The best of intentions

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Movie
German title The best of intentions
Original title The goda viljan
Country of production Sweden , Germany , United Kingdom , Italy , France , Denmark , Finland , Norway , Iceland
original language Swedish
Publishing year 1991 / 1992 (film version)
length 325 minutes / film version: 181 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Bille August
script Ingmar Bergman
production Ingrid Dahlberg
music Stefan Nilsson
camera Jörgen Persson
cut Janus Billeskov Jansen
occupation

The best intentions (original title: Den goda viljan ) is a television multipart series by the Danish director Bille August from 1991 , which is also available in a shorter film version that was released in 1992 . The European co-production is based on a script by Ingmar Bergman , for which his parents modeled. From 1909 it reports over a period of ten years the relationship between the theology student and later pastor Henrik Bergman (portrayed by Samuel Fröler ) , who came from poor backgrounds in northern Sweden, and the impulsive Anna Åkerblom ( Pernilla Östergren-August ), who came from the wealthy bourgeoisie of Uppsala comes. The marriage of the two, which she leads to a remote parish in Norrland , among other places , proves to be sustainable despite all opposition, conflicts and separations. The plot ends in June 1918, shortly before Ingmar Bergman is born. The best of intentions is the first part of a trilogy conceived by Bergman about his parents, which was continued with Daniel Bergman's film Die Sonntagskinder ( Söndagsbarn ) (1992) and ended with Liv Ullmann's television and cinema production Enskilda samtal (1996).

The internationally loaned version of The Best Intentions was considered the most expensive Scandinavian film production of its time. Despite mixed criticism resulting from repeated comparisons of August's directorial work with the works of Ingmar Bergman, the film received several awards, including the Palme d'Or at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival .

action

(Based on the five and a half hour TV version)

Sweden, in 1909: Henrik Bergman, a theology student, lives in poor conditions in Uppsala. Having fallen out with his proud grandparents, he has a secret engagement with the waitress Frida. Through his acquaintance with Ernst Åkerblom, who was of the same age, he gained access to his rich and equally proud middle-class family. Henrik, who later helps his mother to get financial support from three unmarried aunts by telling a lie about his studies, falls in love with Ernst's attractive sister Anna. The confident and pampered young woman who plans to become a nurse reciprocates his feelings and seduces him. Henrik tells Anna about Frida, but does not break the engagement to the waitress. Anna's mother rejects the inappropriate connection between her daughter and the introverted Henrik and lets her son Carl do some research. When Henrik visits the Åkerbloms' summer house, Ms. Åkerblom confronts him about his engagement to Frida and forces him to leave early and separate from Anna.

Henrik suffers from the separation. Frida then meets with Anna, gives up her claims on Henrik and leaves town. Shortly thereafter, Anna fell seriously ill with tuberculosis and was transferred to a sanatorium in Switzerland. Two years later, Anna tries to re-establish contact with Henrik, who is now an Evangelical Lutheran pastor. The letter to him is intercepted and burned by Ms. Åkerblom. She takes her daughter on a journey of several weeks to the Amalfi Coast , on which she receives news of the death of her husband - Anna's father. Ms Åkerblom then confesses to Anna that she had embezzled the letter, which the late Mr Åkerblom had disagreed with.

Interior view of Uppsala Cathedral, where Henrik and Anna's wedding takes place

Anna returns to Henrik. Both become engaged to each other and visit a pastorate in the provincial Norrland . Arrived at the parish in Forsboda, the first disagreements follow. A serious argument breaks out when Henrik tries to persuade his future bride to have a simple wedding without relatives in his parish chapel, a former greenhouse. But both are reconciled again and, as originally planned, marry in the splendid Uppsala Cathedral .

The newly wedded couple travels to Forsboda early, where they are successfully integrated into the community. Henrik and Anna have a son, Dag, who is born against Henrik's will in distant Uppsala. In addition, the couple takes in the 7-year-old orphan boy Petrus. During social unrest, Henrik takes a stand in conflict with the religiously shy factory owner and engineer Nordenson and willingly leaves the chapel to the workers as a meeting place. Another conflict arises from Nordenson's daughters, who secretly attend Henrik's confirmation class at Ms. Nordenson's request.

