While speaking at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic,Stellan Skarsgårdtalked about his relationship with Swedish cinematic legendIngmar Bergman, and he didn’t mince his words. Skarsgård, who is at the venerable film festival to support his latest film,Sentimental Value, noted Bergman’s skill while also discussing his manipulative ways, and tied it back to Bergman’s controversial past as a Nazi supporter during World War II. Bergman directed Skarsgård inHustruskolan, a 1983 Swedish TV adaptation ofMolière’s playThe School for Wives.
Variety reportsthat Skarsgård discussed his mixed feelings for Bergman at the festival: “My complicated relationship with Bergman has to do with him not being a very nice guy. He was a nice director, but you may still denounce a person as an asshole.Caravaggiowas probably an asshole as well, but he did great paintings.” Skarsgard went on to note the director’s controversial past: “Bergman was manipulative. He was a Nazi during the war and the only person I know who cried when Hitler died. We kept excusing him, but I have a feeling he had a very weird outlook on other people. [He thought] some people were not worthy. You felt it, when he was manipulating others. He wasn’t nice.” Bergman’s early Nazi leanings are no secret: in his memoirs, he wrote about attending a Nazi rally in Germany in 1934 and being drawn to Hitler’s charisma, although he denounced the Nazis after the truth about the Holocaust was revealed.
Who Is Ingmar Bergman?
Born in Sweden in 1918, Bergman was one of the most acclaimed and most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. He wrote his first screenplay in 1944, and made his directorial debut two years later withCrisis. His best-known films includeThe Seventh Seal, a medieval parable about a crusader who matches wits with Death;Wild Strawberries, a road movie about an elderly professor taking a trip with his pregnant daughter-in-law;Winter Light, a drama about a pastor undergoing a crisis of faith;Hour of the Wolf, a psychological horror film about a painter plagued with nightmarish visions; and the semi-autobiographicalFanny and Alexander. Bergman often worked with the same actors, who gained international acclaim via his work, includingMax von Sydow,Liv Ullmann, andBibi Andersson. Bergman was arrested for tax evasion in 1976; although the charges were swiftly dropped, Bergman’s output dropped precipitously afterward. He died in 2007 at age 89.
The topic of directors came up at Karlovy Vary because Skarsgård is playing one inSentimental Value. The film, the latest fromThe Worst Person in the World’sJoachim Trier, stars the veteran Swedish thespian as an aging director trying to make a comeback, even as he attempts to connect with his two estranged daughters.
Sentimental Valuewillpremiere in the United States on July 13, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Sentimental Value
