Ingmar Bergman: The director Stanley Kubrick called “the greatest filmmaker”
It is an undisputed fact that Stanley Kubrick is one of cinema’s all-time greats, responsible for helming masterpieces such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr Strangelove, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. Beginning his career as a photographer, Kubrick transitioned to filmmaking despite having the limited funds to do so.
However, Kubrick didn’t let this stop him from achieving his aim of becoming a director, even if that meant creating his first feature, Fear and Desire, with a skeleton crew, carrying out most of the production himself. By the 1960s, Kubrick had displayed enough talent to land himself in contact with significant studios and stars, rising to prominence with movies such as Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas and Lolita, a darkly comic adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s classic novel.
Kubrick truly cemented himself as a cinematic genius with 2001: A Space Odyssey, an epic sci-fi journey that charts the rise and fall of humankind, introducing us to a terrifying sentient AI computer, HAL. Kubrick’s movie still poses relevant questions today, and it feels unquestionably ahead of its time. Its pioneering special effects were groundbreaking, leading some people to believe that Kubrick must’ve also been responsible for faking the moon landing with set pieces from the film.
To achieve such cinematic greatness, Kubrick studied the masters such as Ingmar Bergman. The Swedish director is another name who is frequently considered one of the cinematic greats, and his extensive, near-perfect filmography is proof of this. From The Seventh Seal to Wild Strawberries, Autumn Sonata, Persona, Scenes From A Marriage and Summer With Monika, Bergman’s meditations on the human condition are always richly composed and measured.
Kubrick was a huge fan of Bergman’s work, selecting Wild Strawberries as one of his all-time favourite movies. He once sent Bergman a letter expressing his admiration for his craft, writing, “Your vision of life has moved me deeply, much more deeply than I have ever been moved by any films. I believe you are the greatest filmmaker at work today.”
He added: “Beyond that, allow me to say you are unsurpassed by anyone in the creation of mood and atmosphere, the subtlety of performance, the avoidance of the obvious, the truthfulness and completeness of characterization.”
“I believe you are blessed with wonderful actors. Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin live vividly in my memory, and there are many others in your acting company whose names escape me. I wish you and all of them the very best of luck, and I shall look forward with eagerness to each of your films,” Kubrick gushed.
