Showing posts with label Ingmar Bergman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ingmar Bergman. Show all posts

Monday, July 4, 2016

Celebrating U.S.A.'s 240th birthday today from hot & humid Florida, but wishing I was in Sweden, on a boat in the Stockholm archipelago, eating strawberries with friends, and enjoying the Midnight Sun; Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries"

Snapshots, in a few tweets and words, of what I'm thinking about today, the Fourth of July...
Celebrating U.S.A.'s 240th birthday today from hot & humid Florida, but wishing I was in Sweden, on a boat in the Stockholm archipelago, eating strawberries with friends, and enjoying the Midnight Sun; Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries"







A photo posted by fullofkeys (@fullofkeys) on

Above, a great recent snapshot of a boat in an archipelago in Sweden taken on Midsummer Day by super-talented Anni Bernhard, a.k.a. singer Full of Keys, a friend of the blog and someone we adore for a whole host of good reasons, many of which we've written about here in the past.



Updated on 2016-07-05

Well, it's the Fourth of July, Birthday #240 for the USA.
Owing perhaps to the oppressive heat and humidity of Florida as I'm experiencing it in 2016. I mentioned strawberries in one of my tweets earlier today to Magnus Lundin, savvy and personable CEO of SISP, the Swedish Incubators & Science Parks, located in beautiful Stockholm, because 
a.) I really do LOVE strawberries, and,
b.) It seems without ever planning to, more often than not, most Fourth of July weekends, at some point, often after watching fireworks, I end up watching Ingmar Bergman's iconic film "Wild Strawberries" because... it's SO perfect, SO summer and SO Sweden!

I can't believe that I and my then-friends put up with this crazy summer heat as a kid growing-up in South Florida in the early and mid-1970's, riding our bikes EVERYWHERE during the day, without benefit of plastic water bottles!


Which is to say, for me, it's a perfect film for transporting me away from my everyday, mundane concerns, including helping me to forget how truly hot it is outside, with mosquitos buzzing around aiming to make me their meal ticket, something that was just as true this time of the year when I was living and working in Chicago and Washington, D.C. as it is today back in Florida. 

Part of the genius of this film, at least to me, is that like the best films, it always gives gives the viewer a reason to contemplate a life very different from the one they are currently living, since it has a huge dollop of wistfulness in it, something I, perhaps, already spend too much time considering.
This classic film of remembrance, known as Smultronställe in Swedish, officially opened in Sweden on December 26th, 1957, but for me, it remains a film of #summer.

One of my all-time favorite films, I've probably seen it, conservatively, over two dozen times, mostly on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), though I have a DVD and videocassette of it and many other Bergman films. It's a film that I always gets something new out of, and never tire of watching in part because there's so very much going on, even when it doesn't always seem that way.
It stars Victor Sjostrom, and a 22-year old Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin and Gunnar Björnstrand.  I've got some good clips of it at the bottom of this post for you to peruse.

 For those of you who are new to my blog and the wide variety of subjects that I like to discuss, share and analyze here, or newbies to my ever-expanding number of Followers on Twitter via my @hbbtruth handle, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth, I note here that Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman was accorded one of the greatest honors of any film personality I can think of when a few years ago, he was chosen to be the face of the newest Swedish 200 Kronor note, starting last year, replacing Selma Lagerlöf, who was the first female writer to ever win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Designed by Göran Österlund

I previously discussed who the newest faces of Swedish currency were in this April 25, 2012 blog post titled, "Beautiful, just like the original! Greta Garbo will be featured on the new Swedish 100 Kronor note, with Ingmar Bergman on the 200 SEK note, all designed by Göran Österlund, starting in 2015"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/beautiful-just-like-original-greta.html

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

DVR Alert! Thursday morning's Turner Classic Movies schedule features three of my all-time favorites: Ingmar Bergman's 'Wild Strawberries' & 'The Virgin Spring,' and Lasse Hallström's 'My Life as a Dog', all from Svensk Filmindustri (SF)


Robin Quivers YouTube Channel video: Ang Lee on The Virgin Spring. Uploaded August 25, 2012. http://youtu.be/GmFGB3hMluk

DVR Alert! Thursday morning's Turner Classic Movies schedule features three of my all-time favorites: Ingmar Bergman's 'Wild Strawberries' & 'The Virgin Spring,' and Lasse Hallström's 'My Life as a Dog', all from Svensk Film Industri (SFI)