Over time, the authoritarian Henrik and the fun-loving Anna begin to alienate each other. When Ernst visits Henrik, he forcibly refuses to dance to the music on the gramophone. To Anna's disappointment, he also turned down an offered position as court pastor at the planned royal Sophia Hospital in Stockholm. Henrik's mother, who had secretly opposed the couple's relationship, visits them in Forsboda and dies there. During the confirmation class there is a scene with the drunk Nordenson who wants to prevent his daughters from taking part. Henrik denounces the man to Anna and his students. Nordenson then uses his influence to marginalize the couple in the community. Rumors about the job in Stockholm and about Henrik and Mrs. Nordenson also contribute to this.

Anna begins to develop an antipathy for Peter, whom she wants to get out of the house. The boy finds out about it and tries to throw Anna and Henrik's little son Dag into the nearby rapids in revenge. But Peter can be stopped by Henrik. This beats the boy and sends him away. This is followed by a break with Anna, who is tired of the hardship of life in the provinces. In the dispute, Henrik raises his hand to his meanwhile pregnant wife again, who had tried without his knowledge to keep his application for the still vacant position at Sofia-Stift. Anna then returns with Dag to her mother's in Uppsala, where they both spend Christmas. The ascetic Henrik became increasingly isolated in his parish, while Nordenson committed suicide after closing his factory in December 1917. Henrik returns to Uppsala unannounced in June 1918. He promises Anna, who is heavily pregnant, to take the job in Stockholm. She agrees to a new beginning together.

History of origin

Bergman returns to scriptwriting and project announcement

After successfully coming to terms with his childhood with the award-winning cinema production Fanny and Alexander (1982), his officially “last film”, Ingmar Bergman had devoted himself only to television and theater direction. In 1984 his short film Karins Ansätze , made the previous year, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival . The 14-minute production with musical accompaniment and without dialogue shows mainly black and white photos of his mother and was premiered on Swedish television on September 29, 1986. According to Bergman, his maternal family had been very enthusiastic about photography and he had received several photo albums after the death of his parents, ranging from about the mid-19th century to the early 1960s. After a phase of resignation, which was partly caused by the assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in February 1986, he began working as a screenwriter again in the late 1980s. Encouraged by the photographs he received, Bergman claims that he began "unintentionally" to design a scenario based on "[...] statements, documents and [...] photos". By looking at the photos he would have felt “strong affection” for his parents, “who were almost in every respect different from the semi-agile, mythically exaggerated figures that dominated my childhood and youth”.

Danish director Bille August (2008)

On September 1, 1989, Bergman surprisingly announced his collaboration with the Dane Bille August at a two-hour press conference in Stockholm . Bergman as screenwriter and August as director wanted to work together on a six-hour, four-part television series or two-part film called Den goda viljan (former English translation Good Intentions ) about the life of Bergman's parents. "I feel a great need to tell the story of these two people who are in my blood system, in my nerves and in my genes," Bergman told journalists. August, who two years earlier had drawn attention to himself with the multi-award-winning film adaptation of Pelle, the Conqueror (1987) with the former Bergman actor Max von Sydow , had been personally chosen by Bergman to direct, although Bergman had never met him. According to his own account, he had seen Pelle, the conqueror , several times. At the time of the inquiry, August was in preproduction for Isabel Allende's novel The Haunted House , which, however, was struggling with financing problems. As a result, after studying the script, August preferred the project The Best Intentions .

Both had spent the week before in Bergman's summer residence on the island of Fårö to discuss the project together. August emphasized in the press conference that he had taken over the directing position because of the quality of the script. "I decided to do it, not because it was by Ingmar Bergman, but because the story was so good - the best story about love I've ever read," said August. Bergman described the project, budgeted at nine million US dollars, as a continuation of Fanny and Alexander and his autobiography Laterna Magica , published in 1987 . Bergman says he had had the idea for Best Intentions since Fanny and Alexander left . In his autobiography he reported about his parents from a childhood perspective, which was often brutal and evil. This left him unsatisfied. “I started with all of my parents' dreams and memories. In the end I had a script, ”says Bergman. He wrote the script within five months in 1988, but changed his parents' first names - Erik Bergman became “Henrik” (the first name of Ingmar Bergman's paternal great-grandfather), Karin Åkerblom in the film “Anna” - Bergman swapped his mother's names and maternal grandmother. "I can't and really don't want to explain why I felt the pressure to change the names," Bergman said later.

