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September 21, 2006
World Renown Cinematographer, Sven Nykvist, Passes On
Nykvist was the genius standing beside Ingmar Bergman during many of his masterpieces. He's one of the best cinematographers of all time and you really don't need any technical knowledge of lighting to know that - just watch Fanny and Alexander.
Chris Fujiwara wrote about a retrospective of Nkyvist's work at the Harvard Film Archive in May, 2000 in the Boston Phoenix. Here's a great graph:
In Light Keeps Me Company (2000; May 19 at 7 p.m., May 21 at 6 p.m., and May 30 at 7 p.m.), an intimate documentary made by son Carl-Gustaf Nykvist, Bergman says: "Sven and I saw things alike, thought things alike; our feeling for light was the same. We had the same basic moral positions about camera placement." The closeness between the two makes it difficult to isolate Nykvist's contribution to Bergman's work, especially since Bergman's own concept of cinema was changing at about the same time Nykvist became his regular cinematographer. Yet it's reasonable to assume that the visual purity, restraint, and naturalism that distinguish Nykvist's camerawork on Winter Light and Persona (1966; May 20 at 7 p.m.) from the more flamboyant work of Gunnar Fischer on The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), and The Magician (1958) owe as much to Nykvist's genius as to Bergman's maturing temperament.I love the idea of being so passionate about your art that you can have a "moral position about camera placement."
Nykvist had a long illness and was being treated for aphasia, a form of dementia. It saddens me that such an amazing artistic genius suffered at the end of his life. I hope he rests in peace.
Obit round-up:
"Sven Nykvist, 83; Cinematographer Won Oscars for Work With Bergman," by Chris Lee in the LA Times
"Sven Nykvist, 83, a Master of Light in Films, Dies," by Stephen Holden in the NY Times
Sven Nykvist: Distinguished Swedish cinematographer who collaborated with Ingmar Bergman and other European and Hollywood luminaries," by The Times (of London)
"Soulful eye: Sven Nykvist uses the screen as his canvas," by Chris Fujiwara in the May 18-25, 2000 edition of the Boston Phoenix
Posted by cj at September 21, 2006 09:22 PM