Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Dig A Hole: Bergman's Cinematographer Gunnar Fischer

Ingmar Bergman set the tone, Gunnar Fischer lit the mood. The Swedish cinematographer responsible for some of the most recognizable images in film history classes throughout the world died June 11 at a retirement home in Stockholm. He was 100.

Gunnar Fischer and Ingmar Bergman

Fischer credited Citizen Kane cinematographer Gregg Toland's deep-focus, high-contrast, expressionistic lighting schemes as a source of inspiration. Between 1948 and 1960, Fischer and Bergman collaborated on a dozen or so art house staples before the director of photography was banished from the kingdom, forever replaced by Sven Nykvist. The reason for the separation has never been made clear. Some speculate they had a falling out over a woman. My guess is Fischer got tired of twelve years hanging around a brooding, humorless, death-obsessed genius.

According to the New York Times, Fischer told Thames Television, “We had had a very good collaboration for many years. I made 12 films with him. But on the last one, The Devil’s Eye, we began to part.”

Wild Strawberries

Fischer added insult to injury with a snub heard round the world. Bergman requested that Fischer lens The Silence, the final installment in the director's highfaluting "Death of God" trilogy. The legendary DP had to beg off, citing a scheduling conflict: He was hard at work on the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color television production of Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates. You can't microwave a souffle, and while the two briefly reteamed on The Touch (1970) -- Fischer designed the title sequence -- after 1960, Nykvist pretty much became Bergman's camerman of choice.

The Seventh Seal

Fischer studied painting in Copenhagen and wrote and illustrated children's books, before serving as a chef in the Swedish Navy. Among the prominent guests he was asked to entertain was an actress who became his calling card to Filmstaden in 1935.

In addition to his collaborations with Bergman and Disney, Fischer apprenticed under cinematic Holy Man, Carl Theodor Dreyer (Two People) and later teamed with his son Jens on Jacques Tati's final project, the television feature Parade.

The one sunny spot with Bergman: Smiles of a Summer Night

Gunnar Fischer was married to Gull Söderblom from 1938 until her death in 2005. In addition to Jens, he is survived by another son, Peter, also a cinematographer, six granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment

Ingmar Bergman set the tone, Gunnar Fischer lit the mood. The Swedish cinematographer responsible for some of the most recognizable images in film history classes throughout the world died June 11 at a retirement home in Stockholm. He was 100.

Gunnar Fischer and Ingmar Bergman

Fischer credited Citizen Kane cinematographer Gregg Toland's deep-focus, high-contrast, expressionistic lighting schemes as a source of inspiration. Between 1948 and 1960, Fischer and Bergman collaborated on a dozen or so art house staples before the director of photography was banished from the kingdom, forever replaced by Sven Nykvist. The reason for the separation has never been made clear. Some speculate they had a falling out over a woman. My guess is Fischer got tired of twelve years hanging around a brooding, humorless, death-obsessed genius.

According to the New York Times, Fischer told Thames Television, “We had had a very good collaboration for many years. I made 12 films with him. But on the last one, The Devil’s Eye, we began to part.”

Wild Strawberries

Fischer added insult to injury with a snub heard round the world. Bergman requested that Fischer lens The Silence, the final installment in the director's highfaluting "Death of God" trilogy. The legendary DP had to beg off, citing a scheduling conflict: He was hard at work on the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color television production of Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates. You can't microwave a souffle, and while the two briefly reteamed on The Touch (1970) -- Fischer designed the title sequence -- after 1960, Nykvist pretty much became Bergman's camerman of choice.

The Seventh Seal

Fischer studied painting in Copenhagen and wrote and illustrated children's books, before serving as a chef in the Swedish Navy. Among the prominent guests he was asked to entertain was an actress who became his calling card to Filmstaden in 1935.

In addition to his collaborations with Bergman and Disney, Fischer apprenticed under cinematic Holy Man, Carl Theodor Dreyer (Two People) and later teamed with his son Jens on Jacques Tati's final project, the television feature Parade.

The one sunny spot with Bergman: Smiles of a Summer Night

Gunnar Fischer was married to Gull Söderblom from 1938 until her death in 2005. In addition to Jens, he is survived by another son, Peter, also a cinematographer, six granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

UCSD prof David Phillips thinks suicide may be contagious

Why do they die?
Next Article

La Costa developer Merv Adelson dead at 85

After long lawsuit, and denial, he admitted he had mob ties
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.