Ingmar Bergman Vol. 1 (5-disc Blu-ray)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Alf Sjöberg and Gustaf Molander
For over 50 years, Ingmar Bergman produced ground-breaking works of cinema that established him as one of the world's most acclaimed, enduring and influential filmmakers.
Ingmar Bergman: Volume One marks the first of a four volume celebration of the auteur's work – available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK – and reflects on the opening stages of Bergman's career.
Presented over 5 discs, the set features 2K restorations of eight early written or directed by Bergman. Including initial partnerships with regular collaborators (such as cinematographer Gunnar Fischer and actor Birger Malmsten), these early works exhibit his burgeoning talents, introducing themes and tones that he would continue to develop over the next five decades.
The films:
Torment (Dir: Alf Sjöberg | Scr. Ingmar Bergman, 1944), Crisis (1946), Eva (Dir: Gustaf Molander | Scr. Ingmar Bergman, 1948), Music in Darkness (1948), Port of Call (1948), Prison (1949), Three Strange Loves(1949), and To Joy (1950).
Special Features:
• The Guardian Interview: Ingmar Bergman (1982, 62 mins, audio only): Ingmar Bergman pays tribute to Alf Sjöberg, the director of Torment, discussing his influence and impact on his own career
• Ingmar Bergman: First Cries, Early Whispers (2021, 20 mins): a new video essay by writer, filmmaker and film journalist Leigh Singer
• 100-page perfect-bound book featuring new essays by Jan Holmberg (CEO of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation), Philip Kemp, Geoff Andrew, Jessica Kiang, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Kat Ellinger and Laura Hubner
Product details
RRP: £59.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1423 / 15
Sweden / 1944-1950 / black and white / 736 minutes / Swedish, with optional English language subtitles / original aspect ratios 1.37:1 // 5 x BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM 1.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)
Ingmar Bergman Vol. 2 (6-disc Blu-ray)
For over 50 years, Ingmar Bergman produced ground-breaking works of cinema that established him as one of the world’s most acclaimed, enduring and influential filmmakers.
In the 1950s he firmly established himself at the vanguard of world cinema. Following his breakthrough success Summer with Monika (1953), Bergman continued with a series of ground-breaking productions, many of which are still considered some of the greatest films ever made.
Presented over six discs, Ingmar Bergman: Volume Two features eight landmark titles by the iconic filmmaker – presented together on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. These include the Palme d’Or-nominated comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), the introspective meditation on old age and human existence, Wild Strawberries (1957) and the iconic exploration of faith and death, The Seventh Seal (1957).
The films:
Summer Interlude (1951), Waiting Women (1952), Summer with Monika (1953), A Lesson in Love (1954), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), The Magician (1958)
Extras:
• Audio commentary on The Seventh Seal by film critic and editor-in-chief of Diabolique magazine, Kat Ellinger
• Perfect-bound book featuring new essays by David Jenkins, Ellen Cheshire, Leigh Singer, Kieron McCormack, Philip Kemp, Jessica Kiang, Geoff Andrew and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Other extras TBC
The Seventh Seal 4K UHD + Blu-ray
As the plague tears through medieval Europe, a knight (Max von Sydow), returning from the Crusades, challenges Death to a game of chess in order to postpone his demise.
An allegorical masterpiece asking big questions about faith and superstition, Ingmar Bergman’s iconic The Seventh Seal remains one of cinema’s most important and influential films.
Presented here for the first time on 4K Ultra HD – the BFI’s first ever UHD release – experience Bergman’s timeless classic like never before.
Extras
• Presented on 4K UHD Blu-ray and High Definition Blu-ray
• Audio commentary on The Seventh Seal by film critic and editor-in-chief of Diabolique magazine, Kat Ellinger
• Other extras TBC
Wild Strawberries Blu-ray
Opening with a starkly symbolic dream sequence, Wild Strawberries follows Professor Isak Borg as he journeys by car in the company of his daughter-in-law to collect an award from his former university. The trip occasions a series of reminiscences and reveries, as the ageing Borg revisits the scenes of his youth and reflects on an unhappy marriage.
Bergman pays tribute to his forebears by casting great filmmaker Victor Sjöstrom as Borg, but strikes out for a new form of intellectual cinema characterised by probing into the nature of existence.
Extras
• Presented in High Definition
• Fully illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Geoff Andrew, original review and full film credits
Ingmar Bergman Vol. 3:
For more than 50 years, Ingmar Bergman produced groundbreaking works of cinema that established him as one of the world’s most acclaimed, enduring and influential filmmakers.
Firmly established as one of cinema’s most original and artistic talents by the 1960s, Bergman continued his explorations of the human psyche with a series of increasingly provocative and stylised productions.
Including the Oscar-winning rape-and-revenge drama The Virgin Spring (1960), his assessment on the purpose and promise of religion in the Faith Trilogy (Through a Glass Darkly, The Silence, Winter Light), and the landmark psychological drama Persona (1966), through these films Bergman challenged audiences to confront and consider topics seldom explored with such depth.
The films:
The Virgin Spring (1960)
The Devil's Eye (1960)
Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
The Silence (1963)
Winter Light (1963)
All These Women (1964)
Persona (1966)
The Rite (1969)
Extras:
• Newly commissioned audio commentary on The Virgin Spring by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
• The Men and Bergman (2007, 52 mins): Eva Beling’s documentary featuring Erland Josephson, Thommy Berggren,
Börje Ahlstedt and Thorsten Flinck
• 100-page perfect bound book featuring new essays by Catherine Wheatley, Claire Marie Healy, Jannike Åhlund,
Philip Kemp, Ellen Cheshire, Geoff Andrew, Andrew Graves and Kat Ellinger
• Other extras TBC
Ingmar Bergman Vol. 4 (6-disc Blu-ray set)
For more than 50 years , Ingmar Bergman produced ground breaking works of cinema that established him as one of the world’s most acclaimed, enduring and influential filmmakers.
By the 1970s and 80s, Bergman was recognised as the doyen of directors but continued to produce trailblazing films throughout the latter period of his career.
This final volume includes Cries and Whispers (1972), his examination of suffering and the female psyche, Autumn Sonata (1978), his heralded collaboration with Ingrid Bergman, and his epic, Oscar®-winning and deeply personal Fanny and Alexander (1982) (presented in both its theatrical and television versions).
The Films
Cries and Whispers (1972) | Scenes from a Marriage (1973) | Autumn Sonata (1978) | Faro Document (1979) | From the Life of the Marrionettes (1980) | Fanny and Alexander (1982) | Fanny and Alexander (TV series) (1983) | After the Rehearsal (1984)
Special features/extras:
•Extras TBC
•Newly commissioned artwork by Andrew Bannister
•Limited edition of 5,000
Fanny and Alexander (2-disc Blu-ray)
On tumultuous year in the life of the Ekdahl family is viewed through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander, whose imagination fuels the magical goings-on leading up to and following the death of his father. When his mother remarries a stern bishop, Alexander and his sister Fanny are banished to a gothic world.
Directed by Ingmar Bergman and drawing heavily on his own memories, it highlights the young protagonist’s fascination with storytelling, while also serving as a kind of confessional critique of Bergman’s films and reworked themes, with trademark scenes of martial infighting, desperate grief, and searching existential enquiry.
This two-disc Blu-ray features both the Oscar®-winning theatrical cut and original television mini-series, presented together on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
Special features / extras:
To be confirmed