A bright new future is dawning on the Swedish film industry, with young filmmakers experimenting with bold, new techniques to tell personal stories. But the godfather of Swedish film, Ingmar Bergman, remains in the shadows, creating uneasy tensions among the new guard.
July 14, 2008, would have been Ingmar Bergman's 90th birthday. Even today, the work of movie directors in Sweden is done in the shadows of the late cinematic genius. Photo: Karl Heinz Hernreid/The Royal Library
For many, the Swedish film industry is synonymous with 1970s pornographic movies and Ingmar Bergman. The former is more about clichéd myth than actual output; the latter is arguably one of the greatest and most influential film directors of the 20th century, a man whose morbid, sexually charged tales of the human condition have held cinemagoers enthralled for decades.
Bergman and after
Bergman died in 2007. Had he lived, July 14, 2008, would have been his 90th birthday. Much has changed since Bergman first committed human angst to celluloid.
Once pretty much a one man-driven international cult, Swedish film is now much more, well, Swedish. A raft of young and ambitious filmmakers have appeared on the scene keen to experiment with new film techniques. And they are passionate about telling their own stories: personal reflections of Sweden's inner landscape.
Sweden’s brave hearts
Ruben Östlund, whose movie Involuntary recently screened at the Cannes film festival, says: "The Swedish film industry has had a tremendous confidence in itself in recent years. For a long time we tried to copy Denmark's winning formula, but it's wrong to think we can re-do something that works for someone else. Today's Swedish filmmakers are a little more progressive, take new steps and have more courage."
Director Ruben Östlund makes some of the most interesting films in Sweden today. He is bored with films based on the typical Hollywood model and prefers that his audience is uncomfortable and insecure instead. Photo: Nils Petter Nilsson/Scanpix
Courage is something Östlund knows all about. He started his career as a director of ski films, shooting unscripted action as it happened. His work includes the nine-minute short Autobiographical Scene Number 6882, about a man jumping into the sea from a bridge; the 2005 feature Guitar Mongoloid, a disjointed documentary-style film about a seemingly random group of misfits; and a production credit on An Extraordinary Study in Human Degradation, an 83-minute story of a man battling with post-girlfriend depression shot entirely on a mobile phone camera.
"I want my audiences to feel uncomfortable and insecure,” Östlund says. "So many films are based on the typical Hollywood model. They are predictable. I'm bored with those types of films.
"I believe the best time for cinema is right now. The film industry sees a crisis because fewer people are going to cinemas than before. But filmmakers just need to change the way they address people. The most interesting stuff today is what's out there on YouTube. The challenge is to make interesting films that reach people on many levels; to develop your own style."
Independent filmmakers
Finding his own style is not something that has ever bothered Josef Fares, one of the most successful Swedish directors of the past decade. "When I make a film I work directly from my ideas and feelings. I rarely think of what my films have in common," he says.
Josef Fares sees Swedish film entering a new golden era. His drama Zozo (with Imad Creidi, above) followed two comedies, both hugely popular on the Swedish market. Photo: Per-Anders Jörgenssen/Image Bank Sweden
Born in Lebanon in 1977, Fares moved to Sweden when he was 10. He admits that he is "very curious about people’s weaknesses and faults," but that's about the only thing that links his films. They range from romantic comedy (Jalla! Jalla!) and police farce (Kopps), to touching drama (Zozo) and grim, violent reality (Leo).
"I really try and look for my voice as a director," he says. "Because of that I look to different genres and styles. That way I can learn more about what I relate to and what suits me best."
New direction
What Östlund and Fares and countless other young Swedish directors have in common is a belief that Swedish film is entering another golden period. "With new filmmaking techniques opening up, anyone who has a burning desire to tell their story can do so," Fares says.
And it's not just the new guard that has a belief in Swedish filmmaking. Colin Nutley has been making films in Sweden for three decades. An Englishman abroad, Nutley has displayed an innate talent to tap into the Swedish psyche, making what many argue are the most typically Swedish of all Swedish films.
"Today's filmmakers are exposed to so many more different influences than 20 years ago. New techniques have really opened up the possibility of filmmaking so much more," Nutley says.
Back to the future
But despite the positives, the question of Bergman inevitably remains. Östlund, Fares and their peers, although undeniably talented, have big shoes to fill. "Bergman was a genius," Nutley says. ”But he was, and still is, a shadow over the Swedish film industry."
Fares agrees: "Bergman is so heralded by the critics still that it is hard for the current Swedish film industry to live up to that.”
Most modern Swedish filmmakers strongly deny any influence from Bergman in their films. "I'm too new in the film world to talk of Bergman. I have no relationship to him and no influence from him," Östlund says. They also reveal a certain reluctance to herald his work. "To compare today's filmmakers to Bergman is unjust and unfair. Every person has their own story," Fares says.
In the brave new world of Swedish cinema, Bergman, with all his obsessive human insight, remains very much in the wings. Happy birthday.
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Rob Hincks
Rob Hincks grew up with his father’s nonstop talk of Bergman. His first experience of Swedish film was Lasse Hallström’s My life as a Dog (a film which meant little then, but so much more now he lives in Sweden) and can thoroughly recommend Fares’ Kopps if you are in the mood for some fun.
The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
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