Ingmar Bergman – a ground-breaking influencer

Director Ingmar Bergman, ‘one of the greatest artists of the 20^th century’, was born 100 years ago this month. His films dealt with existential, psychological questions of mortality, loneliness, betrayal, bleakness, insanity, religious faith and sexual desire and were laden with symbolism. He made low-budget movies with a repertory cast of the same actors and his work had a significant effect on later film-makers like Scorsese.

He was born 14 July 1918 12.15 am Upsala, Sweden, with a strict Lutheran pastor father. During his compulsory hours in church he studied the mediaeval interior – ‘There was everything that one’s imagination could desire—angels, saints, dragons, prophets, devils, humans.’  After university he started writing his own screenplays, inspired by Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov.

He had a Cancer Sun in the communicative 3^rd, with a confident Jupiter Pluto also in Cancer square Mars in his performing 4^th house. His Mars was in an enthusiastic trine to Venus, sextiling onto Saturn Mercury. Where his tendency to gloom came from was a cold Saturn, Mercury, Neptune in his 4^th, suggesting a bleak and confusing childhood and relationship with his father, not improved by having a frustrated, trapped, scary Mars square Pluto.

He had a wide Yod of Sun sextile a 5^th house Virgo Moon inconjunct Uranus in his 10^th, marking him out for an original career as a ground-breaker.  His creative 5^th harmonic was well aspected, as was his even more creative 7H.

In 1976 he was arrested for tax evasion though the charges were subsequently dropped as unsubstantiated. As a result he had a breakdown and left Sweden for a decade. That occurred when tr Pluto was conjunct his Solar Arc Saturn with both conjunct his 5^th house Mars which was a considerably whammy.

He was married five times with eight children. His North Node in Sagittarius in his 7^th would make long term commitment tricky as would his Moon inconjunct Uranus – and the after effects of his severe childhood.