Daniel Bergman Movies

Over the course of a single year, the disparate lives of several modern Swedes gradually intersect. Based on a short story series by Reider Jonsson (best known for "My Life as a Dog) and directed by Daniel Bergman (son of Sweden's greatest director Ingmar Bergman), the focus is on the more mundane aspects of the character's lives, and the tone is low-key and laid back. The various characters are introduced aboard a train. One passenger is returning home to make peace with his father, a fisherman. Elsewhere, a husband and wife argue in front of their daughter about a pending divorce while a pair of young Slavic tourists bill and coo. In another spot, a young woman flirts with a handsome older man. All that subsequently occurs between the characters is reflected in the deep blue eyes of a beautiful woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Written by pantheon Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Sunday's Children was directed by Bergman's son Daniel. This intensely autobiographical film takes place when the elder Bergman was a child of eight. In a near-cathartic fashion, the story illustrates the strained relationship between young Ingmar and his minister father, and the understanding (not always a warm one) between them. Though Daniel Bergman pursues his own visual style, this is his father's film through and through, and as such should be given an honored place in Ingmar's body of work. Sunday's Children is, to date, the best of the recent "retrospectives" penned by the far-from-retired Ingmar Bergman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

I Skugga Hrafnsins--released in English-speaking countries as Shadow of the Raven--is essentially Tristan and Isolde, Icelandic style. During the late 11th century, Iceland is gradually being converted to Christianity, but old ways die hard. Tratusi (Reine Brynolfsson), a young Norseman, returns home to discover that his family is embroiled in a deadly feud...over the beached carcass of a whale. When the rival clan leader is killed, he is replaced by his daughter Isold (Tinna Gunnlaugsdottir) To assure that peace will reign in the region, Isold is promised in marriage to the son of the Bishop of Iceland (Sune Mangs)--who, despite his position as official spokesperson of Christian values, is corrupt and power-hungry. Isold would be willing to swallow her indignation and concede to this marriage of diplomacy, but she has fallen in love with her "enemy" Tratusi. Her plan to follow her heart while seeming to follow her duty inevitably ends in tragedy. Slow going for non-Scandanavian audiences, I Skugga Hrafnsina picks up tremendously in its violent final third. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide