Director's face off: Andrei Tarkovsky vs Ingmar Bergman

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Actually, every film director is about people.

Bergman is more about bla bla bla (dialogue) while Tarkosvky is more about the pure art of cinema (images and sounds). Hence, I place Bergman about a league below Tarkovsky on my list, though some of his best movies are better than Tarkovsky's weak movies.

Also I noticed that people here that each film should be decided on a case by case basis. People saying "all Bergman" should think each case a little more carefully.
Well, I don't know too much about Tarkovsky to begin with so maybe I shouldn't talk, but what I meant was that Bergman spends more time studying his characters (emotions, relationships, etc.) whereas Tarkovsky spends more time on poetic imagery. So I just appreciate Bergman's style more.
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Never watched? Someone who hasn't watched Solaris, Andrei Rublev, The Mirror and Stalker has never lived.
I have never lived then. I have Solaris, I will probably be watching it soon.



Edited
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Well, I don't know too much about Tarkovsky to begin with so maybe I shouldn't talk, but what I meant was that Bergman spends more time studying his characters (emotions, relationships, etc.) whereas Tarkovsky spends more time on poetic imagery. So I just appreciate Bergman's style more.
Why not ask Bergman's opinion about Tarkovsky?

"My discovery of Tarkovsky's first film was like a miracle.
Suddenly, I found myself standing at the door of a room the keys of which had, until then, never been given to me. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease.
I felt encouraged and stimulated: someone was expressing what I had always wanted to say without knowing how.
Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream."

"Suddenly I have the solution: a tracking shot. A tracking shot round the actors, past the extras, tracking. Tarkovsky is always tracking round in every scene, the camera flying in all directions. I actually think it an objectionable technique, but it solved my problem, time passes... (Laterna Magica, page 173)"

"When film is not a document, it is dream. That is why Tarkovsky is the greatest of them all. He moves with such naturalness in the room of dreams. He doesn't explain. What should he explain anyhow? He is a spectator, capable of staging his visions in the most unwieldy but, in a way, the most willing of media. All my life I have hammered on the doors of the rooms in which he moves so naturally. Only a few times have I managed to creep inside. Most of my conscious efforts have ended in embarrassing failure - THE SERPENT'S EGG, THE TOUCH, FACE TO FACE and so on"

To say that Bergman admired Tarkovsky would be a severe understatement.



Gabrielle, which Tarkovsky movies beat which Bergman movies in the shown head-to-head match-ups?
there's only two match-ups where I've seen both films:
Ivan's Childhood (1962) vs The Seventh Seal (1957)
Stalker (1979) vs Persona (1966)

I didn't like Ivan's Childhood(it was decent) but Seventh Seal was one of the most tough and boring film watching experiences for me.
I am a big fan of Stalker and Persona didn't impress me much.But then again,I find Bergman so distant,I don't think I know what his films are about.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Seventh Seal was one of the most tough and boring film watching experiences for me
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Why not ask Bergman's opinion about Tarkovsky?

"My discovery of Tarkovsky's first film was like a miracle.
Suddenly, I found myself standing at the door of a room the keys of which had, until then, never been given to me. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease.
I felt encouraged and stimulated: someone was expressing what I had always wanted to say without knowing how.
Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream."

"Suddenly I have the solution: a tracking shot. A tracking shot round the actors, past the extras, tracking. Tarkovsky is always tracking round in every scene, the camera flying in all directions. I actually think it an objectionable technique, but it solved my problem, time passes... (Laterna Magica, page 173)"

"When film is not a document, it is dream. That is why Tarkovsky is the greatest of them all. He moves with such naturalness in the room of dreams. He doesn't explain. What should he explain anyhow? He is a spectator, capable of staging his visions in the most unwieldy but, in a way, the most willing of media. All my life I have hammered on the doors of the rooms in which he moves so naturally. Only a few times have I managed to creep inside. Most of my conscious efforts have ended in embarrassing failure - THE SERPENT'S EGG, THE TOUCH, FACE TO FACE and so on"

To say that Bergman admired Tarkovsky would be a severe understatement.
I am aware of Bergman's admiration for Tarkovsky, which I believe was mutual. I don't doubt Tarkovsky's strength as a filmmaker, I'm just saying that Bergman's sensibilities (from what I've seen) resonate with me on a more personal level.



People saying "all Bergman" should think each case a little more carefully.
I did thank you very much. I like both directors but prefer all the Bergman films listed.



All right. I am counting all the votes. The way it looks that the second round will have all 8 Bergman films facing each others, may the best one win (though I guess Persona will take the cake).



there's only two match-ups where I've seen both films:
Ivan's Childhood (1962) vs The Seventh Seal (1957)
Stalker (1979) vs Persona (1966)

I didn't like Ivan's Childhood(it was decent) but Seventh Seal was one of the most tough and boring film watching experiences for me.
I am a big fan of Stalker and Persona didn't impress me much.But then again,I find Bergman so distant,I don't think I know what his films are about.
Yes, Tarkovsky's films are much more childlike than Bergman's. Much more visceral. Bergman's films have complex dialogue thanks to Bergman's influence of theater plays into his filmmaking style, so they make his films less accessible than Tarkovsky's, in fact.

Tarkovsky developed cinema into a pure art form, separate from theater plays and literature, a tradition continued by the likes of Bela Tarr and Steven Spielberg.



personally I think that I like Tarkovsky more because my country's culture is very similar to the Russian and Tarkovsky's movies has a lot of Russian spirit.



Yes, Tarkovsky's films are much more childlike than Bergman's. Much more visceral. Bergman's films have complex dialogue thanks to Bergman's influence of theater plays into his filmmaking style, so they make his films less accessible than Tarkovsky's, in fact.

Tarkovsky developed cinema into a pure art form, separate from theater plays and literature, a tradition continued by the likes of Bela Tarr and Steven Spielberg.
I dunno about you, but for me Stalker was far more challenging than anything I've seen from Bergman. I'm also curious about what Spielberg has in common with Tarr, and how he was influenced by Tarkovsky.



If you watch the movies made by likes of Hitchcock and Bergman you notice that they do basically filmed theater plays. Tarkovsky developed cinema into a language separate from theater and literature. Both Spielberg and Tarr also developed cinema into it's own language (though in quite different ways), as Hitchcock said: Spielberg "is the first one of us who doesn't see the proscenium arch". The same applies for Tarr and Tarkovsky.

Also, I didn't find Stalker to be challenging to watch at all. I found it to be quite entertaining and very interesting, besides being a monumental work of art. But that's also because I am a huge fan of science fiction, so anything with science fiction concepts becomes interesting.

This round is finished.

Tally:

The Steamroller and the Violin (1960) 1 vs Wild Strawberries (1957) 5
Ivan's Childhood (1962) 3 vs The Seventh Seal (1957) 4
Andrei Rublev (1966) 2 vs The Virgin Spring (1960) 3
Solaris (1972) 2 vs Through a Glass Darkly (1961) 3
The Mirror (1975) 2 vs Winter Light (1963) 3
Stalker (1979) 3 vs Persona (1966) 4
Nostalghia (1983) 1 vs Cries and Whispers (1972) 3
The Sacrifice (1986) vs Fanny and Alexander (1982) 5