A documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Stefan Jarl about the multiaward winning actor Thommy Berggren well known from his work with Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg.
The BricklayerWhat is art? What is life?Stefan Jarl's film The Bricklayer focuses on these questions. The film is a portrait of the actor Thommy Berggren and delves deeply into his background and upbringing. Why is Thommy Berggren one of our best actors? From where does an actor draw his strengths?
The film follows Thommy Berggren during two and a half years, and includes rich examples of his productions for film, theatre and television.
Thommy BerggrenIn 1963 Thommy Berggren joined The Royal Dramatic Theatre, and played in the same year in Ingmar Bergman's production Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf. He has worked with many directors, notably Alf Sjöberg. The interpretation of the eldest son in Long day's journey into night directed by Ingmar Bergman in 1988 attracted a lot of attention.-. .
His breakthrough in films came with Bo Widerberg's The Pram and Raven's End, both from 1963. And with Bo Widerberg as director, Thommy Berggren has shown some of his most distinguished performances. The part as Sixten Sparre in Elvira Madigan brought him international fame. Thommy Berggren has also directed three plays, among them Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. Thommy Berggren was also the cicerone in Stefan Jarl's film about Bo Widerberg, Life at Any Cast.
Stefan JarlStefan Jarl is Sweden's leading documentary film maker with a unique sense of images and a dynamic filmic presence.
Over the years Stefan Jarl has received several international awards, among them the Felix Award, the European "Oscar".
According to Ingmar Bergman, documentary filmmaker Stefan Jarl definitively belongs to the small circle of "extremely talented mad men" who have enriched Swedish cinema. "One of the last great samurai who unyieldingly fights for ideals and convictions. In our "heavy industry" there aren't many like him."
"Moving and entertaining!"
/Variety
"Thommy Berggren is a famous actor in Sweden and specialists (if one may say so) also know about him abroad. Director Stefan Jarl has a definite place in Swedish documentary history, especially because of his films about two hippies in the 60s, 70s and 90s.
But this is about Thommy Berggren, here mostly speaking about his proletarian rising and his father, much engaged in Swedish working class movement and also an addict to alcohol. Berggren, smart dressed, is still full of working class values, and says that his acting have been much influenced by the underdog syndrome, even when playing kings. The must funny part is the story of the Ingmar Bergman rehearsals of Eugene O'Neill, where Berggren plays all the parts, ridiculing Bergman rather harsh.
To enjoy this film, you must probably know quite a lot of Swedish history and especially its theatre and film history. Maybe you have to live here also."
/stensson from Stockholm, Sweden [from imdb.com]FACTS:
35 mm, 1:1,66, colour, 95 min., 2002
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Stefan Jarl, född 18 mars 1941, dokumentärfilmare och filmregissör. Stefan Jarl är känd för att göra filmer med ett socialt engagemang. Stefan Jarl