Family background

Until he wrote the script, Ingmar Bergman said he never really knew how complicated his parents' life was. "They entered their marriage with the best of intentions, but it was destined for disaster because of the demands they accepted and self-imposed," said Bergman, looking back. In his autobiography, he wrote that he could understand his parents' despair. “A pastor family lives as if on a plate, completely exposed to all insights. The house must always be open. Criticism and comments from the community never stop. Both father and mother were prefectionists who were certainly not up to the unbearable pressure. Her working day was unlimited, her marriage was not easy, her self-discipline was iron hard, ”said Bergman, who also reported on his mother's attempts to break out of the marriage as well as severe depression and his father's announced plans to commit suicide.

The British film historian and Bergman biographer Peter Cowie described the parents as "[...] respectable people, albeit prisoners of their class and their ideas". Ingmar's father, Erik Bergman, was “[…] tall, well-groomed and, in a Scandinavian way, handsome; Women always wanted to do things for him, especially in his later years ”. He came from a family of pastors and farmers that can be traced back to the 16th century. His father Axel had worked as a chemist on the island of Öland and died early, as did his two-year-old sister Margareta. Bergman grew up in Gävle in a household among women, together with his mother Alma, her sister Emma and his grandmother. “I sometimes think of his cheerful ease, his carefree, tenderness, friendliness, his cockiness. Everything that was so easily covered by darkness, heaviness, brutality, and closeness. I think I often did my father a great injustice later, "Bergman later said of his father, who he also attested to as having" considerable acting talent ". “Outside of the stage, he was nervous, irritable and depressed. He was afraid that he was not up to the job, looked at his public appearances with horror, rewrote his sermons over and over, and made him uncomfortable with many of his administrative duties. He was full of fears and could flare up violently, cling to little things [...] ”.

Bergman's mother Karin Åkerblom came from the upper middle class and described Cowie as “[…] a good-looking woman, small in stature, with extremely black hair, worn in a bun and an intense look […]”. Her maternal grandfather, Ernst Gottfried Calwagen, was of Walloon descent and enjoyed a good reputation as a linguist and grammarian. Karin's intellectual mother Anna Calwagen was one of Sweden's first female students, according to Ingmar Bergman. She had traveled extensively, spoke several languages ​​and taught French at a school in Uppsala. Anna married the wealthy engineer Johan Åkerblom, who was twenty years her senior and who built the southern railway line in Dalarna . The summer house ( Våroms , English: "Ours"), which he also built near Duvnäs , from which he used to watch the trains passing by, is also mentioned in the film. Just like the spacious 14-room apartment of the Åkerbloms in Uppsala, which Ingmar Bergman recalled in his autobiography as the “epitome of security and magic”. The marriage of Anna and Johan Åkerblom, who already had three grown sons the same age as his wife from a previous marriage, was short-lived and resulted in their children Karin and Ernst (Bergman dated the grandfather's death by more than a decade in the production in front). Karin, who Ingmar Bergman described as “terribly intelligent and talented”, was raised by her mother to suppress female behavior. Still, she was described by friends as a "passionate woman". Karin Åkerblom courted her mother's love without success. According to Bergman, Anna Åkerblom never loved anyone with the exception of her son Ernst (portrayed in the production by Björn Kjellman ). Ingmar Bergman's mother was later persecuted, like the father, by the feeling that she did not meet the "exaggerated demands".

