SVEN NYKVIST

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#2: [Right] with dir Ingmar Bergman - photo Thys Ockersen Archive

#3: With dir Liv Ullmann

SVEN NYKVIST

Born: 3 December 1922, Moheda, Kronobergs län, Sweden, as Sven Vilhem Nykvist, son of Gustaf Nykvist [1871-1944], a Lutheran missionary. [His parents spent most of their lives in the Belgian Congo, so Sven was raised by relatives in Sweden and saw his parents rarely.]

Died: 20 September 2006, Stockholm, Sweden.

Education: Stockholm Municipal School for Photographers [Still ph].

Career: Joined Sandrews Studio in 1941 as c.asst. From 1943-44 he worked as c.asst/interpreter for Mario Soldati and Franco Vigni at the Cinecittà Studios, Rome.

In 1997, while working on Woody Allen's 'Celebrity', he was diagnosed with progressive aphasia, a form of dementia, that forced him into early retirement.

Former member of the FSF. Was a member of the ASC.

His son Carl-Gustaf [Charlie] is a film director.

Wrote the book 'Resan till Lambarene/Journey to Lambarene' [1959] on Albert Schweitzer.

Appeared in the doc's 'Foto: Sven Nykvist' [1972, Bayley Silleck; ph: Stephen Goldblatt; SN is also the commentator and narrator], 'Stand By to Shoot!' [1974, Katinka Faragó & Hans Reutersvard], 'Tre scener med Ingmar Bergman' [1975, Jörn Donner], 'A Look at Liv' [1977, Richard Kaplan], 'The Bergman File' [1977, Jörn Donner], 'Storyville Story' [1978, Lasse Summanen & Charlie Nykvist], 'Lights Please - En film om ljus och mörker' [1985, Lars Svanberg], "Dokument Fanny och Alexander/The Making of 'Fanny and Alexander'" [1986, Ingmar Bergman; ph: Arne Carlsson], 'Regi - Andrej Tarkovsky' [1988, Michal Leszczylowski], 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991], 'Jag är nyfiken, film/I Am Curious, Film' [1995, Stig Björkman], 'Lumière et compagnie' [1995, seg dir by Liv Ullmann], 'Liv Ullmann scener fra et liv' [1997, Edvard Hambro], 'Cinéma de notre temps: une journée d'Andrei Arsenevitch' [2000, Chris Marker] & 'Ljuset håller mig sällskap/Light Keeps Me Company' [1999, Carl-Gustaf Nykvist].

Awards: Guldbagge Awards 'Jury Specialbagge' [1973]; 'Oscar' AA [1973], NSFC Award [1973] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1974] for 'Viskningar och rop/Cries and Whispers'; 'César' Award [1976] for 'Black Moon'; BSC Award [1983], LAFCA Award [1983], 'Oscar' AA [1984] & BAFTA Film Award [1984] for 'Fanny och Alexander'; Cannes FF 'Best Artistic Contribution' [1986] for 'Offret'; BSC Award nom [1988], 'Oscar' AA nom [1989], ASC Award nom [1989] & Independent Spirit Award [1989] for 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'; BSC Award nom [1992] for 'Chaplin'; Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award [1993]; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1995] for 'Kristin Lavransdatter'; ASC Lifetime Achievement Award [1996]; Camerimage 'Special Award' [1998; shared with Ingmar Bergman]; FSF 'Golden Aperture Plate' [199?] 'for his global incarnation of the spirit of Swedish cinematography'.

Sven Nykvist's color cinematography on the films of director Ingmar Bergman has won him praise, awards - and endless imitators. Nykvist was the director of photography on all of Bergman's films and most of his television productions from 'Jungfrukällan/The Virgin Spring' through 'Fanny och Alexander/Fanny and Alexander' and 'Efter repetitionen/After the Rehearsal'. So well does Nykvist's cinematography fit Bergman's later films that it is difficult to untangle their mutual influence on each other's work.

When he was part of Bergman's tightly knit 18-person crew, Nykvist's responsibilities included lighting and actually working the camera, as well as designing the cinematography for the production. This may account for the decline in quality [from superb down to excellent] when Nykvist works on American films, and must delegate part of his duties among the crew. Nevertheless, there is also clearly a symbiotic matching of tastes and temperaments between himself and Bergman that Nykvist has not shared with other directors. Both Swedes are the sons of pastors, both had difficult childhoods and both fondly recall an early fascination with the power of film and light over the imagination.

