Director extraordinarie Ingmar Bergman dies

[geek the girl]

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, an iconoclastic filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, died Monday, local media reported. He was 89 years old.

Bergman died at his home in Faro, Sweden, Swedish news agency TT said, citing his daughter Eva Bergman. A cause of death wasn't immediately available.

Through more than 50 films, Bergman's vision encompassed all the extremes of his beloved Sweden: the claustrophobic gloom of unending winter nights, the gentle merriment of glowing summer evenings and the bleak magnificence of the island where he spent his last years.

Bergman, who approached difficult subjects such as plague and madness with inventive technique and carefully honed writing, became one of the towering figures of serious filmmaking.

He was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera," Woody Allen said in a 70th birthday tribute in 1988.

(CNN.com)

I just heard about it on the radio. I have to say, I'm in shock. I knew he wasn't feeling well, but Ingmar Bergman has been such a paramount part of Swedish cinema and culture for so long; I simply cannot imagine a post-Bergman Swedish cultural life right now. His legacy will live on through other talented Swedish directors, though. Vila i frid, Ingmar. (That's "rest in peace" in Swedish.)

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[Bearcata]

I was surprised to hear he had died, I thought he had passed away awhile ago, then I figured he must have been in his late 90's or even a 100, 89 was also a surprise. He must have been a gifted filmmaker from a very young age.