Both the Bergmans and Åkerbloms were related and Karin was Erik's cousin. The first time he met Karin, he fell in love. In the beginning, however, love was not in mutual agreement and only grew between the two over the years. Erik was not allowed to marry Karin until he found employment. Erik Bergman's relationship with the wealthy mother-in-law Anna was considered tense, which he characterized as a “domineering woman”. After completing his theology studies, he and Karin moved to the small mining community of Söderhamn (in the film Forsboda in Norrland), near Gävle, where they moved into an old wooden house near a lake as a primitive parish. However, they soon moved to Stockholm, where Erik found a job with the Hedwig Eleonora Church . Ingmar Bergman predated the position at Sofia-Stift in the film in his film. Erik did not start it until 1924, when Ingmar, his older brother Dag and his younger sister Margareta were already born. “I don't mean to say that I took the truth of my story too seriously. I added, extended, left out and changed, but as is so often the case with games like this, the game may be clearer than the reality, ”said Ingmar Bergman in the foreword to the book version, which was published in full in 1991 for television and film production.

Filming

After the press conference, Bergman and August jointly selected the actors from among their favorite Scandinavian actors. The role of Bergman's father was taken on by the Swedish actor Samuel Fröler . Like his film character, Fröler came from the family of a clergyman and Bergman caught the eye of Lars Molin's television series Tre kärlekar (1989 and 1991). The role of mother was given to the Swede Pernilla Östergren . Bergman had already discovered her as a young acting student and given her a small role as a fun-loving maid in Fanny and Alexander (at that time still under the name Pernilla Wallgren ). He later entrusted Östergren with leading roles in his theater productions of Hamlet (1986, as Ophelia) and Nora or Ein Puppenheim (1989, as Nora) at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm. During the two-month rehearsals for the latter piece, Östergren found out about her intended role in The Best Intentions . Although Bergman and Östergren hardly talked about the project during this time, according to Östergren they got closer, which would later have helped her with the role preparation. Bergman made Östergren's engagement in the female lead a condition for Bille August. In addition to Lena Endre as another young Bergmans ensemble member, Max von Sydow, Börje Ahlstedt and Anita Björk , long-serving actors from earlier Bergman films, have also been hired to play minor or minor roles. Bergman and August work together for two months on the script, which the Danish director should remember as a “wonderful time” in retrospect. “As a film director, it was a very big experience for me from a professional point of view. But from a personal point of view it was fantastic to meet him because he is so smart and happy and so empathetic, and he has an enormous life experience, ”said August, who, like Bergman, grew up under a strictly authoritarian father.

Tureholm Castle was used, among other things, as a filming location for The Best Intentions

Filming began in July 1990 with separate scripts for the television split and the shorter film version and lasted about eight to nine months. Bergman gave August a free hand in filming. The director had already agreed with Bergman in advance that he wanted to trust himself and had no intention of directing an “Ingmar Bergman film”. “I think almost all of Ingmar Bergman's films were technically more sophisticated, had been in different styles. Many of his films have dealt with dreams and illusions and nightmarish things and this one - it's all written in the script - is a very, very sober, very realistic story, very direct, without any kind of nuanced storytelling. It's a story of a man and a woman who make an effort and fight and fight for their love, for their relationship, ”said August. He stressed that while the story was based on facts, it was fictional and not documentary.

The production costs were estimated at 67 million Swedish kronor (approx. 8.5 million euros ), which, according to media reports, made the film version the most expensive Scandinavian film production to date. In addition to Sveriges Television (SVT) , the project was financed by several other European television companies - the German ZDF , the French Société d'Engénérie et de Programs de Télévision et d'Audio-Visuels , the British Channel Four , Italy's Rai 2 , the Danish DR , the Norwegian NRK , the Icelandic RÚV and the Finnish YLE2 contributed to the costs. Strict Swedish laws on working hours and conditions, which normally deterred foreign filmmakers, were voluntarily overridden for the year of shooting.