Nykvist's pioneering with natural light sources complements Bergman's penchant for location shooting and minimalist shot compositions. While Nykvist builds upon the Swedish tradition of filmmaking in his style, he has brought the national tradition of stark psychological landscape into international favor with color cinematography that achieves iconographical beauty by eschewing the distracting prettiness generally associated with color film. Initially, Nykvist was reluctant to move from black & white to color because color's tendency to prettify subjects and emphasize detail made it difficult to show something as convincingly 'ugly'. When color became a commercial necessity, Nykvist and Bergman got off to a false start in 'För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor/Now About These Women' [1963], which made them run for cover back to black & white until they shot 'En passion/A Passion' in 1968. By ignoring much of the conventional wisdom about using color film, Nykvist finally managed to bring an iconographical style to 'Viskningar och rop/Cries and Whispers', his fourth color film for Bergman.

Nykvist emphasizes that he strives for realism, but his use of the term is misleading. He portrays psychological truth rather than social realism, and his heavy reliance on natural light and geometrically precise shot composition gives his work the convincing quality of a dream, not a documentary. Nykvist explains that light is the key to his cinematography, and that light is a character in Bergman's films. The significance of an actor's actions often is determined by subtle differences in lighting. This fascination with light is probably linked to both men's experience of Sweden's sunless winters and unblinking summer sun. On 'Viskningar och rop/Cries and Whispers' the two men spent weeks simply gauging the natural light at different times of day inside the house which served as the main interior for the film. This careful pre-production work in terms of light is typical of their style.

For decades, foreign cinematographers had little chance of working in American films. The easing of union regulations in the 1970s, however, allowed European directors of photography an increasing visibility in the American film industry. Since then, Nykvist has photographed a variety of American films. And over the years, he has worked for other filmmakers, including Louis Malle, Roman Polanski, Volker Schlöndorff, Philip Kaufman, Lasse Hallström, Liv Ullmann [in which he maintained his Bergman connection], and Woody Allen, and directed his own films. Particularly notable is his work with Allen on 'Another Woman', 'Crimes and Misdemeanors', and the 'Oedipus Wrecks' episode of 'New York Stories'. But Nykvist still remains synonymous with Ingmar Bergman, with their collaboration producing the cinematographer's most innovative, influential, and renowned work. In 'Ljuset håller mig sällskap/Light Keeps Me Company', a documentary directed by Nykvist's son, Carl-Gustav, Bergman noted, 'Sven and I saw things alike, thought things alike; our feeling for light was the same. We had the same basic moral positions about camera placement.' [From an article by Patricia Ferrara, updated by Rob Edelman, on the filmreference.com website.]

