Your top 5 Bergman and Antonioni films

burningyen · #1 07-31-2007, 04:55 PM

I guess this is the movie equivalent of buying a musician's greatest hits CD the day after he dies. I've seen Seventh Seal (amazing) and the original TV version of Scenes From A Marriage (devastating) but am otherwise pretty much clueless about these guys. Please to be enlightening me on ordering my Netflix queue!

El Diablo · #2 07-31-2007, 05:16 PM

All,

I would also be interested in broader recommendations of "classic" films. I've watched a sick amount of movies, but very few older films.

Some sort of "must see classic movies list" would be cool. I'm talking stuff like Kurosowa movies, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, etc. Would be interested in hearing what more well-rounded movie buffs think are absolute must sees that are still great to watch today.

Here's the AFI top 100 list: http://www.filmsite.org/afi100filmsA.html

I mean, do I really need to watch Singin' in the Rain?

Rococo · #3 07-31-2007, 05:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
All,

I would also be interested in broader recommendations of "classic" films. I've watched a sick amount of movies, but very few older films.

Some sort of "must see classic movies list" would be cool. I'm talking stuff like Kurosowa movies, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, etc. Would be interested in hearing what more well-rounded movie buffs think are absolute must sees that are still great to watch today.

Here's the AFI top 100 list: http://www.filmsite.org/afi100filmsA.html

I mean, do I really need to watch Singin' in the Rain?

[/ QUOTE ]

This one is easy, El D. I have two movies for you from the 1930s (both talkies, of course). The first is "M". It's an early film noir classic directed by Fritz Lang and features a young, and incredibly creepy, Peter Lorre. This was the movie that caused Lorre to be typecast as a villain for years. It is based on the story of a serial killer in Dusseldorff named Peter Kurten.

The second is "Freaks." This is more of an acquired taste. It is the story of a midget in a freakshow who falls in love with a "normal." The normal woman mistreats him and the freaks get revenge. Most of the actors in the movie are real sideshow freaks of the sort that hardly exist today. Reaction to the movie was so extreme that it effectively ended the director's career.

shemp · #4 07-31-2007, 05:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I mean, do I really need to watch Singin' in the Rain?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. Probably not, sad to say. But it's hardly eating your vegetables.

Anyway, prompted me to search for and find the following, which I enjoyed rewatching:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vH_OKzzZhw8

Not trying to derail or hijack, I won't post another non Bergman comment to this thread.

Wanted to add, for gamblers, I do think they still make "Guys & Dolls" required viewing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NxAX74gM8DY

You can come back for your next assignment.

tomahawk · #5 07-31-2007, 09:23 PM

Saw the topic and thought I'd mention to those who didn't know that Ingmar Bergman died yesterday.

So watch some of his movies the next few days to honor him, it's well worth the time.

ClassicBob · #6 07-31-2007, 09:49 PM

Bergman: Virgin Spring, Persona, Through A Glass Darkly, Wild Strawberries
Antonioni: I've only seen Blow-Up, but it's very good.

Subfallen · #7 07-31-2007, 11:30 PM

Travesty this hasn't been mentioned yet: Fanny & Alexander. Best Bergman ever IMO.

ilya · #8 07-31-2007, 11:36 PM

El Diablo,

For a good start, grab the 50-disc box set from Janus Films. If you enjoy those, check out more titles from the Criterion Collection. If nothing else, the box art design tends to be superior.

Peter666 · #9 08-01-2007, 12:04 AM

The top 5 Bergman:

Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Winter Light (Bergman's personal favourite), and Fanny and Alexander.

However, there are a bunch of honourable mentions such as Sawdust and Tinsel, Shame, Persona, and my personal favourite: The Virgin Spring.

Antonioni has two essentials: L'avventura and Blowup. The first shows the Antonioni style, and the second is his most popular.

john voight · #10 08-01-2007, 12:37 AM

I'd say Persona and and Wild Strawberries. To me however, Bergman is not that great.

Mainly I am a shallow movie watcher, meaning there is little going through my head. Dont get me wrong, I do not get amused by crappy movies, and in general, I try to watch "classic" movies exclusively. However, I do not do deep thinking/ analytical thinking through out the movie. And when I watch a Bergman movie, I know he is think deep; too deep for me to grasp.

Antonioni appeals to me much more. I have said it before:

L' Eclisse and La Aventura (which work as a series) are a fresh alternative to Filini. IMO these two movies are amongst the best Italian movies I have ever seen. And I too agree that Blow Up is one hell of a movie as well.

Blow up was such a dynamic movie. I mean you have the lazy/lingering atmosphere you have the sexy girls, you have the tension of witnessing something, and overall it is a very unique pair of shoes we step into. Hell, even w/o the main plot, this movie would be great.

I was actually holding a Bergman movie today and was debating weather to check it out. But I figured I'd go w/ punch drunk love, as it is more of a summer movie, and I am not in the mood to get depressed from Bergman's philosophical dissection.