about my Scandinavian classes...

People keep asking me about this.

It all started with Woody Allen, my hero. His major, major influence was Ingmar Bergman, a Scandinavian director, and so last semester, I took a Film 151 class that focuses on Bergman and his career. Throughout, I watched about 15 Bergman films, and boy they were amazing! Some standouts include Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Persona, Winter Light, Fanny & Alexander, etc.

Bergman films really, really beautiful stuff. Most of them are in black and white (he was reluctant to move on to color), and they looked really gorgeous. In fact, Bergman heavily uses the brilliant cinematographer, Sven Nykist, whom Woody Allen has also stoken to film Crimes and Misdemeanors. Bergman also heavily utilizes now one of my favorite actors -- Max van Sydow -- whom Allen also used, to great effect, in Hannah and Her Sisters. Bergman's films, though, are very depressing -- as are, it seems, most films that I enjoy. In fact, through a semester of watching Swedish films, the only Swedish word I've learned means "nothing".

In any case, I fell in love with Bergman. And then I found that one of his major influences is August Strindberg, a Scandinavian playwright. The same professor is teaching a course on Strindberg this semester, so naturally I jumped on it. I have not yet been disappointed; Strindberg is every bit as bizarre as Bergman and Allen, if not more. He is relentlessly intellectual -- and a woman hater. I'll talk about him next time.

And hence, this is my journey climbing up from Allen to Bergman to Strindberg in search for the root of genius.

Actually I also raised my hand once today in my Scandinavian class. I was hoping to just drop the question and let the professor run with it. Unfortunately, the professor was overjoyed that I even participated, and started hammering me with more questions. Background information: last semester (when I took another class from her) she told me that though I had perfect attendance, I did not have perfect participation. She was right.