The film was shot in the Stockholm Filmhus Studios as well as in Uppsala and Strömsberg ( Uppsala län ), Ransjö (Norrland), Tureholm Castle and Dillnäs ( Södermanland län ). During the filming, director Bille August and leading actress married Pernilla Östergren, whose name she took on. According to his own statements, Bille August was a bit nervous during the filming because he did not want to be seen as a kind of assistant director to Ingmar Bergman or to be in his shadow. He worked effectively in isolation with a film crew of 60 people and named maintaining concentration as one of the difficulties of the long shoot and the different ways of working between television and cinema. Pernilla Östergren-August, on the other hand, enjoyed the long shoot as a kind of “luxury” that allowed her to work deeply into the character. “I'll never be able to do this again with so much time. The last few months we were shooting were very interesting because we knew each other so well that we didn't have to coordinate; we knew exactly what this was all about without words, ”said Östergren-August. She saw Bergman as something of a mentor, so she saw his mother's role as an honor or a great obligation. A little scared at first, she talked a lot with Bergman about her feelings for the character. Working with her newlywed husband Bille August also made her feel safe and secure. He would have created a wonderful, respectful atmosphere on the film set without harsh words. This gave Östergren-August the courage to try it out.

reception

TV release in Sweden and premiere of the film version in Cannes

After completing The Best Intentions , August traveled to Stockholm to present the film to Bergman. According to him, Bergman watched the film alone in a cinema. A day later they both met. Bergman would have been very happy and moved and hugged August for a long time. But what Bergman said to him, August kept to himself.

The first broadcast of the 325-minute television version took place as a four-part series on December 25, 26, 29 and 30, 1991 by the Swedish television broadcaster SVT 1 and achieved outstanding ratings. A rerun took place on December 31, 1991, January 1st, 5th and 6th, 1992. The 181-minute theatrical version of The Best Intentions. In contrast to the long version, it does not mention all historical data and does not use a narrator. This is used in the TV version shortly before the couple's first argument in Forsboda. The film version has also been shortened to include numerous subplots and people from Bergman's large family. Among other things, Henrik's theology professor, his unmarried aunts, the difference of opinion about the place of Anna's birth or the visit and death of Henrik's mother do not appear in it. The premiere of the cinema version took place on May 14, 1992 in the competition of the 45th Cannes International Film Festival .

The international specialist reviews were mixed about the theatrical version about the festival premiere, which repeatedly sought comparison with Bergman's earlier works. Robert Altman's Hollywood satire The Player , on the other hand, became the critics and audience favorites in Cannes . Le Monde complained that August's directorial work was related to Bergman's masterpiece, like the Paris Sacré-Cœur to Chartres Cathedral . The French daily wondered why the study of morals was filmed so as to be so “illustrative and redundant”. Bergman had "found" his parents, but not his "spiritual son". In contrast to his hit film Pelle, the Conqueror , August did not find a little energy in the difficult crisis. The best intentions show the presence of the great director Bergman, but the film has "neither the space nor the freedom to express itself." In the comparison to Pelle, the Conqueror , the British Guardian also agreed, who rated the portrayal of Pernilla Östergren-August as “great” and referred to the brief appearance of Max von Sydow. Bille August would have lost a certain part of the plot through the shortened film version. The film is nice to watch, but it lacks the award and the feeling fails to be translated into real passion. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung counted the film among the big names in Cannes as one of the “quiet disappointments”. Although The Best Intentions contained a multitude of classic Bergman motifs, August staged “everything mostly a little more restrained and also simpler”. Despite the care taken in guiding the people, the affection for the characters is "downright old-fashioned". The film revels poetically in its mood and setting and is "ultimately not a film by Ingmar Bergman". Jury President Gérard Depardieu was quoted even before the award ceremony as saying that emotion is the most important element in cinema and listed the best intentions as an example. Depardieu himself had celebrated international success in European period films such as Jean Florette , Manons Rache or Cyrano von Bergerac in recent years and recently finished filming the Zola adaptation Germinal .

Swedish and German film review

In Sweden, the film version of The Best Intentions opened in cinemas on October 2, 1992, where there was disagreement as to which version was better. Annika Gustafsson from the morning newspaper SDS praised the director Bille Augusts as “hardworking” and “well thought out” as well as the performance of the actors. Hanserik Hjertén ( Dagens Nyheter ) preferred the film version, which he found better balanced in the statement and praised the two main actors Samuel Fröler and Pernilla August. The camera work would capture the actors' gaze more clearly. Bo Ludvigsson ( Svenska Dagbladet ) tended towards the longer TV version. The actors would still be convincing, especially Samuel Fröler and Lena Endre, but the subject would have lost its "luster" a little.