FILMS
1942	En Stockholmssilhuett [Bibi Lindström] b&w; doc/10m
1943	I mörkaste Småland/In the Darkest Corner of Småland [Schamyl Bauman] b&w; cph: Olle Nordemar
1943	Östersjöns nyckel [Carl-Åke Wadsten] b&w; doc/12m
1944	Indianer och blekansikten [Ragnar Falck] b&w; short/10m
1944	Barnen från Frostmofjället/The Children from Frostmo Mountain [Rolf Husberg] b&w; cph: Olle Nordemar (Nykvist began as c.asst, but took over ph when O. Nordemar fell ill); filmed August 1944 & April 1945
1944	Tre söner gick till flyget [Rolf Husberg] b&w; ph December 1944; cph: Olle Nordemar (September-November 1944)
1945	13 stolar/The 13 Chairs [Börje Larsson] b&w
1945	Gomorron Bill!/Good Morning, Bill! [Lauritz Falk & Peter Winner] b&w; cph: Hilding Bladh & Göran Strindberg
1946	Där lägereldarna brinna [Mauritz Sandin] b&w; doc/8m
1946	Förnuftig fritid [Bo Löfberg] b&w; doc/12m
1946	Saltstänk och krutgubbar/Gay Old Time/Salt Water Spray and Tough Old Boys [Schamyl Bauman] b&w
1947	En stad med tradition - En film om staden Lund [Bo Löfberg] b&w; doc/10m
1947	Ett yrke med tradition [Bo Löfberg] b&w; doc/9m
1947	Lata Lena och blåögda Per/Lazy Lena and Blue Eyed Per [Lennart Wallén] b&w
1947	Maj på Malö/Maj from Malö [Schamyl Bauman & Ragnar Arvedson] b&w
1948	Hin och smålänningen/The Devil and the Man from Småland [Ivar Johansson] b&w; cph: Carl-Eric Edlund
1948	Sjösalavår/Spring in Sjösala [Per Gunvall] b&w
1948	I fetischmannens spår/In the Footsteps of the Witch Doctor/In the Footsteps of the Magician [Sven Nykvist] b&w; doc/14m
1949	Lång-Lasse i Delsbo/Lanky Lasse Goes to Delsbo [Ivar Johansson] b&w
1949	Rågens rike/The Land of Rye [Ivar Johansson] b&w
1949	Loffe blir polis/Loffe Joins the Police [Elof Ahrle] b&w; cph: Göran Strindberg
1949	Bohus Bataljon/Bohus Battalion [Sölve Cederstrand] b&w
1950	Bisi Congo [Sven Nykvist] b&w; doc/10m
1950	När syrenerna blomma/When Lilacs Bloom [Ivar Johansson] b&w
1952	Under Södra korset/Under the Southern Cross [Olof Bergström & Sven Nykvist] b&w; doc/83m; + co-prod/co-scrpl/co-stills/co-sound
1952	Vördnad för livet/Respect for Life [Sven Nykvist] b&w; doc/16m; + scrpl
1952	Barabbas [Alf Sjöberg] b&w; cph: Göran Strindberg
1952	Vägen till Klockrike/The Road to Klockrike [Gunnar Skoglund] b&w
1953	Gycklarnas afton/The Naked Night/Sawdust and Tinsel/Sunset of a Clown [Ingmar Bergman] b&w; prod was started by ph Göran Strindberg and was finished by S. Nykvist (int) & Hilding Bladh (ext)
1953	Salka Valka [Arne Mattsson] b&w
1953	Storm över Tjurö [Arne Mattsson] b&w
1954	Karin Månsdotter [Alf Sjöberg] b&w-c
1954	Älskling på vågen/Darling at Sea [Schamyl Bauman] c; cph: Göran Strindberg
1955	Den underbara lögnen/The True and the False/Gentle Thief of Love [Schamyl Bauman & Michael Road] b&w
1955	Sista ringen/The Last Form [Gunnar Skoglund] b&w
1955	En drömmares vandring/A Dreamer's Walk [Lars-Magnus Lindgren] b&w
1955	Ett kungligt äventyr/A Royal Adventure [Daniel Birt] c; there is also an English version: 'Laughing in the Sunshine'
1955	Nattbarn/Children of the Night [Gunnar Hellström] b&w
1955	Blånande hav/Blue Sea [Gunnar Skoglund] c
1955	Gorilla - En filmberättelse från Belgiska Kongo [Lars-Henrik Ottoson & Lorens Marmstedt] as/c; doc/88m; cph: Bengt Lindström
1956	Flickan i frack/Girl in Tails [Arne Mattsson] c
1956	Den tappre soldaten Jönsson/The Brave Soldier Jönsson [Håkan Bergström] b&w; cph: Rune Ericson
1956	Gäst i eget hus/Guest at One's Own Home [Stig Olin] b&w
1957	Synnöve Solbakken/A Girl of Solbakken [Gunnar Hellström] c
1957	Damen i svart/The Lady in Black [Arne Mattsson] b&w
1958	Laila/Make Way for Lila [Rolf Husberg] c
1958	Der Engel, der seine Harfe versetzte [Kurt Hoffmann] b&w
1959	Får jag låna din fru?/Lend Me Your Wife [Arne Mattsson] b&w
1959	Jungfrukällan/The Virgin Spring [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1959	Lampenfieber [Kurt Hoffmann] b&w
1959	A Matter of Morals/De sista stegen [John Cromwell] as/b&w
1960	Domaren/The Judge [Alf Sjöberg] b&w
1960	Såsom i en spegel/Through a Glass Darkly [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1961	Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi/The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi [Kurt Hoffmann] b&w
1961	Mörderspiel/Murder Party/Le jeu de l'assassin [Helmut Ashley] b&w
1961	Lita på mej, älskling!/Trust Me, Darling! [Sven Lindberg] b&w
1961	Nattvardsgästerna/Winter Light/The Communicants [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1962	Schneewittchen und die sieben Gaukler/Snow White and the Seven Jugglers [Kurt Hoffmann] c
1962	Tystnaden/The Silence [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1962	Liebe will gelernt sein [Kurt Hoffmann] b&w
1963	Prins Hatt under jorden [Bengt Lagerkvist] b&w
1963	För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor/All These Women/Now About These Women [Ingmar Bergman] c
1963	Klänningen/The Dress [Vilgot Sjöman] b&w
1964	Att älska/To Love [Jörn Donner] b&w
1964	Älskande par/Loving Couples [Mai Zetterling] b&w
1965	Lianbron/The Vine Bridge [Sven Nykvist] c
1965	Persona [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1966	Vargtimmen/Hour of the Wolf [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1966	Roseanna [Hans Abramson] c
1967	Bränt barn/The Sinning Urge [Hans Abramson] c
1967	Skammen/Shame [Ingmar Bergman] b&w
1968	En passion/The Passion of Anna/A Passion [Ingmar Bergman] c
1969	An-Magritt [Arne Skouen] c
1969	Erste Liebe/First Love [Maximilian Schell] c; filming took 76 days between May 1969 and March 1970

