Sven Nykvist

'Sven Nykvist' (qv) was considered by many in the industry to be one of the world's greatest cinematographers. During his long career that spanned almost half a century, Nyvist perfected the art of cinematography to its most simple attributes, and he helped give the films he had worked on the simplest and most natural look imaginable. Indeed, Mr. Nykvist prided himself on the simplicity and naturalness of his lighting schemes. Nykvist used light to create mood and, more significantly, to bring out the natural flesh tones in the human face so that the emotion of the scene could be played out on the face without the light becoming intrusive.Nykvist entered the Swedish film industry when he was 19 and worked his way up to becoming a director of photography. He first worked with the legendary Swedish director 'Ingmar Bergman' (qv) on the film _Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)_ (qv), but his collaboration with Bergman began in earnest with _The Virgin Spring (1960)_ (qv). From that point on, Nykvist replaced the great 'Gunnar Fischer' (qv) as Bergman's cameraman, and the two men started a collaboration that would last for a quarter of a century. The switch from Fischer to Nykvist created a marked difference in the look of Bergman's films. In many respects, it was like the difference between Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Fischer's lighting was a study in light and darkness, while Nykvist preferred a more naturalistic, more subtle approach that in many ways relied on the northern light compositions of the many great Scandinavian painters.Nykvist's work with Bergman is one of the most glorious collaborations in movie history. Nykvist created a markedly different look for each installment of Bergman's Faith Trilogy. _Through a Glass Darkly (1961)_ (qv) had an almost suffocating quality to it, and _The Silence (1963)_ (qv) hearkened back to the days of German Expressionism. _Winter Light (1963)_ (qv), the middle part of the trilogy, may very well be the most perfect work of Nykvist's repertoire. Having studied the light in a real provincial church carefully, he then recreated the subtle changes in the light as the day went on on a Stockholm sound stage. Indeed, it's hard to believe that the film was shot on a stage and not in a real church in Northern Sweden. For _Persona (1966)_ (qv), Nykvist relied heavily on Sweden's famous Midnight Sun. In _The Passion of Anna (1969)_ (qv), Nykvist was able to capture the chilly, soggy, and melancholy look of Faro, one of Nykvist's first color films. Both Nykvist and Bergman were both very reluctant to film in color. He created a fascinating study of white and red in _Cries & Whispers (1972)_ (qv), for which Nykvist won an Oscar. He won an Oscar again for the last feature-length theatrical film that Bergman made, _Fanny and Alexander (1982)_ (qv).During the late 1970s, Nykvist began making films elsewhere in Europe and in the United States, working for directors such as 'Louis Malle' (qv) (_Pretty Baby (1978)_ (qv)), 'Philip Kaufman' (qv) (_The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)_ (qv)), 'Bob Fosse' (qv) (_Star 80 (1983)_ (qv)), 'Nora Ephron' (qv) (_Sleepless in Seattle (1993)_ (qv)), 'Woody Allen' (qv) (_Another Woman (1988)_ (qv), _Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)_ (qv)), 'Richard Attenborough' (qv) (_Chaplin (1992)_ (qv)), and fellow Swede 'Lasse Hallström' (qv) (_What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)_ (qv)). The documentary _Ljuset håller mig sällskap (2000)_ (qv) paid homage to Nykvist, although it does not grant us any real secrets about his working methods. Nykvist died in 2006.::ncoxny