Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Films of Ingmar Bergman

Vanessa Sinclair, PsyD is a psychoanalyst based in Vimmerby, Sweden. Dr. Sinclair is Senior Research Fellow at Global Centre for Advanced Studies (GCAS) – Dublin, founding member of Das Unbehagen: A Free Association for Psychoanalysis – New York, and the host of Rendering Unconscious Podcast.

• DedicationNotes on ContributorsForeword: Cinema: The Pervert’s ChamberMary WildIntroductionVanessa SinclairChapter 1: The People Eaters are Having a Great Feast: Some Reflections on Ingmar Bergman’s Hour of the WolfCarl Abrahamsson Chapter 2: The Cinematic Optical Unconscious of Bergman’s PersonaWayne Wapeemukwa Chapter 3: Fanny and Alexander, Hamlet, and the Ethical UnconsciousRobert SamuelsChapter 4: Island Earth: Bergman, Brahe, and the Many Suns Patrick ScanlonChapter 5: The Truth about The Silence: Ingmar Bergman’s Masterpiece about the World Peter JanssonChapter 6: Three Sisters: Sibling Knots in Bergman’s Cries and WhispersAndrea SabbadiniChapter 7: The Seventh Seal: Bergman and the FrenchmenS. Alfonso Williams Chapter 8: Serpentine Conceptual Autophagia: Lesbian Contrapuntal Dialectics in Persona and The SilenceAlireza Taheri Chapter 9: The Father(s) in Moses and Monotheism and Fanny and Alexander: A Closer Look at Isak Jacobi, the Jewish Magical SaviorElisabeth PunziChapter 10: Prolegomena to Persona: As Existential Psychoanalysis Walter A. Davis Chapter 11: Beyond Silence: On the Absence of God in the Films of Ingmar Bergman Pablo Lerner

"The book titled "Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Films of Ingmar Bergman: A Freudian-Lacanian Lens" edited by Vanessa Sinclair represents a particularly interesting contribution considering Igmar Bergman’s works. Through well conducted Freudian-Lacanian analyses, the authors involved in the work presented new perspectives increasing the psychodynamic impact of Bergman’s pieces. In particular, some specific themes as in the case of perversion, neurosis, psychosis, ethics and sexuality, as well as literary references, are read through the above-mentioned lens in order to establish deep contacts with clinical and dynamic emergencies. As a valuable contribution, the book proposes relevant perspectives from high level professionals, providing for a clear and considerable view of psychoanalytical impact and valour."- Emanuele Maria Merlo PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Contract Professor of Clinical Psychology for Department of Human and Pediatric Pathology "Gaetano Barresi" and Department of Cognitive Sciences, Education and Cultural Studies of the University of Messina, Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic approach, Clinical Advisor for Software Engineering Italia."Ingmar Bergman is acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest film-makers. Vanessa Sinclair has assembled a wide-ranging and stimulating volume of essays by psychoanalysts, scholars and film-makers that for the first time focuses on ways in which psychoanalysis from Freud to Lacan and beyond can help illuminate Bergman’s films. Life, death,identity, sexual and family relationships come under fascinating psychoanalytical scrutiny in discussions of Bergman’s dreamlike art. This is a volume that will be essential reading for anyone seriously interested both in Bergman’s films and in cinema’s potential for the exploration of creativity, denial and desire."- Peter William Evans, Emeritus Professor of Film, Queen Mary University of London