The Birth of Ingrid Bergman

Author: Pamela Hutchinson

Translator: Yi Ersan

Proofreading: Tan Tian

Source: Sight & Sound (25 Aug 2022)

Ingrid Bergman 's curtain call in Hollywood was much more dramatic than her appearance , and of course more famous. In 1949, with " Casablanca " (1942), " Gaslight " (1944) and with Hitchcock " Doctor Edward " (1945), " Beauty " (1946) ) and The Merry Night (1949) established themselves in Hollywood, the Swedish star left for Italy to work with the director she admired, Roberto Rossellini.

At the filming site of " Love at the Edge of the Volcano " (1950), appreciation turned into love. The married Bergman and Rossellini started a relationship and became pregnant, which set off a wave of love in the United States. A massive scandal. Bergman lost custody of her daughter with husband Peter Lindstrom, and the dispute intensified with the two's divorce and Bergman's (with Rossellini's) swift remarriage.

"Love on the Edge of a Volcano"

After being denounced by the media as a bad role model, Bergman flew back to Europe, religious groups denounced her for "glorifying adultery," and the influential Senator Edwin C. Johnson labelled Rossellini a "drug addict" and a "notorious Nazi collaborator" and exclaimed: "A better Hollywood will grow from the ashes of Ingrid Bergman."

In show business, however, scandals tend not to be discussed for long. After six years, Bergman announced her return to the American screen with (1956), a role that earned her a second Oscar. In 1972, the Senate issued a formal apology for the vicious attack.

"True and False"

In 2015, Stig Bjorkman's astute documentary "Ingrid Bergman's Oral Record" faithfully presents the actor's taint and how the event has affected her relationship with her children The added difficulty, but refreshingly, is not its only focus. Comprised of Bergman's diaries and letters (voiced by Alicia Vikander ) as well as her rich home movie clips, the film also reveals the fascinating beginnings of her career.

Bergman's early years reveal not only her ambitions as an actress, but also her attitude to separating work and home life, and the calm and confidence she held in her Hollywood debut. Happily, Bergman's early performances in Swedish films also give us a glimpse of what she'll be doing in many successful English-language films. A few years before her career was shaken by scandals, Bergman's image had emerged as a privately very independent actress who was best at playing a mysterious woman with a secret she didn't dare to tell.

"Ingrid Bergman Oral Record"

Bergman was born in 1915 in Stockholm . Her Swedish father Justus was an artist and keen photographer, and her German mother Friedel tragically lost two babies before she was born. Bergman is named after Ingrid, a princess who had just learned to walk in the Swedish royal family. Her father was named after her. Documenting her life with photos from the beginning. Bergman joked to his biographer Charlotte Chandler: "I'm probably the most photographed kid on Scandinavia .son. "

Bergman was just two years old when her mother died, too young to understand the trauma, but she later described it as "living in a pain" that "begins So early, so ingrained, I just didn't realize it right away." Throughout his childhood, Bergman's father had been photographing and filming his only child, and the young Bergman loved dancing and acting in front of the camera Very relaxing.

In 1929, when Bergman was 13 years old, her father died of stomach cancer. Her sense of loss was much stronger this time, and she had to move to a relative's house.

At the age of 15, Bergman got his first job at a film studio as an extra. Entering the studio, she wrote, "felt like walking on holy ground," an experience she found so exciting that she wanted to stay forever, and she wore bright makeup on the way home , so that anyone who sees her will know she's in the movie. Bjorkman's documentary recreates a still from "The International Game" (Landskamp, ​​1932), with Bergman standing at the back of a line of extras, craned his neck, possibly to make sure his face was on camera, Or for the view of the sacred photo studio.

The Swedish film industry was stable and prolific in the early 1930s, although it lost two directors crucial to its golden age of the early 1920s - Victor Sjostrom and Maury Z Stiller - and the star-studded Greta Garbo . Bergman couldn't wait to be a part of it, and when she was still studying at the Royal Academy of Drama, she asked her uncle Gunnar, the florist, for help.

One of Uncle Gunnar's clients was actress and director Karin Swanstrom, who was then the artistic director of Swedish Films Studio. Gunnar persuaded Swanstrom to give Bergman an audition, a poetry reading, and she described the experience in self-deprecating language. "Karin watched me walk around the room and perform exaggeratedly," Bergman wrote in her memoir. "She didn't look uncomfortable, so it wasn't a bad start." Swans Not only did Trom not feel sick, he even arranged an audition for Bergman with director Gustav Moreland .