#1: [Left] with Ingmar Bergman - "Beröringen"

#2: [Right] with actors Bibi Andersson & Elliott Gould - photo Thys Ockersen Archive

1970	Beröringen/The Touch [Ingmar Bergman] c
1970	One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich/En dag i Ivan Denisovitsj' liv [Caspar Wrede] c
1971	The Last Run [Richard Fleischer (replaced John Huston after 3 weeks)] p/c; 2uc: Neil Gemmel
1971	Lockfågeln/The Decoy/The Birdcall [Torgny Wickman] p/c

1971	Viskningar och rop/Cries and Whispers [Ingmar Bergman] c
1972	Siddhartha [Conrad Rooks] p/c
1973	The Dove [Charles Jarrott] p/c
*1973*	Victoria [Max von Sydow] ?
1974	Sanningens ögonblick/The Moment of Truth [Vilgot Sjöman, Ingmar Bergman, Jonas Cornell, a.o.] 16mm/b&w-c; short/32m; cph: Jörgen Persson, Petter Davidson, a.o.; made as a tribute to Harry Schein (founder of the SFI) on his 50th birthday
1974	Ransom/The Terrorists [Caspar Wrede] c
1974	Black Moon [Louis Malle] c
1975	Monismanien 1995 - En film om frihet/Monismania [Kenne Fant] 16mm-35bu/c

[Right] with Roman Polanski - "Le locataire" - photo by Bernard Prim

1975	Le locataire/The Tenant [Roman Polanski] c
1976	The Serpent's Egg/Das Schlangenei [Ingmar Bergman] c; addph: Peter Rohe & Dietrich Lohmann
1977	Pretty Baby [Louis Malle] c; 2uc: François Catonné
1977	En och en/One and One [Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin & Sven Nykvist] c; + co-prod
1977	Höstsonaten/Autumn Sonata [Ingmar Bergman] c
1978	King of the Gypsies [Frank Pierson] c; collab ph: Edward Lachman; spec unit ph: Lars Looschen
1978	Hurricane/Forbidden Paradise [Jan Troell] tao35 (+ 70bu)/c
1978	Starting Over [Alan J. Pakula] c
1979	Willie and Phil [Paul Mazursky] c
1979	Marmeladupproret/Marmalade Revolution [Erland Josephson] c; + co-prod
1980	The Postman Always Rings Twice [Bob Rafelson] c
1980	Aus dem Leben der Marionetten/From the Life of the Marionettes [Ingmar Bergman] b&w-c
1980	[John Steinbeck's] Cannery Row [David S. Ward] c
1982	Star 80 [Bob Fosse] c
1983	Un amour de Swann/Swann in Love [Volker Schlöndorff] c
1985	Offret/The Sacrifice [Andrei Tarkovsky] b&w-c
1985	Agnes of God [Norman Jewison] c
1985	Dream Lover [Alan J. Pakula] c
1987	The Unbearable Lightness of Being [Philip Kaufman] c; 2uc: Joseph Ort-Snep
1988	New York Stories [seg 'Oedipus Wrecks' dir by Woody Allen] c; other seg ph by Néstor Almendros & Vittorio Storaro
1988	Another Woman [Woody Allen] c
1988	Ved Vejen/Katinka/Vid vägen [Max von Sydow] c; cph: Claus Loof

