Persona of Ingmar Bergman (eBook)

This book looks at the creative output of one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, Ingmar Bergman, through the prism of his personal life, in particular his interpersonal and internal conflicts. The author—a practicing psychiatrist as well as a professor emeritus of psychiatry—examines Bergman’s work and reflects on how the director’s personal life profoundly influenced such films as Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly, Scenes from a Marriage, and Fanny and Alexander.

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Born to a mother who did not want him and a father who humiliated him during his upbringing, Ingmar Bergman somehow endured his dysfunctional family to become one of the great artists of the twentieth century. However, the scars left from his early agony affected him both physically and emotionally. He suffered with a disabling psychosomatic gastrointestinal illness and serious problems in his interpersonal relationships. In The Persona of Ingmar Bergman: Conquering Demons through Film, Barbara Young looks at how the director's personal life shaped his creative output. A practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Young probes Bergman's relationships with his parents, his wives, his children, and his colleagues to explore the meanings of his many films. As Bergman gradually began to work through his psychological problems, he accomplished something that few people have ever donehe analyzed himself. The films examined in this study include the majority of his features, including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, The Hour of the Wolf, The Passion of Anna, Cries and Whispers, Face to Face, Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander, and Persona. Young also draws upon recorded interviews and Bergmans autobiographical novels to provide further insight into the directors creative process.While many books have been written about Bergman and analysts have studied particular films, this volume represents a unique attempt approach to understanding an artist through his art. The Persona of Ingmar Bergman will appeal to film and art students, as well as those in the psychotherapy profession, and of course, the director's fans throughout the world.