Sven Nykvist, 1922 - 2006.

Oscar-winning Swedish filmmaker Sven Nykvist, who was director Ingmar Bergman's cinematographer of choice, has died after a long illness, his son said. He was 83.

The AP.

Their pioneering work concentrated on the emotional impact of lighting and color levels, Winter Light (1963) and Cries and Whispers (1973) being perhaps the most obvious examples of this approach. Having won an Oscar for best cinematography with the latter film, Nykvist, who had worked abroad only sporadically since the 1950s, found himself in increasing demand outside Sweden. The many celebrated directors with whom he worked include Louis Malle, Roman Polanski, Paul Mazursky, Volker Schlöndorff, Peter Brook and Woody Allen.

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His work with Bergman continued parallel to his international career, and it was another Bergman film, Fanny and Alexander (1982), that won him his second Oscar.

Ingmar Bergman Face to Face.

Updated through 9/22.

See also: Chris Fujiwara in the Boston Phoenix (2000) and the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award citation.

Updates, 9/22: Ronald Bergan in the Guardian: "Nykvist lit the sets and worked the camera himself. Scenes From a Marriage (1974), shot with only one camera held by Nykvist, included 10-minute takes with as many as 20 zooms per take, plus complex camera movements. 'When you are operating the camera, you forget all about the other people around you. You just see this little scene and you live in that and you feel it. For me, operating the camera is a sport and it helps me do better lighting. I prefer to shoot on location because in the studio you have too many possibilities, too many lights to destroy your whole picture.'"

Stephen Holden in the New York Times: "In his films, especially those with Mr Bergman, light assumed a metaphysical dimension that went beyond mood. It distilled and deepened the feelings of torment and spiritual separation that afflicted Bergman characters. But in scenes of tranquillity filmed outdoors, the light might also evoke glimpses of transcendence."

More from Edward Copeland, cnw at Reverse Shot and Joe Leydon.

From signandsight daily feuilleton roundup, Bergman as quoted by Daniel Kothenschulte in the Frankfurter Rundschau: "Sometimes I mourn the fact that I no longer make films, and more than anything else I miss working with Sven Nykvist. Perhaps because we were both so obsessed with the problems of light, this tender, dangerous, dreamy, alive, dead, misty, hot, fearful, naked, sudden, spring-like, falling, straight, slanting, sensuous, muted, poisonous, calming, sallow light."

Posted by dwhudson at September 20, 2006 1:14 PM