American Cinematographer - April 1984 - 53

like. There are no dark shadows.
Even the bishop, who represents a
kind of evil in the film, is lighted in
the same manner as the other char¬

Throughout the film, a soft,
contouring, flattering light pre¬
vails. This is not to say that Nykvist used a soft, flat even light. In¬
stead he was able to put highlights,
and modeling lights throughout
his scenes that gave the actors an
extraordinary rounded three-di¬
mensional quality without any
acters.

dark shadows. This

In order

to

understand

why Bergman and Nykvist made
the choices that
it is

we see in the film,
important to understand what

the film is about.

Although the
plot may seem unconventional and
unmotivated, Bergman is able to
justify and explain everything that

happens. Bergman is telling his au¬
dience that imagination, dreaming
and innocence are everything.
Bergman's villain, the bishop, tries
unsuccessfully to remove these
qualities from Fanny and Alex¬
ander. In the end, the bishop and
his philosophies are destroyed and

and

for

Nykvist

was
a

soft, flattering light.
This shot of Emilie,
the mother,

shadowless,

costumes

thematic concept
the entire film.

contrast

rounded lighting scheme com¬
the gray scale so that, cou¬
pled with the art direction, it gives
the film a low contrast, yet bright
quality. The look is most flattering
actors

scheme and basic

able to maintain

emphasizes the
visual qualities of

presses

the

opening shot
the visual
style, lighting

Through a careful
control of the tonal

yet

to

The

sets up

the final sequence.

render¬

ing them almost velvet-like. Also,
because so much of the film deals
with magic and dreams, the soft,
low contrast quality helps to make
the film seem more dream-like or
fabled.

April 1984

American

Cinematographer

51



American Cinematographer - April 1984

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