July 31, 2007
EVEN WILD STRAWBERRIES WITHER
Needless to say we lost a towering figure today. Not just of cinema, but of art and life. Bergman's repertoire is unbelievably vast and dense. It is truly remarkable how many important films he made in the various stages of his career. My personal favorites are the early (relatively speaking) films he made when he was obsessed with death and before he found religion.
These are the notes from a deliberately unfinished screenplay I have been writing for the last 7 years that is to be completed at my old, old age. In my dreams, it is to be the grand finale of a personal human conflict trilogy. Man vs. Man (love); Man vs. Society (work, class, and country); and Man. vs. God (death and existence). Bergman was always my inspiration for this and I while I am waiting to see if I still believe in the message he gave out in his early works (even he himself abandoned this), something inside me tells me that was as close as anyone is going to get.
"And with his last bit of strength, he finally let out a smile. It was never so bad, even at its worst. But he could never let up the continuous struggle. He always knew much much he needlessly fought for just another second, how difficult he made it for himself; yet he felt that he owed at least that. It didn't matter who or what collected. Or didn't.
Only the very last second was for giving in and accepting things as they are. Only then could he finally relax. And why not? That second is the last he would know and that last second was eternal."
Marginal? Yes; but Inspired. Rest in peace you wise, old man.
Posted by Fran at July 31, 2007 12:06 AM