When she first saw herself on screen—even though she was relaxed in front of the camera—Berman was still shocked and disappointed. "I don't look good, do I?" she said to Moreland . "If I did some more movies, I might do better." Moreland reassured her and told her that she Her charisma works great in the movie, "You have a lot of potential."

Still, she's known to the studio for this self-critical and optimistic personality that pops up on nearly every shoot. In this case, she was nicknamed "Betterlater" by the staff. More than a decade later, when she accepted her first Oscar for Best Actress for "Under the Gaslight," she expressed a similar sentiment: "I hope I'll be worthy of it in the future." Bergman believes Moreland taught her how to restrain her emotions and gave her pragmatic advice: "Always be yourself, always remember your lines." Several of Bergman's later films in Sweden with him are among her best. .

"Gaslight"

However, Bergman's first sound film "The Count of Menkebro" (1934) was not produced by Moreland; the task fell to Edwin Adolfson, He was a famous flirt who tried to lure Bergman away from her affair with Lindstromopen. It's a comedy in which Bergman plays a cheerful maid who is pursued by a charming and mysterious punk. Bergman is funny and lovable, but when she shares a love scene with the male lead, she shows a touch of the restraint and passion of her character Ilsa in Casablanca—fear and passion. Infatuation and desire are intertwined.

Bergman tends to feel like a duck on set, evoking complex emotions rather than theatrical mannerisms. Many reviews praised her as a talented and confident actor, although the 5-foot-9 Bergman remembers the harshest comments that she was "slightly fat" and "burly and confident." . Her fancy and unflattering striped dress may be the main reason for that impression.

"Casablanca"

Soon Bergman signed a contract with a Swedish film company for 75 kroner a day, plus a bonus - perhaps especially important for a 19-year-old girl, that she could keep All the clothes I wore in the movie. Unsurprisingly, her head of drama school (and Moreland's brother) was shocked by this, but Bergman was determined to work in the film industry, and reassured herself that the studio's pay would allow her to pay more Tuition fees for drama courses.

I don't know if it is because of the experience accumulated in these courses or because of Bergman's own perfectionism, her career in the Swedish film company is progressing very smoothly. In Sweden, she became a star. "I like the freedom I feel in front of the camera," Bergman wrote in 1935. "I hope I make no mistakes and become a great actor one day." She has read some of the comments about her performance, mostly praise, but she's afraid she believes too much in them. "There were rumors that I was the greatest talent at the time...I hope I don't become vain." In 1936, she made the film that would eventually bring her to Hollywood. Although Bergman has worked with Moreland on several films before, "Cold Night" is the platform for her talent to be showcased. “Cold Nights was made for her,” Moreland said, “but I’m not responsible for the film. Bergman made it a success.”

In the film, Bergman plays the piano Teacher Anita, who falls in love with her student's married father, a violinist. It's a wonderful character for Bergman, and the plot echoes her own conflict between her dedicated work and her personal life -- issues that are only just beginning to emerge at this point. Bergman, who plays Anita, is sweet and girly, but can also — in piano and romantic scenes — be horny. And there are trendy outfits, glamorous makeup and lingering close-ups to show off her best strengths.

"Cold Night"

Moreland's films are lyrical and emotionally complex, inspiring the chemistry between the cold and passionate hero and heroine. Playing opposite Bergman is Gersta Ekman, a legendary and handsome theater and film actor with whom Bergman has worked once before and who he admires professionally. "A Cold Night" and Bergman's performance in it were enthusiastically praised by critics in Sweden and around the world. Now, Miss Slow Heater is fully capable of being ambitious.

Bergman returned to the stage at one point, and then began to pick on the movie roles she got. Before taking on another "naive girl" type role in Moreland's "The Only Night" (1939), Bergman asked to try something new, asking first in the director's "The Face of a Woman " (1938) as a disfigured and distressed character.

