Lang Thompson replies (tongue-in-cheek, I think),





> Well, his films are mostly humorless, superficial, psychologically

> implausible and tedious.  "Cries and Whispers" would be unintentionally

> funny if only it was paced faster, "Persona" is just silly and the fact

> that he was able to make and release his faith "trilogy" is proof in itself

> that there's no God.  And I don't remember a single car chase in any of his

> movies.



I'd agree with at least some of this (tongue-in-cheek or not), and such

criticism is hardly new.  Still . . .  For all his occasional triteness

and silliness, Bergman has the power of eliciting great performances

from actors, of creating startling images, of at least daring to try to

deal with issues deeper than whether Prof. Nasty has the code to the

Z-Bomb or whatever.  Even though it seems quite old-fashioned these

days, WILD STRAWBERRIES holds up pretty well, and THE PASSION OF ANNA,

SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, and FANNY AND ALEXANDER still work well, for me

at least.  Like Griffith, he leaves images, sounds and scenes that

endure, whatever the "success" of the "message."



But all of this ventures on issues of taste, rather than any clear set

of aesthetic grounds.  There's virtually no great artist, of any medium

or genre, who is not subject to such dismissal.



Don Larsson

-----------------------------------------------------------

Donald F. Larsson

English Department, AH 230

Minnesota State University

Mankato, MN  56001



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