale. But I look forward to watching them.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The Seventh Seal was my first Bergman film and I was very underwhelmed by it upon my initial viewing of it. I need to really watch it because since then, he has become my favorite director of all-time.

You can't really go wrong with any of his films in The Criterion Collection, but I would probably recommend Fanny and Alexander, Smiles of a Summer Night, and Wild Strawberries.

Autumn Sonata too.It was really powerful.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by miller_time22

I had never seen a Bergman film before yesterday. Blind bought the Seventh Seal and watched it and now can't stop thinking about it. I don't think you'd regret picking it up. Now, I'm thinking about where to go next. I may try and work chronologically through what's on BD.

Good choice.

I recommend Fanny and Alexander. You can get a good price on it during the sale. The film has nearly all of Bergman's favorite themes.

Also, since you like Seventh Seal you may want to check out Woody Allen's hilarious Love and Death (It's coming soon from Twilight Time).

[Colkurtz88]

Originally Posted by biglou114

That it one of my favorite Criterion sets. Just wait until you get to Requiem for a Heavyweight.

Not there yet. Hope to get to that one tommorow.

Saw, Bang The Drums slowly. Very well done. Pretty interesting to see Paul Newman stumble on one of his lines at the end. Even the greats are fallible on live teleplays.

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by miller_time22

I had never seen a Bergman film before yesterday. Blind bought the Seventh Seal and watched it and now can't stop thinking about it. I don't think you'd regret picking it up. Now, I'm thinking about where to go next. I may try and work chronologically through what's on BD.

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I had a similar experience. Once I watched one of his movies, I was hooked. Working through them chronologically is a good idea. Even though it's not his last movie, I would personally recommend getting plenty more bergman under your belt before diving into Fanny and Alexander. It's often considered his best work.

My vote would be to follow up 7th Seal with what comes next chronologically, Wild Strawberries. I think those two films are the best representatives of that phase of his filmmaking, everything else I think there's a little bit of a dropoff; but all of his films on Criterion are fine examples of his work.

[Mansinthe]

hmm so far i liked all his movies that ive seen (i own all the criterion and UK blurays) but my favorite is wild strawberries

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by miller_time22

I had never seen a Bergman film before yesterday. Blind bought the Seventh Seal and watched it and now can't stop thinking about it. I don't think you'd regret picking it up. Now, I'm thinking about where to go next. I may try and work chronologically through what's on BD.

That's really a great idea. When I was in college (long, long ago!), I took a class on Bergman, and we watched most of his films in chronological order. It was eye-opening because it allowed us to chart his development as a filmmaker in terms of his themes and technique, and to appreciate the shifts in his "stock company". I remember being especially fascinated by Bergman's repeated use of Ingrid Thulin, one of the great beauties and outstanding talents of the Swedish film industry.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Anyway, I want another Bergman, have Persona and Autumn Sonata and love both. Which one should I get next? Is it weird not to have The Seventh Seal? I always intend to buy it, and always decide to get something else.

Yes buy it, don't think twice.

[BohemianGraham]

With all this Bergman talk, why is no one offering praises of Persona?

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

With all this Bergman talk, why is no one offering praises of Persona?

Persona is amazing, beautiful, sublime, subversive, and erotic - all things that I love. Can't wait to see the Blu-ray.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

With all this Bergman talk, why is no one offering praises of Persona?

It's hard for me to pick a favorite Bergman film, as I am at a three-way tie with Fanny and Alexander, Persona, and The Silence.

I will say that Persona is the definitive psychological thriller. Nothing else comes close for me.

[starman15317]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

With all this Bergman talk, why is no one offering praises of Persona?

Persona is my favorite Bergman that I've seen

[Alex DeLarge]

I wish HOUR OF THE WOLF would get a Blu-ray release! I also recommend the Tashin book on Bergman as you watch the films chronologically: it really helped me in appreciating his early work.