Ingmar Bergman, legendary film director, is dead at 89

Last updated at 16:26 30 July 2007


Ingmar Bergman, who influenced a generation of film-makers with his frequently stark works, has died. He was 89.

His daughter Eva today confirmed that the director of classics such as Wild Strawberries, "passed away peacefully" at his home on the remote and windswept Swedish island of Faro.

Bergman retired there permanently four years ago, announcing that he "didn't want to become less good" at his work and declaring his intention never again to leave.

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Ingmar Bergman

The self-taught Swedish film-maker and writer was one of the great cultural figures of the 20th century, directing 54 films, 126 theatre productions and 39 radio plays during his 60-year career.

Tributes poured in today for the director whose most famous film, The Seventh Seal (1957) focuses on the character of a medieval knight playing chess with death.

"He was one of the great masters and one of the great humanists of cinema. He proved that cinema could be an art form," said Nick James, editor of Sight & Sound, the magazine of the British Film Institute.

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Evening Standard film critic Derek Malcolm said today: "Bergman was without doubt one of the world's master filmmakers. He was acknowledged everywhere as a formidably tough commentator on human nature whose brilliantly acted and technically accomplished films had a profund influence on the cinema.

"For some, he was the epitome of the gloomy Swede and his style and means of expression were often parodied. But despite his pessimism and his belief that the quest for happiness so often proves illusory his films were immensely powerful and attracted imitations, mostly unsuccessful, from many young film-makers."

His other movies included Through A Glass Darkly, Fanny And Alexander and The Virgin Spring - each earning him Oscars for best foreign language film. In 1971 he won the Academy's lifetime achievement award.

As a sickly child, Bergman was allegedly caned by his father, a Lutheran pastor. In a rare interview in 2001, Bergman said he had been tormented by personal demons throughout his life. "I have learnt that if I can master the negative forces and harness them to my chariot, then they can work to my advantage."

Despite his gloomy reputation, those who worked with him insisted that his films were "fun" and there was much laughter on-set.

Five times married, Bergman is believed to have fathered nine children, including author Linn Ullman, his daughter with Norwegian actress Liv Ullman, who had roles in several of his films.

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