178 Quotes by Ingmar Bergman

"Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream."

"When we experience a film, we consciously prime ourselves for illusion. Putting aside will and intellect, we make way for it in our imagination. The sequence of pictures plays directly on our feelings. Music works in the same fashion; I would say that there is no art form that has so much in common with film as music. Both affect our emotions directly, not via the intellect. And film is mainly rhythm; it is inhalation and exhalation in continuous sequence."

"I am very much aware of my own double self... The well-known one is very under control; everything is planned and very secure. The unknown one can be very unpleasant. I think this side is responsible for all the creative work - he is in touch with the child."

"To shoot a film is to organize an entire universe."

"Self-portraiture is something one should never get involved in, since it is wrong to lie even though one endeavours to tell the truth."

"I'd prostitute my talents if it would further my cause, steal if there was no way out, killing my friends or anyone else if it would help my art."

"The older I become, the more I think about my mother."

"All of us collect fortunes when we are children. A fortune of colors, of lights, and darkness, of movement, of tensions. Some of us have the fantastic chance to go back to his fortune when grown up."

"I have a lot of tics and phobias. I hate to travel. I hate to go to festivals. I hate it when somebody gets close behind me. I'm scared of the darkness. I hate open doors."

"The individualists stare into each other's eyes and yet deny the existence of each other."