Gunnar Björnstrand
Birthday: 1909-11-13 Place of Birth: Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
Synopsis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Gunnar Björnstrand (13 November 1909 – 26 May 1986) was a Swedish actor known for his frequent work with writer/director Ingmar Bergman. He was born in Stockholm. He appeared in over 120 films. Björnstrand at first had trouble finding work but got an engagement in Helsinki with his wife 1936-1938. Back in Stockholm he met Ingmar Bergman, at that time a mostly unknown theatre director. In the 1940s he got his first major film roles, making a breakthrough with the 1946 movie Kristin kommenderar. He was a versatile actor who could play tough and tender as well as comedy and tragedy. His daughter Veronica Björnstrand is also an actress. One of his most famous roles was as the worldly squire who makes such a contrast to his austere and spiritual master in Bergman's most famous film The Seventh Seal. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gunnar Björnstrand, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Acting
Charlotte Löwensköld
1830 Värmland, Sweden. Master Karl Arthur Ekenstedt comes to aid the Minister at Crosss Church. He falls in love with Charlotte Löwensköld, housekeeper in the rectory. They get engaged. Charlotte is full of life, energetic and practical. Karl Arthur struggle with his faith and God.
Autumn Sonata
After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.
Face to Face
Dr. Jenny Isaksson is a psychiatrist whose temporary position at a mental hospital offers only modest responsibilities. With her husband out of the country for a seminar and her daughter at camp, Jenny moves in with her grandparents, expecting a relaxing few months. But it isn't long before unpleasant memories of her childhood, the sudden appearance of strange apparitions, and a near-rape push this otherwise stable woman to the very edge of sanity.
The Girls
A theater company rehearses Aristophanes play "Lysistrata" in which the Athenian women revolt to force the men to suspend the war and make peace. The three leading female actresses, Liz, Marianne and Gunilla, all live in humiliating circumstances to their men.
Shame
In the midst of a civil war, former violinists Jan and Eva Rosenberg, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
My Sister My Love
Sweden, 1782. Jacob, a young noble, somewhat wild and vehement, returns from his studies in France. After his absence, he returns home happy, but is even happier of meeting his beloved sister Charlotte again. However, she has been promised to the Baron Alsmeden, a man of great influence at court, and this fact will awake a feeling like jealousy in Jacob.
Persona
A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. The time they spend together only strengthens the crushing realization that one does not exist.
Crime in Paradise
While four men blow up a safe, a night watchman is accidentally killed. They get away with the loot. Ten years later, the stepson of the dead night watchman receives vital information.
The Magician
When 'Vogler's Magnetic Health Theater' comes to town, there's bound to be a spectacle. Reading reports of a variety of supernatural disturbances at Vogler's prior performances abroad, the leading townspeople (including the police chief and medical examiner) request that their troupe provide them a sample of their act, before allowing them public audiences. The scientific-minded disbelievers try to expose them as charlatans, but Vogler and his crew prove too clever for them.
The Seventh Seal
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
Smiles of a Summer Night
Early in the 20th century, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman and his young wife, Anne, have still not consummated their marriage, while Fredrik's son finds himself increasingly attracted to his new stepmother. To make matters worse, Fredrik's old flame Desiree makes a public bet that she can seduce him at a romantic weekend retreat where four couples convene, swapping partners and pairing off in unexpected ways.
A Lesson in Love
After 15 years of marriage, David and Marianne have grown apart. David has had an affair with a patient of his and Marianne has got herself involved with her former lover Carl-Adam, who's also David's best friend. When she travels to Copenhagen to meet Carl-Adam, David takes the same train as she does, making it look coincidental. Spending time together remembering their past and talking about their future, they come to understand each other again, which leads to a reconciliation.
Father Bom
Fabian Bom, auctionist in a small town, one day finds a baby boy in a small crib that is for sale at an auction. He places the boy at an orphanage but returns the next day since he realizes that he misses the boy. Since a single man is not permitted to adopt a baby he arranges a marriage with a young woman, who really is the baby's mother.
One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer
When Inga Brantemo goes on a business trip to Italy, her husband Bertil gets romantically involved with Christina Lovén, whose father is a book publisher. When Inga returns, Bertil has a difficult time trying to explain who the woman the neighbors saw in the Brantemo home was. Bertil is an author and it doesn't get easier when he and his wife gets invited to Christina's father to talk business.
