Stanley Kubrick’s favourite Ingmar Bergman movie
Widely recognised as one of the most important directors of the 20th century, the work of Stanley Kubrick speaks for itself. Labouring on seismic pictures like The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket and A Clockwork Orange, the auteur is a monolith of creativity in the cinematic space. When thinking of such a giant figure, it’s difficult to realise that they, just like so many millions, are fans, too.
Directors like Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese have regularly put themselves in the role of the audience. Tarantino famously didn’t go to film school and learned his trade through working at a video store, while Scorsese has probably the most extensive list of ‘favourite movies‘ of any modern director, having spent decades sharing his most essential picks. However, for Kubrick, there appear to be only two instances.
Nick Wrigley provided one for the BFI who, after a deep dive on the filmmaker, found there to be 93 movies that the director held closest. However, there was one more moment of reflection from Kubrick back in 1963 when he spoke to a fledgeling magazine called Cinema, which asked the movie-maker his ten favourite films. Included in both of those lists was an homage to one of Kubrick’s favourite directors: Ingmar Bergman.
“I believe Bergman, De Sica and Fellini are the only three filmmakers in the world who are not just artistic opportunists,” Kubrick shared in an interview dating back to 1960. “By this I mean they don’t just sit and wait for a good story to come along and then make it. They have a point of view which is expressed over and over and over again in their films, and they themselves write or have original material written for them.”
Six laters later, in 1966, he added: “There are very few directors, about whom you’d say you automatically have to see everything they do. I’d put Fellini, Bergman and David Lean at the head of my first list, and Truffaut at the head of the next level.” This admiration for Bergman continues in his list of favourite movies, both in the 1963 version and the one constructed by Wrigley, as Wild Strawberries, the movie Bergman made in 1957, is on both lists.
Often regarded as Bergman’s masterpiece, the Swedish filmmaker dives headfirst into an existential journey with the aid of his unique protagonist, professor Isak Borg. On the way to collect his honorary degree, Borg must confront the road that led him to this point in his life and the dead end we all face. It is perhaps Bergman’s decisive filmmaking style that makes this piece a favourite for Kubrick as the director uses dream sequences and flashbacks to explore some of humanity’s most essential themes.
With Wild Strawberries, it’s easy to see how Bergman can be neatly placed as one of Kubrick’s most potent influences, providing a unique viewpoint on a universal set of subjects.
