Kenneth Turan’s film pick of the week: Ingmar Bergman at LACMA

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The fine Los Angeles County Museum of Art tribute to Ingmar Bergman is coming to an end with a pair of excellent films showing this Saturday. At 4 p.m. there is a free screening of a new documentary, ‘And Film Is My Mistress,’ an evocative memory piece about the director by Stig Bjorkman, who will talk after the film.

And speaking of memory, at 7:30 p.m. LACMA will show the Academy’s archive print of the luminous ‘Fanny and Alexander,’ 1984’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner and one of the warmest films Bergman ever made.

No one needs an introduction to ‘Fanny and Alexander,’ a film once seen never forgotten, but the documentary by Bjorkman, a Bergman authority, has its own quiet charms.

The film mixes thoughts on Bergman by other directors like John Sayles and Olivier Assayas with fascinating behind-the-scenes footage shot on Bergman’s sets that highlight his relationship with master cinematographer Sven Nykvist and even show him blocking shots with actors. Bergman looks like he was never happier than when he was on a film set, and its a pleasure to see him that way.

-- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times film critic