The German theatrical release took place on October 29, 1992. The film-dienst made the acceptance and respect of weaknesses of the counterpart - without condemnation of oneself or others - as well as the "related exploration of limits" as exciting "content of the film". This “spiritual question of meaning” is being suppressed by extravagant, old-fashioned cinema equipment. The film moves “optically on the fine line between tasteful and tasty”. August's directorial work “Bergman's motivations as sympathetic as they are important”, which remained present throughout the duration of the film, were credited. According to the criticism of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August met the old master's ideas so precisely that it sometimes gave the impression of a real Bergman film. The “culinary” arranged pictures were highlighted, the “actors who act perfectly in the supporting roles” around Pernilla Östergren-August, who are reminiscent of a young Liv Ullmann, as well as Max von Sydow and Samuel Fröler. Nevertheless, the perfectly staged film seems "often lengthy, sometimes downright tiring", which the FAZ chalked up as "a portrayal of a married life that strives for authenticity and loses itself in the tension-free ups and downs of separation and reconciliation". The story was told much better with Fanny and Alexander , the love that Anna and Henrik held on was "completely unsuitable as a dramaturgical element". "Once again it becomes clear that a story that derives its legitimacy solely from the fact that it is authenticated by 'real' life fails as a film". According to Der Spiegel , Bergman succeeded in giving the story of his parents' meeting “a terrible inner persuasiveness”, even if there was no verifiable truth. It is not just about the “primordial hatred between man and woman”, but also in the form of Anna and Mrs. Åkerblom “between mother and child”. Although Bille August is not an “original or even important film director”, he is “an impeccable technician” and proves to be a competent “administrator” for Bergman. The problem with the film, however, is that, unlike the TV version, it is only "half a thing". The best of intentions rely on the fact that he works solely through the two main characters Anna and Henrik. Bergman nevertheless managed "[...] the dramatic overwhelming once again". According to Karsten Witte ( Die Zeit ), the film tells the "[...] anamnesis of fear, of which Bergman was the cineastic master". With the script written especially for another director, Bergman relieved himself of "[...] the obligation to fall back on old obsessions that have already become historical themselves". Bille August is "a deliberate, problem-free epic poet" who describes the "farewell to all cinematic wickedness" in panel paintings without any crack, which are reminiscent of the "Dutch complacency of the old masters". The "dark zones" have "given way to a friendly, youth-free correction". The final scene in the park between Anna and Henrik is "a declared farewell to the fear, the turmoil and the hopelessness of European cinema".

Supplementary films to Bergman's family trilogy

The screenplay for The Best Intentions was followed by two more scripts based on Bergman's memories and today summarized as a trilogy about his parents. The movie, Sonntagskinder, also released in 1992 (original title: Söndagsbarn ) takes place in 1926 and is about the eight-year-old "Pooh" who spends vacation in the country with his mother and father, a godly and strict pastor. The film, the directorial debut of Ingmar Bergman's son Daniel , was cast with Lena Endre and Thommy Berggren as their parents. Four years later, the two-part television series Enskilda samtal (1996) was made under the direction of Liv Ullmann , in which Pernilla August and Samuel Fröler can again be seen as Bergman's parents. The action takes place between 1925 and 1934 and focuses on five conversations by Anna Bergman who is having an affair with a young theology student ( Thomas Hanzon ). In other roles, Max von Sydow can be seen as Uncle Jacob and Anita Björk in the role of Anna's mother. Pernilla August took on the role of mother again in the television film, directed by Ingmar Bergman himself : A Clown (1997), with Börje Ahlstedt as Carl Åkerblom and Anita Björk again as grandmother.

Awards

The cut film version took part in the competition at the 45th Cannes International Film Festival in 1992 . The jury, headed by French actor Gérard Depardieu , awarded Bille August the main prize of the festival, the Palme d'Or, which the director had already received four years earlier for Pelle, the Conqueror (1987). In his acceptance speech, August recognized Bergman as “one of the best directors in the world” and thanked him for his “fantastic script”. His wife Pernilla Östergren-August was also awarded the Acting Prize for the main role of Anna , which she won against, among other things, the later Oscar-winning Brit Emma Thompson ( reunion in Howards End ).

