In Scandinavia's Baltic Sea, there is a tiny Swedish island called Fårö whose population may hover around 600 at its height. Its medieval architecture, lush landscapes, and untouched nature made it the backdrop for numerous films from Ingmar Bergman and his home. Bergman wrote and directed nearly 45 films using the same cast. While continuing to use these backgrounds and actors, Bergman was forced to find new methods to wring all the emotion he could from even the quietest moments. With lighting, oblique camera angles, and revolutionary framing, Bergman could give you cues about the characters' mood, motivation, and even backstory.
When we were discussing George Eliot's "Middlemarch" previously, we opined that the 1871 work was among the first to provide more thorough characterization than the plot. Eliot's previous analysis of writing as a critic led her to concoct her own strategy for writing from the list of facets that she thought the larger writers should/should not do. This pattern of limitation leading in a new direction is brilliantly displayed in a lengthy exchange between the sisters Dorothea (our protagonist) and her younger sister Celia over their mother's jewels which have recently been passed down to the daughters. Eliot uses this simple construction of a universal event to demonstrate that Dorothea is humble about her wealth and takes more pride in the cohesion of her family and the memories of her mother. To us as readers, she is noble. To the others in the story, they prefer Celia to Dorothea. Now we have the necessary friction of conflict and the implied position that being receptive to such riches might make you (as a person) more worldly. All from one conversation.
Many of Bergman's films have distinct stories or tangents told - so to speak - from the viewpoints of his female characters. His choice of actresses, including Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, and Liv Ullmann, have gone on to iconic status. In 1972, Bergman put these three together in the tense period drama "Cries and Whispers." Set in and around the grounds of a large 19th Century mansion, three sisters confront their sins, and past transgressions against one another to cope with one sister coming to terms with uterine cancer. Drawn together by their familial bonds, the simmering emotions that each struggle with creates distance - even in the smallest rooms. Bergman's period of self-described "melancholia" was haunted by a reoccurring dream regarding four women dressed in white in a red room whispering to each other. While writing, Bergman envisioned each of the women as a facet of his departed mother.
In an unflinching portrait of a life in pain, Agnes (Harriet Andersson) is shown in close-up waking up from the safety of her dreamworld with a brief sense of relief before the pain and chill set in. Life outside the mansion is pastoral. However inside, Bergman has taken great detail to make carpet, furniture, and walls a deep crimson red. Bergman's devotion to using this crimson extends even beyond its use as mise en scene as the cuts between scenes fade to red instead of black. As we officially meet the two sisters, Maria (Liv Ullmann) and Karin (Ingrid Thulin), they have been established as caretakers by an entry we see Agnes put in her journal. Almost immediately, Bergman's placement of these actresses speaks to their detachment from each other. Surrounded by clocks, sculptures, and dollhouses that are so ornate they feel as lost in time as our characters, what unfolds is internal monologues that can only be read from facial expressions and Bergman's unwavering camera eye on the feelings that are crushing these women. The maid Anna (Kari Sylwan) is duty-bound, immediately making up her spartan bed and praying devoutly. Like Eliot's conversation, Bergman uses Anna's brief introduction to present her as strong and devoted but pans down to an empty crib subtly hinting that she has losses too. Within just a few minutes (mostly wordless and as always without a score), Bergman has provided us with enough supposition to wonder how all these pieces will fit together and break through the first of many layers about to be unearthed.
Looking at the most exemplary of Bergman's films (believe it or not, he says he really only made ten good ones and refers to ten other films as "catastrophes" - even if we spent all our time watching these brilliant movies over the next week, either list would be impossible to finalize). The most emotional moments are those where the words of his script take shape in his shot choice and lighting. Andersson's role in 1953's "Summer with Monika" speaks to her connection with another being so close. The stark contrast between the black cloak and starched white face extending from the hood of Death in 1957's "The Seventh Seal" is not necessarily frightening but "foreign" in a world where entire cities of people live their lives without seeing a single person from a nearby town. Finally, Bergman's most striking image of all from 1966's "Persona" where the dreamlike appearance of a face on the screen is both overwhelming (in size and dimension) and still tactile enough to communicate a need for contact and connection.
It is no wonder that Bergman once said "The human face is the great subject of the cinema. Everything is there." One can only imagine what Bergman could have done with "Middlemarch" as they seem to use the same limited vocabulary to discover new ways to best communicate emotion in all its forms.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
MUSIC This Week
METALLICA - 72 SEASONS and your PRIMER [2LP/CD/CS](Blackened)
As we will be hosting a listening party at TBONES at 11 p.m. tonight for the album "72 Seasons," we thought it was a great time to rip through the indispensable early catalog of the world's best-known and revered Metal band.
In the early Eighties, Metal (in its current form) was largely a dream in America. Overseas, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal of 1979-80 was finished with its UK invasion and formed numerous similar waves throughout Europe (especially Scandinavia and Germany where it still thrives today). In Southern California, Hard Rock was still the drill. It could be heard exclusively on the AOR stations that dominated their markets with high-octane imports from AC/DC and Judas Priest. Fledgling MTV would barely touch Metal even in the days when they only had the same 40 videos to play. However, the boys of Metallica were well into tape-trading and that community-led brick-by-brick to the scene. With original guitarist Dave Mustaine, Metallica recorded their first song "Hit the Lights" in 1982 for Metal Blade's compilation "Metal Massacre." While they spelled their name wrong, there was no doubt, this single (still in the setlist today) was the bringer of big things.
