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In this profession, I always admire people who are going on, who have a sort of idea and, however crazy it is, are putting it through; they are putting people and things together, and they make something. I always admire this. But I can't see his pictures. I sit for perhaps twenty-five or thirty or fifty minutes and then I have to leave, because his pictures make me so nervous. I have the feeling the whole time that he wants to tell me things, but I don't understand what it is, and sometimes I have the feeling that he's bluffing, double-crossing me.

Ingmar Bergman#8

CreativityFilmmakingFearAdmirationArtistry

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker admires filmmakers who persist with crazy ideas, even if they personally feel anxious or confused by the resulting work.
In plain terms
I respect artists who push through crazy ideas, though some make me nervous.
What can you take from it?
Persistence in art is admirable even if the result feels unsettling to the viewer.

Where it applies

  • evaluating art
  • dealing with creative anxiety
  • discussing film

Putting it to work

  • supporting experimental art
  • tolerating ambiguity in media

Questions to consider

  • When have you admired work you didn't fully get?
  • Does anxiety mean a work is bad?

Another view

The speaker admits not understanding the work while calling it admirable.

More from Ingmar Bergman

  1. Say anything you want against The Seventh Seal. My fear of death - this infantile fixation of mine - was, at that moment, overwhelming. I felt myself in contac…

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  2. I think he's a very good technician. And he has something in Psycho, he had some moments. Psycho is one of his most interesting pictures because he had to make…

    Permalink to quote #9
  3. You find him disgusting with his thick mouth and ugly body and wet appealing eyes. You think he's disgusting and you're afraid.

    Permalink to quote #6

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