In 1993, when the American National Society of Film Critics Awards were presented, third places followed in the categories of Best Foreign Language Film (behind the winner Rote Laterne and the runner-up Das Mädchen aus der Streichholzfabrik ) and Best Actress for Pernilla Östergren-August (tied with Gong Li for Red Lantern , behind winner Emma Thompson for See you at Howards End and runner-up Susan Sarandon for Lorenzo's Oil and Light Sleeper ). In the same year, The Best Intentions received six nominations ( Best Film , Best Director , Best Screenplay , Best Actress - Pernilla August, Best Actor - Samuel Fröler, Best Cinematography ) at the award ceremony for the Swedish Guldbagge . Pernilla August and Ingmar Bergman won the awards. After the directorial awards for Das Schweigen (1964) and Fanny and Alexander (1983), it was the last time that Bergman was honored with the most important Swedish film award.

The film version was originally submitted as Sweden's official nominee for an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category , but was rejected due to its previous television broadcast.

literature

Primary literature

  • Ingmar Bergman: The goda viljan . Norstedt, Stockholm 1991, ISBN 91-1-911312-9 (Swedish original edition).
  • Ingmar Bergman: The best of intentions . Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-462-02275-X .

Secondary literature

  • Stig Björkman: Bille August. Sansad passagerare på triumfvagnen. In: Chaplin. 237, No. 6, 1991, pp. 50-57.
  • Louise Vinge: The Director as Writer: Some Observations on Ingmar Bergman's 'Den goda Viljan'. In: Sarah Death (Ed.): A Century of Swedish Narrative: Essays in Honor of Karin Petherick . Norvik Press, Norwich 1994, ISBN 1-870041-27-5 , pp. 267-280.
  • Rochelle Wright: The Imagined Past in Ingmar Bergman's Best Intentions. In: Roger W. Oliver (Ed.): Ingmar Bergman: An Artist's Journey . Arcade Publ., New York 1995, ISBN 1-55970-295-8 , pp. 116-125.
  • Den goda viljan, 1992. In: Birgitta Steene: Ingmar Bergman: a reference guide . Amsterdam Univ. Pr., Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-406-3 , pp. 340-344.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Birgitta Steene: Ingmar Bergman: a reference guide . Amsterdam Univ. Pr., Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-406-3 , p. 342.
  2. ↑ Karin's announcements. In: Birgitta Steene: Ingmar Bergman: a reference guide . Amsterdam Univ. Pr., Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-406-3 , pp. 339-340.
  3. ↑ film profile of Karins Ansikte at ingmarbergman.se (Swedish, accessed on 7 October 2012).
  4. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: The best of intentions . Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-462-02275-X , p. 7.
  5. ^ Ingmar Bergman. In: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 44/2007 of November 3, 2007, supplemented by news from MA-Journal. until week 08/2011 (accessed via Munzinger Online ).
  6. ↑ a b Ingmar Bergman: The best of intentions . Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-462-02275-X , p. 8.
  7. ↑ a b c d e Steve Lohr: For Bergman, a New Twist on an Old Love. In: The New York Times . September 6, 1989, p. C15.
  8. ^ AP : People in the News . September 1, 1989, Domestic News (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  9. ↑ Briefly: Bergman's parents subject of film. In: The Globe and Mail . September 2, 1989 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  10. ^ A b Arthur Max (AP): Ingmar Bergman Writes Revealing Play About his Parents . September 26, 1989, Entertainment News (accessed via LexisNexis Business ).
  11. ↑ a b c d e Lawrence Van Gelder: At the Movies. In: The New York Times. January 24, 1992, p. C8.
  12. ↑ Birgitta Steene: Ingmar Bergman: a reference guide . Amsterdam Univ. Pr., Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-406-3 , p. 343.
  13. ↑ Peter Cowie: Ingmar Bergman: A critical biography . Secker & Warburg, London 1982, ISBN 0-436-10885-2 , p. 4.
  14. ↑ Peter Cowie: Ingmar Bergman: A critical biography . Secker & Warburg, London 1982, ISBN 0-436-10885-2 , pp. 4-5.
  15. ↑ a b Mike Helmy: The sins of the fathers. In: The Independent . May 22, 1992, p. 19.
