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Bergman, Ingmar (Translated by Linda Haverty Rugg and Joan Tate) & Bergstrom, Lasse (Contributor) : The Fifth Act

The New Press, New York City, NY, 2001

ISBN 1565846621

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 153 pages. Collection of the film director's last screenplays. One of Ingmar Bergman's finest achievements. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with the Softcover Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Ingmar Bergman's "The Fifth Act" in a felicitous English translation. Collects four screenplays, two of them successfully turned into full-fledged films: "Monologue", "After the Rehearsal", "The Last Scream", and "In The Presence of A Clown". Unlike most filmscripts, they are being made available in book form because they constitute a literary, not just cinematic, achievement. Bergman said that the collection "deals with my indefatigable companions: The stage, the actors, and film, movie theaters, cinematography". In fact, it is Bergman who is indefatigable. Two of the scripts are autobiographical: In "After the Rehearsal", the director unburdens his artistic and personal relationships with two actresses while "In The Presence of A Clown" is based on his Uncle Carl, an inventor of early-talking film. "The Last Scream", unproduced, depicts the humiliation of filmmaker Georg af Klercker in his futile plea to an indifferent financier/producer for backing. "Bergman writes with honesty and compassion, and the translations are eloquent. In the Foreword, Swedish film critic Lasse Bergstrom succinctly places these scripts in the context of Bergman's entire literary and cinematic oeuvre" (Publisher's blurb). After he completed "Fanny and Alexander" (1982), a film that glows with a rare joy, a seemingly exhausted Ingmar Bergman announced that it was his last film. But the urge to write and work has always been obsessive in his case, and he quickly broke his word. Apart from these scripts, his magnificent three-volume autobiography was adapted as three separate films by Bille August, Daniel Bergman (his director/son), and Liv Ullmann (the great actress, who was his mistress). Then, in 2003, at the age of 85, he wrote and directed yet another film, "Saraband", and once again proclaimed that it was definitely his very last film (it was). Bergman's inability to stop working has always been a blessing, for us if not for him, not a curse. The most prolific film director of his generation, he has had his share of artistic triumphs and failures, his ups and downs. But as Woody Allen, his most ardent admirer in America (himself a very prolific, erratic, and rewarding film director), once said, Ingmar Bergman's failures are so much more interesting and satisfying, even better than most other film directors' successes. Ingmar Bergman died on July 30, 2007 at the age of 89, an irreplaceable loss to world culture. Given the abysmal state and irreversible decline of contemporary cinema, there are no words to describe the loss of its single greatest figure. "The greatest film artist since the invention of the motion picture camera" (Woody Allen). An absolute "must-have" title for Ingmar Bergman collectors. This title is a late-modern classic. This is one of few copies of the First American Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. The greatest film director of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER INGMAR BERGMAN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1565846621.

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