Bergman plays Anna, a vicious, ruthless criminal with horrific burn scars on her face. Bergman's face was distorted by glue, makeup and braces implanted in her cheeks. Despite the ruined face, Bergman's posture is still very elegant, sheThe performance is sharp and chilling. As the film progresses, Anna undergoes cosmetic surgery, her facial features become smooth, and Bergman also shows that her character gradually softens. Overall, though, it's a grim chamber drama, and a precursor to the psychological horror that Bergman portrays in Under the Gaslight.

"The Face of a Woman"

Bergman was nervous about the film's reaction ("This is a role I've never tried, and I wonder what audiences will say when they see me play such a horrible witch") , but she was totally overthinking it. Ana is just an ugly version of the brooding, mysterious woman she's good at playing. In 1941, MGM remakes "The Face of a Woman," starring Joan Crawford , and changing it to a happier, simpler ending.

Bergman's next bold move is riskier. The Swedish film industry has been unable to give her everything she wants. "It never occurred to me to stay in Sweden all the time," she wrote. "This country is too remote and too small. I want to go to a big place." In the spring of 1938, Bergman married Lindstrom and was pregnant with their daughter Pia, who was married to Ufa of Germany. The studio signed a contract. If Bergman was naive about the political situation in Germany when she signed the document, then when she arrived at Berlin , the truth was quite stark, and she quickly regretted her decision. In her memoir, she mentioned: "I learned very quickly that if you can get a place in the film industry, you must be a member of the Nazis." A work aimed at launching her international career ("A Bridge to Success"), she plays the most glamorous of four young female graphic designers who co-found a company, At the same time, they each go through unfortunate romantic experiences. Four Companions (1938), directed by Karl Florich, was a mix of bright comedy, soft feminism and romantic drama interspersed with poignant street scenes of late 1930s Berlin.

"The Four Companions"

Despite the language barrier, Bergman's performance in "The Four Companions" is excellent, and it's a captivating film. However, apprehensive about what she saw in Berlin, Bergman returned to Stockholm to give birth, breaking her promise to Ufa Films, even without officially canceling her contract. Bergman later stated that the guilt she harbored at the time for Ufa Films prompted her to volunteer for the U.S. Army during World War II , in the TV biopic "A Woman Called Golda" (1982) The curtain call of his career, the film tells the story of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir .

After a failed break into the German film industry, Bergman is back at home with her husband and children, and begins to think about a more secure life than she initially dreamed of. However, without her knowledge, "Cold Night" is casting its magic on the other side of the Atlantic. Although there have been olive branches thrown by "Cinema World Center" before, the following invitation is unusual. .

Producer David O. Selznick sent Kay Brown, the head of the New York office at the time, to search for European films suitable for remakes - and it didn't take long for her to find The Chime pick". The boy operating the elevator in Brown’s Park Avenue apartment was a Swedish immigrant, and his parents loved the film, and he knew Brown was looking for material, so he conveyed his parents’ praise for the film. So Brown watched the film, but was not impressed. "I reported to David about the possibility of using 'A Cold Night' as a story material, but I wasn't overly excited," she later recalled. "But I just fell in love with the girl in the movie. I think she's the beginning and the end of all good things."3z

Selznick reacted differently. He considered "A Cold Night" to be "one of the best screen stories in the world", but it took him a long time to fall in love with Bergman. His son remembers his various worries: "She didn't speak English, she was too tall, her name sounded too German, and her eyebrows were too thick." When Selznick finally changed his mind , Brown was sent to Sweden to sign with Bergman. When Brown first tried to call her, she was giving birth to her daughter Pia in the delivery room, and Lindstrom replied simply, "Miss Bergman is busy right now, so it's not convenient to talk."

So Brown himself Visited and found there—in Bergman’s own words—“an actress who had just given birth,” sitting peacefully knitting a sweater while she negotiated a contract. Bergman turned down the traditional seven-year contract, but agreed to a remake of "A Cold Night" (1939), with Leslie Howard playing her lover. Bergman returned to Sweden immediately after the collaboration to shoot the noir romance June Night (1940), but Selznick quickly lured her back with a five-year contract.

"June Night" "June Night"

Hollywood has been Bergman's home for more than a decade. When she sailed to the United States alone — and her family later followed — she was happy to be independent and confident that she had made the right decision.

She mentioned in a letter to a friend that while walking at an intersection one night, a stranger mistakenly commented that she couldn't possibly be an actress because she was too tall. Bergman didn't answer, but said to himself, "He doesn't know anything about me."