On 19 th August 2007 , Konangal pays full day tribute to Ingmar Bergman and Michalangelo Antonioni

Rest in peace, dear auteurs

Konangal will host a full day tribute to Bergman and Antonioni with their films on Sunday 19th August 2007 from morning 9 .45 to evening 6.30 at Kasthuri Srinivasan Auditorium , Peelamedu , Coimbatore.

When ‘immortals’ die
The passing of Ingmar Bergman in Sweden and Michelangelo Antonioni in Italy only hours apart of each other on the same day, July 30, left a vacuum in the film world that cannot be filled for decades to come. They straddled world cinema like colossuses—two of the top 10 filmmakers of all time.















Ingmar Bergman
14h july 1918 - 30th July 2007

Bergman and Antonioni were among those who redefined cinematic language in the 1950s and thus gave birth to the art film. Now that they’re gone, those who are left of that generation of golden pioneers, Andrzej Wajda of Poland , Manoel de Oliveira of Portugal, that perpetual iconoclast Jean-luc Godard, standing along with Eric Rhomer and Claude Chabrol .

Click here to watch this video tribute to Ingmar Bergman




















Michelangelo Antonioni
29th Sept. 1912 - 30th July 2007

Their deaths came only a few months after the passing of the godfather of American independent filmmaking, Robert Altman, adding to our considerable sorrow. Bergman and Antonioni explored similar themes, each using his distinctive film vocabulary. Again and again each returned to the same themes, elaborated on the same topics, elucidated the same problems.

Click here to watch Bergman talks about Antonioni

Their exploration of the dynamics of human relationships can hardly be equaled. They found the malaise of modern society rooted in either lack of faith, loss of identity, or noncommunication among humans—and while Antonioni traces this mostly to alienation and ennui, Bergman directly puts the blame on the absence, if not the death, of God.Bergman could be philosophizing but Antonioni was the more cerebral, the master of modernist complexity, the “hero of the highbrows.”

We will be screening Bergman's much talked about films , Virgin Spring and Persona and Antonioni's masterpiece, Blow Up .

Blow Up

Year :1966 ; Run time 111 minutes

"The photographer in Blow Up, who is not a philosopher, wants to see things closer up. But it so happens that, by enlarging too far, the object itself decomposes and disappears. Hence there's a moment in which we grasp reality, but then the moment passes. This was in part of the meaning of Blow Up"
—Antonioni On Blow Up

In the hip culture of 1960s London, Thomas is a famous fashion photographer whose disillusionment is reflected in his expressionless, mannequin-like models. His technical directions have no meaning - they only serve as a means to fill the silence. He is constantly surrounded by people - celebrities, groupies, mod scene acquaintances - but is emotionally isolated. He weaves through drug parties and casual sex with the same pervasive mechanical detachment that he shows in his work. Perhaps, his only source of true intimacy comes from his brief meetings with an ex-girlfriend who has since married someone else, and can only offer abbreviated words and exchange enigmatic, knowing glances


Thomas secretly takes photos of a couple he sees embracing in a park. Through a series of blow-ups of the many exposures he snaps, he find clues to a murder. Taking a new direction with a new language, setting and editing rhythm, Antonioni makes an intriguing statement on the ambiguous nature of the film medium itself. Neither a portrait of Swinging London nor a bona fide thriller, Blow Up questions the maxim that the camera never lies and sets out into a virtually abstract examination of subjectivity and perception. Carlo Di Palma's camerwork leavens the brew, while the film's finale—a ballless tennis match—became a reference point of the 60's cinema.
Click here to watch 'Blow Up' trailer.
Click here for 'Blow Up' photo shoot session !

Like many of Antonioni's films, Blowup is a parable of answered prayers: the idea that the distraction of wealth and fame cannot fill the void of loneliness, nor substitute for a soul's unrequited passion


The Virgin Spring

Year : 1960 ; Run time 89 mins. ; Swedish with English subtitles

One of the few films that Ingmar Bergman directed but did not write. Oscar winning Bergman classic The Virgin Spring begins with Karin (Birgitta Petersson) and Ingeri ( Gunnel Lindblom )being sent on a journey to church by their mother (Birgitta Valberg) and father (von Sydow), who are very strict Christians. Ingeri is jealous of all the attention lavished on the spoilt but innocent Karin and tricks her naïve stepsister into continuing the journey to church alone. Karin soon meets two herdsmen (Axel Düberg and Tor Isedal) and a boy (Ove Porath), and offers to share a meal with them. However, events quickly take a horrific turn.

Adapted from a fourteenth century Swedish legend by screenwriter and novelist Ulla Isaksson, The Virgin Spring is a harrowing, yet ultimately affirming portrait of faith, humanity, and atonement. Using chiaroscuro imagery that interplays light and shadows, Ingmar Bergman reflects the process of spiritual illumination in the transitional era of the Middle Ages where mysticism, amorality, and paganism coexisted with the period of intellectual, artistic, and religious enlightenment.

Persona

Year : 1966 –Run time 85 minutes – Swedish with English sub titles.

Persona is often considered to be Bergman’s masterpiece and is often described as one of the central works of Modernism. Bergman himself claimed that this film ‘touched wordless secrets only the cinema can discover’. Persona is arguably Ingmar Bergman's most challenging film. Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullman) is an accomplished stage actress who, in the middle of performing Elektra, ceases to speak. Sister Alma (Bibi Andersson), the young nurse assigned to care for her, learns that there is nothing physically or even psychologically wrong with Elisabeth - she has simply, consciously decided not to speak. Alma (the name, not accidentally, is the Spanish word for soul) describes her initial impressions of Elisabeth as gentle and childlike, but with strict eyes. She takes Elisabeth to the attending physician's remote summer house to facilitate her recuperation. At first, the two seem ideally suited: a talkative, candid, and inexperienced nurse, and a sophisticated, enigmatic, and silent patient. They take long walks, bask in the sun, and read together. It is obvious that their isolation has cultivated a sense of intimacy between them, albeit one-sided.

Click here for Persona video clip

Persona is a provocative, highly cerebral, and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty, and identity. Bergman uses minimal composition and extremely tight close-ups to illustrate the theme of psychological deconstruction. You may note the prevalent use of single camera shots throughout the duration of a scene. The lack of camera movement forces us to study the characters' faces. Persona, after all, as the title suggests, is not about who the person actually is, but the different identities, or facades, that the person projects.

Screening at Kasthuri Srinivasan Auditorium , Peelamedu , Cbe.
9.45 am to 6.30 pm on Sunday 19th August 2007.
Age limit 18 years. For refreshmnets and lunch Rs.50
You are welcome to contribute more and support our efforts in popularising good cinema.
Call :94430 39630 Email : konangal@gmail.com