Four Screen Plays of Ingmar Bergman: Smiles of a Summer Night - The Seventh Seal - Wild Strawberries - The Magician

When this first edition was published in 1960, Ingmar Bergman had already been winning awards for his films mostly in Europe (e.g. at Cannes) for a few years, and rightfully so. He had an extraordinary string of films in the 1950’s (and of course beyond) which explored a wide range of topics, e.g. religion, life’s meaning, marriage, relationships, aging, and death, and did so in such a deeply personal and honest way. He did not shy away from showing the somber and dark aspects of life, but he was also lyrical and playful, particularly in his earlier films. This collection of screenplays includes Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), and The Magician (1958), as well as stills from the show more films and introductory material from Carl Anders Dymling, his producer, and Bergman himself. It’s quite simply a treasure to read, particularly those center two works, which are true masterpieces. show less

My exposure to art films in Manila was a series of films in this book. I was so inspired I bought it to remember how these films affected me and change my view of cinema.

Slant Magazine's Joseph Jon Lanthier wrote: ¨This piquant control over cinematic grammar doesn’t quite rescue the film from a laughably zombie-tinged climax and an anomalous deus ex machina denouement, but it makes The Magician one of Bergman’s more accessible failures, and collapses any suspicious connection between him and the fretful Vogler.¨