Friday, May 30, 2008
BACK TO THE LIST
I returned to the NYTimes Best 1176 Film list today with Ingemar Bergman's
What a heavy reentry.
I take this as one more opaque drama about the battle between the id and the superego.
It has a bit of everything in it and there are even some taboos broken. A child sees a bit more than a child ought to see to say nothing of being in the middle of a significant triangle between two women. Sisters I think. Maybe not. At least one is a lesbian with a crush on the other.
I broke a rule and watched the dubbed version. It didn't make a lot of difference, I think, because a lot of what goes on is, well, silent.
This is some hard shit to wade through.
I think that Bergman was appropriately big in his time. He broke through a lot of limits to cinematic expression.
But the work has no legs.
It is tired.
I looked at my watch many times and felt sleepy too.
I will give the old Swede a 2 out of Netflix5.
I didn't like it but I watched the whole thing.
Labels: best films
