Did Bergman really say that of Rossellini? Wow! Both were virtually the same age though R died in 1977 while B died in 2007. I wonder if B said that before or after R died. I never thought of R as an "amateur." Others I gather would not think so either. Just a nasty remark, yet from a biggie.
He said it of Michelangelo Antonioni not Rossellini.
>Ingmar Bergman once told an interviewer that he considered Antonioni—along with Carl Dreyer—an amateur and Monica Vitti a talented but technically insecure performer. The truth is that Bergman is a master of conventional film technique, the way a good professional does it, by the rules, and that Antonioni—like Dreyer—is the kind of artist who goes his own way, in disregard of the rules, and achieves an unconventional mastery.
My error though I was thinking Antonioni. When I checked the dates however I looked up Rossellini instead of A which was a further error. I had a paragraph that I deleted in which I mentioned Antonioni's Le amiche a movie I liked. So I must have been thinking of Antonioni. I know I'm waffling a bit but the truth is, I don't know Rossellini and I don't know he got in my head..
Thanks for the link. I read the complete article. I wonder if Bergman was too hard on him. Is the reason he had that opinion because he observed a style quite different than his own. Probably not completely but it could still be a factor. Both B and A died the same year, 2007, with B being five years older. Did A have a public reaction to that, I wonder. It was a nasty thing to say.
I haven't seen much of Vitti. L'Avventura was a mess and I don't even remember her in that (invoking the usual excuse, i.e., it's been a while since viewing). But I like L'Eclisse a lot and Vitti seemed quite assured. "Technically insecure" suggests simply not enough training. or having the training but learning only so much, which would probably irritate Bergman, who as I now know was more conventional, indicating appreciating the value of a well-trained actor. He apparently thought that A was also technically insecure since he strayed from accepted norms. Hence, an amateur. Amateur doesn't seem right word. A was certainly better than that.
Amateur wasn’t the right word since it implies Antonioni made mediocre movies unintentionally rather than intentionally.
