As part of the centenary celebration of the birth of Ingmar Bergman, Sweden’s greatest filmmaker, Fredrik Stattin, Claes Du Rietz, and Bergman’s son Ingmar Jr. fashioned this tribute in which four notable Swedish choreographers present new ballets inspired by the director’s careful use of movement and rhythm in his films and stage productions, all performed at a spacious airfield hanger. The first piece is a solo by Alexander Ekman set to a Chopin nocturne, accompanied by Ekman’s narrated thoughts on Bergman’s connections with dance. Pär Isberg’s duet, set to three movements from Bach’s solo cello suites, depicts a couple dancing prior to boarding a plane for a film shoot. Stefan Levin’s music informs the third ballet by Pontus Lidberg, featuring Lidberg, a horse, and a female groom danced by Isabelle Lundberg, while the fourth, also set to Levin’s music by Joakim Stephenson, juxtaposes scenes of two women in a hospital ward with scenes of the pair on a beach. Ekman’s piece includes brief clips from three of Bergman’s films, while fragments of the director’s thoughts about his methods (with references to his own life, including a near-death experience) are occasionally superimposed over the visuals. The result is a quartet of splendidly performed short ballets that demonstrate the reverence for Bergman within Sweden’s contemporary arts community. Presented in PCM stereo, extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
Ingmar Bergman Through the Choreographer’s Eye
(2016) 51 min. In Swedish w/English subtitles. DVD or Blu-ray: $24.99. Bel Air Classiques (dist. by Naxos of America). Volume 33, Issue 4
Ingmar Bergman Through the Choreographer’s Eye
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