When Los Angeles was taken over by the Aqua Net/eyeliner squads preaching Hair Metal, Metallica moved north to San Francisco and found a home in their Punk/future-Thrash scene. Still clad in their denim and leather, Metallica's second gig ever would be opening for NWOBHM legends Saxon. By 1983, the lineup was solidified: Lars Ulrich, drums. James Hetfield, guitar/vocals, Dave Mustaine, guitar, Cliff Burton, bass. A demo ("No Life 'Til Leather") for Jon Zazula's Megaforce led to their signing to that fledgling label. Problems with Mustaine while recording their debut led to his ejection - enter Kirk Hammett of Exodus. On July 25, 1983, Metallica dropped the brutal "Kill 'Em All." With its deep compression and monolithic sound, this one is a classic with its choice of singles ("Whiplash" and Mustaine's "Jump Into the Fire") as perhaps its least memorable songs today. "The Four Horsemen" and the anthemic "Seek & Destroy" live on and on.
It did not matter; with "Kill 'Em All," Thrash Metal was born and America had its own official offshoot of Metal. For their second album, they traveled to Copenhagen, DEN where they sought music that was more complex and challenging. 1984's "Ride The Lightning" is the first instance where all the group's ideas could coalesce into one laser-hot vision. Now at blinding speed ("Fight Fire With Fire"), the stops, shifts, and time-changes took precedence. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was their first moment of stomping chainmail-riffage, while "Trapped Under Ice" was Thrash with a Dark Metal story. In fact, its production style is still used today by Scandinavian Metal bands who love the echoing vocals, thunderous drums, and battering-ram riffage. Finally, for the first time, Metallica got serious with the chilling suicide requiem "Fade to Black" and the closing double-whammy of "Creeping Death" and "The Call of Ktulu."
Selling 60,000 copies of the fully independent "Kill 'Em All" and 85,000 of "Lightning," impressed Elektra Records who signed them in 1985. Back in Copenhagen, "Master of Puppets" could be the seminal early Metallica statement. For the first time, the band took lessons outside of playing to improve their performance and make these recordings sizzle. With all the other bands around succumbing to the virtues of Hair Metal and commercial success (a/k/a synthesizers,) Metallica was the lone wolf who pushed on without the studio trappings of the day - even pausing their alcohol consumption during the making of "Puppets." This refocusing of ideas and refinement of work made tracks like "Battery" snap necks for their Thrash fans while being bookended by impressive musical changes (also the closer "Damage, Inc.") to impress critics and music fans. Moodier, slow cuts like "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" would be the first steps toward radio singles where their dark tales would play well offset by haunting vocals and high-wire melodies. However, it would be the eight-minute title track whose dramatic middle and chromatic Thrash portions (212 bpm!) would become every air guitarist's dream for years and years. Last year on the basis of its use in "Stranger Things 4," "Master of Puppets" would finally hit the Top 40 and spur another resurgence.
After finishing "Puppets," bassist Cliff Burton died in a horrifying bus accident outside of Stockholm. Without Burton's signature bass style ("Anesthesia — (Pulling Teeth)" on "Kill 'Em All,") the remaining three wandered in lament for a couple of years before pulling Jason Newsted into the group from Flotsam & Jetsam. Only having one track to work with ("Blackened"), the new Metallica gelled on a unique compilation of covers that renewed interest in Killing Joke (then on their way to a more Post-Punk Pop,) Budgie (never credited for being a combination of Rush/Black Sabbath) and the all-important Misfits. Their stopgap EP in 1987 did more to revive their connection to Punk and other music as well as establish Metallica as a high-price fighter.
So when they delivered the long-awaited "...And Justice For All" in Fall of 1988, the stage was set for Metallica's giant leaps toward world domination. Their first video for the bracing "One" hit MTV with a vengeance even landing them their first Top 40 radio hit. However, it was the deeper cuts from the album that kept it alive especially the terse "The Shortest Straw" and the raging "Harvester of Sorrow." Metallica songs became lengthy opuses now with more than just the acoustic opening chapter. In fact, its double-vinyl sprawl made room for far more experimentation. Finally achieving commercial success, the lengthy tour that followed kept them out of the studio for nearly two years. Needing a clearer sound to make radio hits, Metallica took on producer Bob Rock from tourmates The Cult. They began unthreading the multiple melodies of "Justice" and like "Puppets" refining them down to the music that would feel not simple but elemental. Over nearly eight months of jamming, Metallica honed their slowed-down Sabbath-like stomp to a brute-force machine. Having mostly closed the book on Thrash with "Justice," "Metallica" (a/k/a "The Black Album") promised something for everyone. The less hectic version made "Wherever I May Roam" sound like the howl of a weary traveler in a burning dystopic world. The depth and range were also found in the guttural cry of "Sad But True." However, nothing they had ever created would compare to the haunting, crystalline, demented nursery rhyme that is "Enter Sandman." Its stadium-ready thump and minor lick made it the Windows 95 chime of Metal for years to come. Becoming superstars, subsequent albums show real spurts of development in other directions up until 2008's "Death Magnetic" and 2016's "Hardwired..to Self Destruct." Now, "72 Seasons" awaits us all with its destructo-ray Punk-ish title track, "Black Album" meets 70's Rock stomp of "If Darkness Had a Son," Eighties rage of "Screaming Suicide" and return to Thrash on the Prog grind out "Lux Aeterna." Class dismissed.
