Ingmar Bergman: Four Masterworks (The Criterion Collection)

I highly recommend this. If you like artistic philosophical movies, especially with a darker look at human nature, then you will like Ingmar Bergman. If you know anything at all about Bergman and his movies, you either know without watching his movies that you will not like his movies, or you will know before watching his movies that he will become one of your favorite directors. Dark and artistic movies are not for everyone, but if they are your thing, then Bergman is for you.If you purchase or watch The Seventh Seal (his best movie, and the one that should be anyone's introduction to him), then you will want to purchase other movies of his, so you might as well just start off your introduction to him by getting this set of four movies.Smiles of a Summer Night doesn't fit in with the other three in this set. It is a comedy, although it is still artistic and gives a deep and disturbing look into human nature. Wild Strawberries is more serious, but it isn't nearly as serious (or disturbing) as The Virgin Spring or The Seventh Seal.I consider The Seventh Seal and The Virgin Spring to be two of my favorite movies. Smiles of a Summer Night and Wild Strawberries are also good movies, but they're not on my top tier of movies.

This is a technically striking and visually pleasing restoration of four of Bergman's key works. The extras on the disks are sparse, as might be expected. My personal choice was to skip the learned commentary for now, as I wanted to re-experience the three dramas (after about four decades) from my own recollections, though I did enjoy the technical comparisons illustrating the depth and detail of the restoration work. The quality of these disks highlights Bergman's mastery of monochrome cinema, and heightened both my enjoyment and understanding of the works. The favorite of my youth, "The Seventh Seal," is still amazing, though the symbolism is somewhat lessened by the passage of [my] years and, sadly, the broad and often comedic imitation of Bergman's personification of death in others' work. Several of the iconic scenes are even more powerful thanks to the quality of the print. My current favorite is "Virgin Spring," the story of the tragic consequences proceeding from a young girl's innocence and budding romantic awareness leading to rape, murder and brutal revenge. Bergman's skill left me with the heartbreaking picture not only of selfish brutality and young life lost but of the death of beauty itself. "Wild Strawberries" is the work that rose the most in my estimation. It is the fantasy-laced story of an elderly and accomplished man forced to confront the emotional poverty of his youth more directly and deeply than Mr. Scrooge or Professor Unrath. A change of pace is the "Smiles of a Summer Night," an amusing comedy of the absurd which, taken with the other works, shows how Bergman's eye for beautiful young women surely imprinted the image of Swedish womanhood in the west of the last half-century. Excellent sound quality, nicely subtitled in English, and worth every penny, even (perhaps especially) if you already have one or two of the works in poorer prints.

I am a long time Bergman and Criterion fan, although Bergman's films are depressing, cold and sometimes I dread watching a new one (or even watching an old one back again). However this collection has some warmth to it because of two movies, Wild Strawberries and Smiles of a summer night. The Virgin Spring (which was the inspiration for Wes Craven's Last House on the Left) is harrowing and the Seventh Seal, well that's a classic and in my opinion defies categorization. This collection is very well put together (what else can one say about Criterion!!), although you can find these movies in Criterion Blu-ray too now (except The Virgin Spring though), I think the quality is not that different and this is definitely at a better price point here on Amazon. The seller had packaged this item very well indeed and the delivery was fast!! Highly recommended for Bergman fans and fans of independent cinema in general.

There's little to add regarding the brilliance of these films - see their individual write-ups if you need convincing that they're all masterworks. The key here is getting them for effectively $20 apiece vs. their usual price of $30 and up. As usual, Criterion did an exceptional job in the presentation of all these films, and they will make proud additions to any collection.I am by no means a mega-collector - I only accumulate films very gradually (though I started collecting way back in the 70s on 16mm film), and I only purchase films that I know have the staying power to watch repeatedly. But it was a no-brainer to pounce on this set - for $20 each, these classics are too good to resist!If you already love Bergman, you know how remarkable these films are. If you are a curious, adventurous film fan who wants to see what the shouting is about, then by all means, give them a try!

This collection was great. The films were rich, deep, and rewarding, a sad reminder of what the medium of cinema could have accomplished if the BBC and Hollywood hadn't taken it over by force.

Four of Ingmar Bergman's greatest films should be on everyone's "Life List," and they are all here in this Criterion Collection, "Four Masterworks." Each film is on its own disc accompanied by many special features, including an introduction by Bergman to "Smiles of a Summer Night;" interviews with some of his favorite actors; and commentary by film historian Peter Cowie. Video about film restoration too, for the techies in the art world. Picture, audio and subtitles are all crisp - no disappointment in quality that you might find in cheap movie reproductions. Ingmar Bergman was a genius of cinema, and these films are worth passing on to many generations.

A great collection Ingmar Bergman DVD's, the DVD's are stuffed with all kinds of rare material, interviews, outtakes etc.