Max Von Sydow is the face that helped put Swedish film on the map and he deserves that title, if it meant anything to him. Ingmar Bergman, also deserves to be in this list, though as a director, he would not fit.

But one thing is missing here. SVEN NYKVIST who made so many of those early films so memorable, and he himself went on to even pull in two OSCARS (very well deserved!) because the films would not likely be as attractive without him as they ended up ... I sincerely doubt that Ingmar Bergman, even had that visual touch, but I think he trusted his friend! I think that IB probably felt that all he had to do is to get the actors focused, and SVEN would bring it to light!

That co-operation is, often, what defines the great films. There aren't very many of them, but this one is by far, one of the best and its work is historic!

Hi,

See the film ... VISIONS OF LIGHT ... about cinematographers, and you will see very quickly how much one person or another made things look better, or spectacular. Many times, what we see is something that came out of the eye of the cinematographer, since most directors, are a lot more concerned with working the actors and their story, and (normally!!!!!) don't always concentrate on what the shot needs or not, although some things (in Hollywood!!!) are standard .. the kiss, etc, etc, etc. There are, however, some directors that are very concerned with the setting and its visual strength opposite the actors, but some make it work. A great example is the original BLADE RUNNER. But it had outstanding acting definition for everyone, and it made for a special film.

Few actors, command the screen, as they would in a theater, and keep us all wow'd the whole time. This is an experience of a lifetime for many of us, and film, sometimes, makes this easier for us to relate to, but seeing it in person is even more valuable and a stronger feeling all around. But ask yourself .. how many of the great actors of our time will you see on the theater to know what I am saying? I've been lucky ... the RSC had a season in Santa Barbara (with Ian Richardson!), saw Diana Rigg and Keith Mitchel, and then Richard Harris to mention a few. Never got to see any of the great American actors on stage. Most had already migrated to film and did not do a lot of theater.

Of those actors, I would say that most of them are very well schooled and specially well brought up in film, although I'm not sure about many of them doing that much theater. The actor's themselves, are not always the reason why the film stands out ... and a great example is THE SEVENTH SEAL, where the visualization of it all is actually far more important to the whole film, than the actors themselves. Later, though, Ingmar Bergman became known for making his actors and actresses live on the screen like so few others had, or have, ever done before.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Ferguson" rel="nofollow - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Ferguson

Icarium, try to find the Sven Nykvist film and see it ... it explains a lot about the actors, and how they felt around him, specially in Bergman's films, but also visible in other films by the comments by various folks.

A very special piece of work, and highly recommended since it is one of the few things that shows how great a cinematographer can be ... one can only hope that something is good is done about Storaro, and many other greats out there! These folks made actors look better than they knew they could be! And this is so clear in Nykvist, and it makes Hollywood look so bad and cardboard, it's not funny!

Really I'm going with Stellen Skarsgaard, he was great in River.