 Reminiscing on a life that could have been and seeing the uneasy co-existence of good and evil in our hearts, Bergman-style; Youthful lessons learned that are sad and knowing, funny and absolutely amazing.
All on DirecTV Channel 256
7:45 a.m. Wild Strawberries (1957)

9:30 a.m. The Virgin Spring (1960)

(11:01 a.m. short The Battle Of Gettysburg (1956)

11:30 a.m. My Life As A Dog (1987)
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Monday, December 24, 2012

Two views of the entertainment world of Christmas 1957: Pre-Christmas shopping and American comedy as seen thru the eyes of Jack Benny, and Ingmar Bergman's masterful 'Wild Strawberries' opens in Sweden the day after Christmas and becomes a classic from Day One


MiscVideos78rpm YouTube Channel video: The Jack Benny Program - Christmas Shopping (Original air date: December 15, 1957). 
Uploaded December 23, 2012. http://youtu.be/u17Xo0dqJ34
And on December 26th, 1957, Ingmar Bergman's classic film and screenplay of remembrance, "Wild Strawberries" -Smultronställe- officially opened in Sweden, the same year that he had directed his first film, the classic, "The Seventh Seal." 

Both are among my all-time favorite films, and in the case of Wild Strawberries, I've probably seen it -conservatively- over 20 times, mostly on Turner Classic Movies/TCM, and it's a film I always gets something new out of, and am always trying to persuade people to see for the first time.
Starring Victor Sjostrom, and a then-22-year old Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin and Gunnar Björnstrand. 


Wild Strawberries, 1957, Directed by Ingmar Bergman (Opening scene)
Rafael Lasevitz YouTube Channel, Uploaded April 6, 2015
https://youtu.be/NeJQXA6CCuA

A better version of this amazing scene and other clips from the film are at 


 MiscVideos78rpm YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MiscVideos78rpm
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Beautiful, just like the original! Greta Garbo will be featured on the new Swedish 100 Kronor note, with Ingmar Bergman on the 200 SEK note, all designed by Göran Österlund, starting in 2015


Designed by Göran Österlund

Beautiful, just like the original! Greta Garbo will be featured on the new Swedish 100 Kronor note, with Ingmar Bergman on the 200 SEK note, all designed by Göran Österlund, starting in 2015
Many years ago, when I was still living in the Washington, D.C. area, and despite a busy schedule, usually managing to see a foreign film a week, one night while leaving the theatre, completely out-of-the-blue, I came to the sudden realization that unless Uma Thurman or Cate Blanchett agreed to portray her in a well-written biopic, there was almost no chance we were ever going to see a top-tier actress play Garbo in a believable way.
Queen Christina trailer (1933): The One and Only Garbo!
I think I've probably seen Queen Christina about a dozen times over the past 30 years.

There's already a story and photo gallery of the five banknotes designed by Göran Österlund up on the online version of Aftonbladet, Sweden's most-read daily newspaper, which I read everyday online.

Här är de nya sedlarna
By Camilla Sundell
April 24, 2012

The five notes will likely be introduced in 2015, once the security features are added
Ingmar Bergman is on the new 200 Kronor note, replacing Selma Lagerlöf, who was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Designed by Göran Österlund

Former U.N. Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld is to be on the 1000 SEK note.
I first read Hammarskjöld's book of poetry, Markings, when I was at JFK Junior High in North Miami Beach in the mid-70's and it just totally amazed me.
I checked that book out of the NMB public library and continuously renewed it for about 4-6 months after it was placed back on the shelves.

Designed by Göran Österlund

Here's the official press release, in English:
http://www.riksbank.se/Documents/Pressmeddelanden/2012/prm_120424_eng.pdf

"All of the entries in the design competition will also be presented at the Royal Coin Cabinet/Sweden's Museum of Economy from May 4th...".

Sveriges Riksbank video: Sveriges nya sedlar presenteras. 
Press conference in Stockholm unveiling the five new Swedish banknotes in a series that are slated to hit the street in 2015, celebrating Swedish cultural icons and provinces. April 24, 2012. http://youtu.be/0CCtjMf1ESI

You can skip to the unveiling at 11:47!

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http://www.youtube.com/user/SverigesRiksbank
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