3) Shame
4) Cries and Whispers
5) Wild Strawberries
All were highly valuable cinematic experiences, most were profound cinematic experiences. None do I regret. Time has made Shame increasingly attractive, while Persona and The Seventh Seal are incidentally the two that I have seen twice (in some weak sense). Cries and Whispers was an immersive nighttime viewing, while Wild Strawberries was a tired nighttime viewing. All but Persona and Cries and Whispers have Max von Sydow, an actor I now love; all but The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries have Liv Ullman, an actress I now love; all but Shame and Cries and Whispers have Bibi Andersson, another actress I esteem highly. Bergman is now one of my favorite directors: although he hasn't connected with my humanity, as Cianfrance, Inarritu and others so easily do, he has consistently excited my mind and provided an atmosphere of supreme interest. I will surely revisit him, and in some time explore him even further. He is more reliable than Tarkovsky, it seems, at least with these films. They all hold a very unique and significant place in my catalogue.
My growing comfort with Bergman tells me that it's time to move on, as the most valuable experiences are those that put my mind where it does not belong. However, I am not saying that Bergman is easy for me, nor that I fully appreciate him. I have miles to move, especially with respect to quality thematic analysis. But I am comfortable with my enjoyment of these films, and since coherency is unnecessary to a degree, that comfort is big enough to merit my shift of focus, especially given how profoundly uncomfortable some other directors are. It's all about priorities: if I had no other movies to watch than Bergman, I would rewatch all of these films in an instant and in doing so waste no time and have a plethora of things to gain.
My growing comfort with Bergman tells me that it's time to move on, as the most valuable experiences are those that put my mind where it does not belong. However, I am not saying that Bergman is easy for me, nor that I fully appreciate him. I have miles to move, especially with respect to quality thematic analysis. But I am comfortable with my enjoyment of these films, and since coherency is unnecessary to a degree, that comfort is big enough to merit my shift of focus, especially given how profoundly uncomfortable some other directors are. It's all about priorities: if I had no other movies to watch than Bergman, I would rewatch all of these films in an instant and in doing so waste no time and have a plethora of things to gain.
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