--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "jpcoursodon" <jpcoursodon@...> wrote:
>
> But an auteurist like J.R.
> dissing Bergman in the Times can only bring grist to the mill of
> those who consider any attempt at seriousness in film unseemly,
> since movies are supposed to only provide mindless entertainment.
>
> JPC

JP, have you read the article? It's true that I praise Bergman as an
entertainer and compare him to George Cukor (which to me is no
insult), but I also make cases in the same article for Dreyer,
Bresson, Anotonioni, Tarkovsky, and Welles as serious filmmakers, both
in relation to film language and (in the latter three cases) as
commentators on the contemporary world. So those who think movies
should only provide mindless entertainment aren't going to find that
much backup in my piece.

And Bilge, I agree that many Bergman films are out on DVD, even though
it's obviously a much smaller fraction of the whole work than one
finds with Dreyer and Bresson. My point is that what IS available
isn't being received with the same complex seriousness that greets the
work of these other filmmakers, and that there are legitimate reasons
for this. Of course, if anyone wants to argue that Bergman deeply
altered our sense of film language and/or had fresh things to say
about the modern world to the same degree as these other filmmakers,
I'm all ears. The article is meant to stir the pot, not close the lid.

Jonathan