Chicago moviegoers are glad to have the Northwest Chicago Film Society back in business. The venerable screening series has seen its share of upheaval over the last couple of years, but after a brief hiatus, things are up and running at Northeastern Illinois University’s Fine Arts Auditorium, where quality 35mm repertory screenings await. This week, the NWCFS presents Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with Monika, a slow and low ode to teenage love that marked the director’s first major stateside success. Bergman is sort of the quintessential art-house director, one of the first stops you make when developing a serious interest in the movies. As such, his merit tends to decrease in the minds of ultraserious cinephiles—some people even grow to outright deride him. Certain other directors receive similar treatment (Francois Truffaut and Akira Kurosawa come to mind), but Bergman seems to be a particular point of contention, sparking legendary debate.
- The Silence
- Autumn Sonata (1978) As Dave Kehr notes, Bergman is working in miniature with this chamber drama, but the results are nevertheless massive. Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann play an embittered mother and daughter, and their respective hang-ups and acrimony toward each other not only reveals painful truths about human emotion and the nuclear family, but illustrate the filmmaker’s remarkable direction of actors.
