Legend Nykvist of Bergman fame passed away today from natural causes, he was 83. He was called “The Master of Light”.
One of the greats.
Oddly enough, his last credit (in IMDB, anyway) was 1999’s Curtain Call.
It’s hard not to fall into what appears to be hyperbole when talking about him, but it’s inevitable–he was one of the greatest cinematographers who ever lived. Though he worked for a cornucopia of international filmmakers–Tarkovsky, Malle, Kaufman, Hallstrom–he’ll be best known as the genius behind the distinctive look of Ingmar Bergman’s films, both B&W (Sawdust & Tinsel, The Virgin Spring, Persona, Shame) and color (Cries and Whispers, Fanny and Alexander, both of which netted him Oscars) as well as the man behind some of Woody Allen’s best-looking films (particularly the wonderfully subtle work of Crimes and Misdemeanors). A true titan.
**Cinematographer Sven Nykvist will not shoot any more movies. **
I for one am not in favor of gun violence.
Aw rats, that means that my second-favorite Swedish cinematographer has left us.
There’s no question that Sven Nykvist was one of the greats, but I think that there’s a risk of lauding him as “Bergman’s cinematographer” rather than “one of Bergman’s cinematographers”.
Let’s not forget that Gunnar Fischer (who is still alive at age 95!) was the DP behind Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), Wild Strawberries (1957), and – my favorite Bergman of them all – The Seventh Seal (1957). It seems that Fischer and Bergman had an argument in 1960, and never worked together again; this may have “cleared the path” for Nykvist to do some of his best work.
In any case, RIP Sven Nykvist!
Well, Sawdust & Tinsel was before any of the (admittedly great) films you mentioned, so Nykvist and Bergman had a relationship going back even earlier. But as great as Fischer’s work with Bergman is (and let’s not forget The Magician or Summer with Monika), there’s little else in his filmography of genuine repute.
Beyond Bergman & Allen, Nykvist had The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Sacrifice, Pretty Baby and Polanski’s The Tenant among many others, which I think puts him in a different class altogether.