  16. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , pp. 16-17.
  17. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 28.
  18. ↑ a b c d Peter Cowie: Ingmar Bergman: A critical biography . Secker & Warburg, London 1982, ISBN 0-436-10885-2 , pp. 3-8.
  19. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 24.
  20. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 184.
  21. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 36.
  22. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 73.
  23. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 30.
  24. ↑ a b Scenes from a Marriage . In: Der Spiegel . 44/1992, p. 282.
  25. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 391.
  26. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 185.
  27. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , pp. 34-35.
  28. ↑ Ingmar Bergman: Laterna Magica: my life . Alexander-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-247-7 , p. 35.
  29. ↑ Short Biography Samuel Frölers (Swedish; accessed October 6, 2012) at sfi.se.
  30. ^ Profile of Pernilla August at ingmarbergman.se (English; accessed October 7, 2012).
  31. ↑ David Gritten: Love Story: Ingmar Bergman has 'The Best Intentions' when he chose Bille August. In: St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 14, 1992, p. 1G.
  32. ↑ Christ Peachment: Man marries mentor's mother. In: The Independent. June 28, 1992, p. 20.
  33. ↑ a b Derek Elley: Den Goda Viljan - The Best Intentions. In: Daily Variety. May 15, 1992 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  34. ^ A b c Henry Sheehan: (BPI Entertainment News Wire): The Augusts' road to 'Best Intentions'. August 13, 1992 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  35. ^ A b Dan Yakir: The meaning of life through the mirror of love. In: The Globe and Mail. August 15, 1992 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  36. ↑ Desmond Christy: Gazzetta: Love in the Cold. In: The Guardian. January 17, 1992, p. 27.
  37. ^ NPR : "Best Intentions" about Bergman's Parents . Morning Ed. (Radio transcript accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  38. ^ Michael Wallin (AP): Swedish Movie Industry Faces Drastic Budget Cuts . June 18, 1991 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  39. ↑ movie facts in profile at ingmarbergman.se (English, Swedish, accessed on 7 October 2012).
  40. ^ Hillel Italie: Pleasing Bergman a daunting challenge. In: Toronto Star . August 14, 1992, p. B3.
  41. ↑ a b Hans-Dieter Seidel: Unreached Bergman. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. May 16, 1992, p. 27.
  42. ↑ David Nicholson ( UPI ): A Stranger Among Us with Melanie Griffith shown in Cannes. May 14, 1992 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  43. ↑ a b AFP : Love triumphs at well-intentioned festival . May 18, 1992 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  44. ↑ Jean-Michel Frodon: "Les Meilleures Intentions", de Bille August: Au nom du père. In: Le Monde. May 16, 1992 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  45. ↑ a b Derek Malcolm: Cannes: Emotion Pictures. In: The Guardian . May 18, 1992, p. 32.
  46. ↑ Alexander Walker: What made Gerald smile. In: Evening Standard . May 21, 1992, p. 32.
  47. ↑ a b Comments at sfi.se (Swedish; accessed October 7, 2012).
  48. ↑ Horst Peter Koll: The best of intentions. In: film service. 22/1992 (accessed via Munzinger Online ).
  49. ↑ Claudia Wefel: Disorder and constant suffering. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. November 3, 1992, p. 35.
  50. ↑ Karsten Witte : Farewell to fear . In: The time . November 30, 1992, No. 45.
  51. ↑ film profile of Enskilda samtal (Swedish English /; accessed on 7 October 2012) at ingmarbergman.se.
  52. ↑ Enskilda and all. In: Birgitta Steene: Ingmar Bergman: a reference guide . Amsterdam Univ. Pr., Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-406-3 , pp. 347-349.
  53. ↑ Lawrence Cohn: NSFC honors Clint, Thompson. In: Variety , January 4, 1993, p. 1.
  54. ↑ film profile sfi.se (English / Swedish; accessed October 3, 2012).
  55. ^ Profile of Ingmar Bergman at sfi.se (English / Swedish; accessed on October 3, 2012).