http://i.imgur.com/OoUndYE.jpg

I didn't get into Bergman until a few years ago, to be honest, but when I finally invested some time to explore some of his films I was hooked. I remember finishing Autumn Sonata and thinking to myself that this guy pretty much only deals in masterpieces. I can't justify that thought now but the number of masterpieces he does have is pretty remarkable. What's even more remarkable is the variety each of these masterpieces have. Even if there are similar themes throughout much of his work, each one is a little different in my opinion, to where if you hate one of them you might love another. His themes of faith and death resonate with me to be sure, but what I really love and what maybe is the one thing that puts him up on my personal pedestal for "favorite director ever" is his often intimate, personal depiction of different illnesses, be it physical or mental. I think having a director like Bergman look at schizophrenia the way he does with a film like Through a Glass Darkly helped me through my own struggles.

That's just a little bit of what Ingmar Bergman means to me. I open the floor to everyone else to share their experiences and thoughts regarding this director and his work.

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I'm planning on doing some activities in the long run, but I'm still figuring them out and am definitely open to suggestions. But first things first, I've been trying to figure out a name for the club. Seanc had the brilliant idea that the "catch" of the club name should be in Swedish. We thought about Tro och Dod: The Ingmar Bergman Club (effectively Fear and Death: The Ingmar Bergman Club), but I'd like to see what other people think.