[Right] with Woody Allen - "Crimes and Misdemeanors"

Photo by Brian Hamill - Thys Ockersen Archive

1988	Crimes and Misdemeanors [Woody Allen] c
1989	Buster's Bedroom [Rebecca Horn] c
1991	Oxen/The Ox [Sven Nykvist] c; + small part
1991	Chaplin [Richard Attenborough] b&w-c; 2uc: Alexander Witt
1992	Sleepless in Seattle [Nora Ephron] c; 2uc: Marty Oppenheimer & David Wagreich (Baltimore); aph: Jon Kranhouse
1992	What's Eating Gilbert Grape [Lasse Hallström] c
1993	With Honors [Alek Keshishian] c
1993	Only You/Him/Just in Time [Norman Jewison] c; 2uc: Nicola Pecorini
1994	Mixed Nuts/Lifesavers [Nora Ephron] c
1994	Kristin Lavransdatter/Kransen [Liv Ullmann] c
1994	Something to Talk About/Grace Under Pressure [Lasse Hallström] c; 2uc: Anastas Michos
1997	Celebrity [Woody Allen] b&w; 2uc: Peter Reniers
1997	Curtain Call [Peter Yates] c
*1997*	Storm of the Heart [Don Baldwin] announced; started casting in 2013; status unknown

TELEVISION
1968	Riten/The Rite/The Ritual [Ingmar Bergman] tvm/b&w
1969	Fårödokument/Fårö-dokument/The Fårö Document [Ingmar Bergman] doc/b&w-c/88m; ph color inserts; also part of the doc 'Fårö-dokument 1979' (1979/103m)
1970	Karpfs Karriere [Bernhard Wicki] tvm
1972	Scener ur ett äktenskap/Scenes from a Marriage [Ingmar Bergman] 6-part miniseries/16mm; also released theatrically (168m/35bu)
1972	Strohfeuer/A Free Woman/Summer Lightning [Volker Schlöndorff] tvm
1973	Das Blaue Hotel [Stanislav Barabas] tvm
1974	Trollflöjten/The Magic Flute [Ingmar Bergman] opera/16mm; also released theatrically (35bu); + small part
1974	Les raisons de Georgina/Georginas Gründe [Volker Schlöndorff] seg of 5-part miniseries 'Nouvelles de Henry James'; other seg ph by Bruno Nuytten, Jean Rabier, a.o.
1975	Ansikte mot ansikte/Face to Face [Ingmar Bergman] 4-part miniseries (177m); also released theatrically (114m)
1976	Vårbrytning [Erland Josephson] tvm
1981	Ingrid Bergman [Gunnel Broström] interview/?m
1981	Fanny och Alexander/Fanny and Alexander [Ingmar Bergman] 4-part miniseries (312m); 2uc: Tony Forsberg; also released theatrically (188m [1982] & 312m [1983])
1982	La tragédie de Carmen [Peter Brook] tvm/16mm

[Left] with Lena Olin, Erland Josephson and Ingmar Bergman - "Efter repetitionen"

1983	Efter repetitionen/After the Rehearsal [Ingmar Bergman] tvm
1985	Nobody's Child [Lee Grant] tvm
1996	Enskilda samtal/Private Confessions/Private Conversations [Liv Ullmann] tvm

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT
1941	En fattig miljonär/A Poor Millionaire [Lennart & Sigurd Wallén] co-c.asst; ph: Hilding Bladh & Evert Löfstedt
1942	General von Döbeln [Olof Molander] ph: Hilding Bladh

FILMS AS DIRECTOR
1948	I fetischmannens spår/In the Footsteps of the Witch Doctor/In the Footsteps of the Magician [+ ph] see Films
1950	Bisi Congo [+ ph] see Films
1952	Under Södra korset/Under the Southern Cross [co-d; + ph] see Films
1952	Vördnad för livet/Respect for Life [+ scrpl/ph] see Films
1965	Lianbron/The Vine Bridge [+ ph] see Films
1974	Kallelsen/The Vocation [short] ph: ?
1977	En och en/One and One [co-d; + co-prod/ph] see Films
1991	Oxen/The Ox [+ co-scrpl/ph] see Films