Ingmar Bergman

Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director, and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoundly personal meditations into the myriad struggles facing the psyche and the soul". His most acclaimed works include The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Persona (1966) and Fanny and Alexander (1982). Bergman directed more than 60 films and documentaries, most of which he wrote, for both cinema releases and television screenings. He also had a theatrical career, directing over 170 plays. Among his company of actors were Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, and Max von Sydow, among others. Most of his films were set in Sweden, and many of his films from 1961 onward were filmed on the island of Fårö.

Bergman's works usually dealt with existential questions of mortality, loneliness, and religious faith. Many of his characters were engaged with both their rationality and instincts, the latter of which often manifested as sexual desire. Although raised in a devout Lutheran household, Bergman stated later in his life that he lost his faith at age eight, and he often explored the consequences of this in his films. A common motif in his works was a struggle of connection and disconnection, often in the form of a struggle to communicate, which frequently led to the conclusion that such a connection was ultimately impossible, or at least extremely fragile.