BERGMAN AND ANTONIONI TRAVEL TO NEW LANDS…

The month of July in 2007 began with moments of happiness, as I prepared myself for an exciting trip to San Francisco, but ended on the sourest note possible. Two great legends have moved on, crippling a good portion of living film history and leaving we fine film fans in a complete state of mourning.

Yesterday, July 30th, I headed over to CNN’s Entertainment section to get a glance at the day’s happenings. To my surprise, right above a delicious picture of Danica McKeller (how I love thee), there was a picture of Ingmar Bergman. A man whose career spanned over 5 decades, and created some of cinema’s most important films, was dead.

When you learn about Bergman in school, teachers are so quick to bring up The Seventh Seal (deservedly so), but leave out so much of his work that was equally important. I first saw Wild Strawberries about 5 years ago. It’s a sort of tragic tale about an old professor confronting the emptiness of his life. This film is my personal favorite Bergman film and one I’ll never be able to forget.

Good night good sir, and you have countless games of chess in front of you.

The today, July 31st, I check my e-mail and notice one from a friend of mine (who works in the news industry) entitled, “Chalk another one up.” It was news about another classic filmmaker, Michelangelo Antonioni. This fellow Italian was responsible for such classics as L’Avventura and Blow-up. He was 94 years old.

Good night good sir.

What a sad few days. These two masters move on while Dennis Dugan (Big Daddy and The Benchwarmers) lives on. What an odd bit of irony.