My Criterion Top 10: Jessica Manzo

I’ve been running contributions from some of my favorite film critics, writers, and theorists from around the internet for the past few weeks. Each writer is listing their top 10 from the Criterion Collection. Today, the series starts to wind down with another contribution from the fine folks at French Toast Sunday. This time, it’s from Jessica Manzo. As I mentioned last week, I’m a huge fan of the FTS crew because they have impeccable taste in movies and graphic design. Jess is a key piece of that group and is very active with the LAMB. She also has a knack for making Baltimore sound like an awesome place. You can find Jess on Twitter @jess_fts.

Polish Film Posters for Ingmar Bergman Films

Whatever’s in the water in Poland, I’d like to drink it. Because Polish movie poster artists have quite a knack for spinning film art into something completely unique. It’s as evident anywhere as it is with posters for the films of Ingmar Bergman, whose work was ripe for artistic interpretation and visual license. The beauty of these posters is that they’re intriguing even if you’re unfamiliar with Bergman or Polish art. And they’re a visual treat if you’re familiar with either. Here are ten Polish movie posters for Ingmar Bergman films.

A Very Bergman Christmas

Who better to send Christmas wishes to my readers for me this year than Ingmar Bergman, an atheist whose films were the antithesis of holiday merriment? In other words, here are a bunch of images from Bergman films where people are wearing Santa hats. And in the one case where there’s nudity, I’ve found a way to cover her shame. Her beautiful, beautiful shame.

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Five flavors of Ingmar Bergman

Summer has officially arrived in St. Louis, which means I’m either going to be grouchy or angry or depressed until September. You see, summer in St. Louis is like living inside of a dog’s mouth. In short, it’s oppressive. It zaps the energy right out of me. And as such, what better time to visit my old pal, Doctor Doom- Ingmar Bergman? After all, Bergman seemed to understand the concept of sunlight and intense heat as oppressive. Two scenes come to mind- the cannibal child on the cliff in Hour of the Wolf and the sexually symbolic/ripe with frustration clown-and-soldier scene in Sawdust and Tinsel. Both of these scenes were made more terrifying by the sun-bleached shots, the intense heat, the additional distortion of a washed out environment.

Several themes recur throughout the Bergman catalogue. Here are five, along with a must-see film from Bergman that puts a specific theme on display.