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Ingmar Bergman with A Troubled Childhood, His Fear of Mortality and Religious Disillusionment created an Immortal Cinema

Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007), Swedish stage and film director, and Sven Nykvist (1922–2006), cinematographer. Photo: During the principal cinematography of Through a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel), 1961, at Fårö island. Svensk Filmindustri (SF) press (publicity) photo. (Photo: Sfilminstitutet)

By Akerele Christabel

June 16, 2025
3:10 pm
Los Angeles, CA

The Seventh Seal portrays a disillusioned knight returning from the crusades only to find the plague ravaging his homeland, ultimately losing a game of chess to the grim reaper. Winter Light depicts a village pastor who has lost his faith and cannot communicate with his mistress. The pastor kills himself after failing to help a fisherman terrified of nuclear warfare. In Cries and Whispers, a terminally ill woman slowly dies of cancer, receiving no comfort from her sisters. Then again, one of the sisters is suicidal. Also known as “The Gloomy Swede”, Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. He is reckoned one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time. His films have been described as “profoundly personal meditations into the

‘*Seventh Seal* ’ (1957) (Photo: fotograma.es)

Also known as “The Gloomy Swede”, Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. He is reckoned one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time. His films have been described as “profoundly personal meditations into the myriad struggles facing the psyche and the soul.”

As if writing more than 50 films was not enough to place him in the hall of fame, Bergman scripted and directed, wrote for the stage, for radio and television. He authored novels and an autobiograph, then taught theater and staged performances of classic plays and operas all over the world.

Bergman’s plays are primarily set in Sweden and filmed on the small Island of Faro, northeast of Götland, beginning with Through a Glass Darkly (1961). His movies garnered international acclaim due to his willingness to push boundaries hitherto untouched. The movies Bergman produced were always identified by that touch of “inscrutable language, primeval nature and flaxen-haired women, along with depiction of nudity and a “natural” sexuality.

In a rare and illuminating interview, the reclusive screenwriter and director offered a glimpse into the internal forces of rage, fear, laziness, and boredom, that, rather than hindering him, served as catalysts for his creative endeavors. In an hour-long documentary by the Swedish television network SVT, Bergman bared his heart, speaking honestly of his troubled childhood and his fear of mortality, referring to these challenges as “his demons.”

Ingmar Bergman (Photo:
Literariedad Magazine)

“The demons are innumerable, appear at the most inconvenient times, and create panic and terror. But I have learnt that if I can master the negative forces and harness them to my chariot, then they can work to my advantage.”

“Demons don’t like fresh air – they prefer it if you stay in bed with cold feet,” he said humorously before, adding more seriously: “[For] a person who is as chaotic as me, who struggles to be in control, it is an absolute necessity to follow these rules and routines.

This discipline, even after suffering a nervous breakdown in the late 1970s, became his foundation for continued productivity, as he embraced a strict daily routine of walks, three hours of writing, lunch, and afternoon reading.

Despite his admitted isolation, Bergman insisted he was never lonely. “There is something joyous about not talking,” he remarked.

He also spoke about his troubled childhood, punctuated by a difficult parental marriage and a strict Lutheran pastor father. However, Bergman openly acknowledged that his father’s powerful sermons became an unexpected source of inspiration for many of his works. Much of his work carry a theological undertone, attempting to describe the human condition and its search for the Divine.

Bergman’s characters were often depicted to struggle with their faith in God which, in turn, affect their relationship with one another. Films like Wild Strawberries (1957) and The Magician (1958) pose theological questions to their times. At one point in his directing career, Bergman stops asking the God-questions, concludes that God is unknowable, and the human person must simply continue life’s journey seeking understanding and happiness however one can.

Wild Strawberries (1957) (Photo: hollywoodsuite.ca)

He spoke with great affection of his mother, describing her as ‘‘very warm and a very cold woman.”

”When she was warm, I tried to come close to her. But she could be very cold and rejecting.’’. he reminisced.

Bergman also complained that, due to his acclaim, collaborators have refrained from giving his work honest criticism.

“There hasn’t been anyone with whom I can discuss my scripts. Even when the film is done, there is no one I can show it to who gives his sincere opinion. There is silence.” he said.

In another interview, Bergman, when he was asked about Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and how the movie was linked to the assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan, shows himself to be a defender of artistic freedom and integrity.

He answered saying: “I think Mr Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver is a film about violence on the highest artistic level…If there will be a link between this situation with Mr Regan and this film, I think the artist can’t be responsible for that because all around the world there are people who use art in the wrong way”.

Ultimately, Ingmar Bergman’s story is not just one of a man haunted by inner demons, but of an artist who audaciously confronted those challenges and transformed them into a cinematic legacy that transcends generations. When he eventually breathed his last in 2007, a whole generation of artists and screenwriters came to pay homage to the man who has had a major impact on their works and careers.