best film: There is quite a bit to choose from here as Bibi Andersson was a frequent player in the world of the great Ingmar Bergman. Wild Strawberries and Scenes from a Marriage deserve some consideration – but in the long run it comes down to either The Seventh Seal or Persona with 1966’s bold masterpiece ultimately earning the top honor. This category is most definitely a strength for Andersson – both Persona and The Seventh Seal are easy top 100 of all-time films.
Persona– the best of Bibi’s nine (9) collaborations the great Ingmar Bergman
best performance: Though her work in the same film may fall short of Liv Ullmann’s, Bibi Andersson’s performance in Persona should not be overlooked. There is no shame in losing out to Ullmann. Andersson plays Alma, and her monologue – a sort of erotic confession to Ullmann’s Elisabet Vogler – is one of the highlights of this masterpiece.
stylistic innovations/traits: Bibi Andersson is the third actor from the talented troupe of Bergman players to make this list after Ullmann and Ingrid Thulin. Chronologically, Bibi started working with Bergman after Harriet Andersson (no relation) but before Liv Ullmann. Both Andersson’s are in Smiles of a Summer Night – one of Bergman’s breakthrough films and successes. Harriet was the more known quantity at the time in 1955 and this is Bibi’s first archiveable film. Bibi would surpass Harriet here in Bergman’s eyes for the next few years – similar to how Liv Ullmann would surpass Bibi in the late 1960s. That transition is certainly on display in the four person chamber drama The Passion of Anna in 1969 (where Ullmann is Anna). Bibi never really excelled outside of her collaborations with Bergman (like say Ingrid Thulin in The Damned) and she missed out on Cries & Whispers (it is almost tragic for that Bibi did not land a role in this particular Bergman film especially with room enough for four great female roles in it). Yet, Bibi is in all three films: Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal and Persona– just like Gunnar Björnstrand.
Bibi playing Bergman’s personification of purity and goodness – Mary – in 1957’s The Seventh Seal
directors worked with: Ingmar Bergman (9)
Bibi Andersson plays a crucial role in Wild Strawberries – a dual role – one character is Sara- the professor’s love interest from his youth – the other a hitchhiker. Bergman’s pen is so sharp – the two hitchhiker suiters of Bibi’s character debating religion at lunch is just one of the many superior exchanges and scenes.
top five performances:
- Persona
- Wild Strawberries
- The Passion of Anna
- The Seventh Seal
- The Magician
archiveable films
| 1955- Smiles of a Summer Night |
| 1957- The Seventh Seal |
| 1957- Wild Strawberries |
| 1958- The Magician |
| 1964- All These Women |
| 1966- Duel at Diablo |
| 1966- Persona |
| 1969- Passion of Anna |
| 1971- The Touch |
| 1973- Scenes From a Marriage |
| 1978- An Enemy of the People |
| 1987- Babette’s Feast |
@Drake-You have missed to include The Touch(1971) on her archiveable film list.
@Malith – you’re right- thank you
What grade does All These Women get?
@Harry- have you had a chance to catch it? HR/MS was the grade I gave it.
@Drake – not yet, I want to rewatch some of the Bergman films I’m lower on than the consensus before getting to more from him (only seen 11 so far). I’ve heard people call All These Women one of the worst Bergman films but you’ve made me excited to get to it
@Harry- I mean there are other Bergman films to get to first- but this one is such an odd duck- in some ways it resembles a Greenaway film more than a Bergman film. It is bold, ambitious, flawed for sure- send up a flare when you get to it.
@Drake – I ended up catching both Face to Face and All These Women tonight, really impressed with both. Super excited to see how your re-racked Bergman page turns out later this year.
Regarding All These Women
– Packed with some of Bergman and Nykvist’s most astoundingly beautiful work, this mansion is stunning, the production design will just blow your hair back. Just opens so strong with the rigidly designed funeral then the gorgeous drive up the mansion on the torch lit road. The first hour is stronger than the last thirty minutes, but in the finale there’s genius, pristine, blocking of all these women as they witness a concert.
– I do wish Bergman didn’t waste all this and used everything filmed on one of his better screenplays, but still. A must see film, it’s one of the most unique films in his library that I’ve come across so far but I didn’t appreciate any of the comedy
@Harry- Nice! Thank you for sharing here Harry. Good work out of you.
Glad to see you get to All These Women Harry, it’s a fascinating film. Drake mentions that it may be an influence on Peter Greenaway, but the more self-aware humour also feels like it had some impact on Monty Python, and that formal playfulness in turn seems to be lifting from Godard at some points. Certainly the Chaplin and Marx Brothers styles of comedy is there (though a lot of that falls flat for me), and a fair bit of Michael Powell in the Technicolor cinematography. There are lot of descriptions I’ve seen which describe it as Bergman’s parody of 8 1/2, and though I can certainly see aspects of that I don’t think it exactly captures the full scope of what he’s going for. It is very much a pastiche of wildly different influences, for better and for worse.
Face to Face is probably the Bergman film I’m anticipating most in my study. I’ve seen it once before but somehow it ended up being one of my first Bergman films at the time, so I don’t think I was at all ready for it. I’ve found it’s also one of his hardest to track down.
I honestly think of their performances as a dual achievement. One compliments and enhances the other. Bibi’s work is quite outstanding though and shouldn’t be overlooked