American Cinematographer - February 1996 - 49

Ingmar Bergman script.
Nykvist's name is rou¬
tinely coupled with Bergman's;

ago, when he was blazing trails
that many other cameramen would

their brilliant collaboration

visual

stretched

over

much of three de¬

cades, producing such classic films
as Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), The

Virgin Spring (1959), Through a
Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light
(1962), Persona (1966), The Hour of
the Wolf (1968), The Passion of Anna
(1970), Cries and Whispers (1972),
The Magic Flute (1973), Scenes
From a Marriage (1973), Face to
Face (1976), Autumn Sonata (1978),
The Serpent's Egg (1978) and Fanny
and Alexander (1983).
But

his

duets

with

Bergman comprise just a small part
Nykvist has com¬
piled credits with many other ac¬
complished directors, including
of his life's work.

Roman Polanski (The Tenant),
Louis Malle (Pretty Baby), Paul

subsequently follow. He says his
inspirations came from
Bergman, and also from studying
paintings at fine art galleries and

museums.

"A motion

picture doesn't

have to look absolutely realistic,"
he says. "It can be beautiful and
realistic at the same time. I am not
interested in beautiful photogra¬

phy. I

interested in telling sto¬
beings, how they
why they act that way."
Nykvist was born in

am

ries about human
act and

Stockholm in 1922, the son of mis¬

sionary parents who built a hospi¬
tal in the Belgian Congo. A cinema
buff as a youth, he later studied at
the Stockholm Municipal School
for Photographers. In 1941,
Nykvist went to work as an assis¬
tant

cameraman

five actors. "That was a very nice
way to work," he says. "Everyone
did everything. Everyone helped

else. It was like a fam¬
ily. Even Cries and Whispers was
produced on a $300,000 to
$400,000 budget. I learned so
much about composition, staging
and the infinite varieties of light
from Ingmar."
Nykvist and Bergman
nurtured a natural style of visual
story-telling reminiscent of silent
movies, and during the beginning
of their relationship, the cinema¬
tographer focused on a seminal
everyone

idea. "I learned that there are types
of lighting you can use to create an

ambience," he says. "There's a
single sentence in The Magic Lan¬
tern

[Bergman's self-penned biog-

"

at Sandrews Stu¬

I

am

not interested in

dios in Stockholm. In those days,
Swedish crews consisted of just

beautiful
am

Woman, Crimes and Misdemeanors),

people - the cinematographer
puller, who was also
responsible for still pictures.
During the mid-1940s,
Nykvist spent some time working
in Italy as a focus puller, a stint that
helped broaden his world view

Nora

and artistic outlook. After return¬

Mazursky (Willie & Phil), Bob Fosse
(Star 80), Alan Pakula (Dream
Lover), Norman Jewison (Agnes of
God), Philip Kaufman (The Unbear¬
able

Lightness of Being), Lasse
Eating Gilbert
Grape? and Something to Talk
About), Woody Allen (Another
Hallstrom (What's

Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle)
Bergman veteran Liv

and fellow

Ullmann (Kristin Lavransdatter).
Plis other credits include One Day
in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Can¬

Row and With Honors. In 1991,
Nykvist directed The Ox, which
earned critical praise.
Nykvist's career spans
half of the history of cinema; 1995
marked his 50th anniversary as a
cinematographer. He shot his
nery

two

and the focus

ing to Sweden, Nykvist began
shooting film for second-unit
crews. He also
photographed, di¬
rected, wrote, edited and recorded
sound for many documentary
films. In 1952, Nykvist was the co¬

director, co-writer and co-cinema-

tographer of Under the Southern
Cross, a narrative film produced in
the Belgian Congo and based on
an
experience his parents had
witch doctor. At

first narrative film, 13 Chairs, in
Stockholm, Sweden in 1945, when

had with
about the

he was 23. His subsequent body
work has played a major role

shot a documentary about Dr.
Albert Schweitzer's work in Africa.
In 1953, Nykvist got his

of
in

redefining the art of contemporary
cinematography.
"I

was

fortunate to work

with Ingmar, particularly at that
early stage of my career," he says.
"One of the things we believed
was that a picture shouldn't look
lit. Whenever possible, I lit with
one source and avoided
creating

double shadows, because that

a

same

time,

Nykvist

first chance to work with Bergman,
director of photography on the
feature Sawdust and Tinsel (a.k.a.
The Naked Night). Another cinema¬

as

tographer, Goran Strindberg, had
been scheduled to shoot the film,
but Strindberg decided instead to

go to Hollywood to film a Cinema¬
scope movie with a much bigger

photography. I
interested in telling

stories about human

beings, how they act and
why they act that way."
raphy] which expresses that con¬
cept: 'Light: the gentle, bare,
dreamlike, living, dead, clear,
misty, hot, violent, sudden, dark,
spring-like, falling, straight, slant¬
ing, sensual, subdued, limited, poi¬
sonous, calming pale light. Light.'
There

are so

many ways you can

light to tell a story. I think any¬
one who wants to understand
light
should read Ingmar's book."
Asked to verbally dissect
Bergman's eloquent statement
about the variable nature of light in
layman's terms, Nykvist responds,
"Gentle light is what you might use
if you're photographing a woman,
and you want her to look very
beautiful and soft. Dreamlike light
is also very soft. I achieve this with
light rather than low-contrast fil¬
ters, but that's just my preference.
Living light has more contrast and
vitality, while dead light is very flat
with no shadows. Clear light is
more
contrasty, but not too much."
He continues, "Misty light
use

pointed to the photography."
Such principles are com¬

budget.

among

modern cinematogra¬
phers, but Nykvist came to these

ing those days, Bergman was mak¬

could involve the

conclusions

ing films for $100,000 with a crew
of eight to 10 people and four or

fog filters. Violent light is more
contrasty than living. It is a subtle

February 1996

American

mon

some

30 to 35 years

Nykvist recalls that dur¬

use

Cinematographer

of smoke

or

47
American Cinematographer - February 1996

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