Light Keeps Me Company

Year: 2000

Grade: C+

Country: Sweden

Director: Nykvist

Review

documentary about swedish cinematographer sven nykvist who worked, primarily, with ingmar bergman. i’ve only seen a few bergman films and the look is always something to behold so it seems natural to want to learn more about one of the men behind that look. apparently nykvist is some kind of genius, but most biographical documentaries are little more than hagiographies and this is no exception. this one is even directed by his son…that said, it does a decent job of showing us who the man is and what his colleagues think of him and his work. it really is tough to ignore people like woody allen, ingmar bergman, stellan skarsgard, vilmos zsigmond, etc. who all say, more or less, that nykvist was a genius in the field. if you’re looking for a good introduction to cinematography in general then watch “visions of light” instead.