IELTS listening actual test Part 4: Ingmar Bergman: Film Director (answer+ transcript) | Whisper
IELTS listening actual test Part 4: Ingmar Bergman: Film Director (answer+ transcript)
Type what you hear
Sentence 1 / 0
EXP: 0
Loading lesson ...
TabPlay/PauseEnterCheck
Transcript
0 / 0
0 Comments
00:00Part 4 You will hear part of a lecture on the Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman given to media study students by a film critic.
00:12First you have some time to look at questions thirty-one to forty.
00:30Thank you.
01:06Now listen carefully and answer questions thirty-one to forty.
01:13You can read a great novel, listen to a great symphony, or go to see a painting by a great artist, and you'll want to experience it again and again.
01:24And every time you do, you'll learn something new from it.
01:28Very few films achieve this.
01:31Most of them are mere entertainment, and very few of them could be said to be works of art.
01:37They simply don't have the depth that a work of art has, and this means that you may see them once, but you won't want to watch them again.
01:47Why is it that so many commercial films today have such a limited shelf life?
01:53One problem is that for many films, once you've seen them once and you know what happens, that's it.
02:00They rely on the element of surprise to keep you interested, and once that's lost, that feeling of what's going to happen next, there's nothing left.
02:10In addition, the commercial nature of filmmaking means that rather than focusing on the development of characters in the film.
02:17Many films are just becoming vehicles for actors, box office successes who essentially play the same part each time.
02:26Then, as well as this, many critics would argue that the greatest black and white films had their own special world with its own special atmosphere.
02:35And that nowadays it's harder to create this because the director is unable to play with light in the same way.
02:43Another problem is that many directors lack the ability to focus the camera on the important points There may be impressive visual images but they don't contribute to the meaning of the film.
03:01Which brings me on to Ingmar Bergman, the great Swedish film director who died in two thousand and seven.
03:09No other director has equaled Bergman in his ability to convey emotion.
03:15His films have the dramatic force of a work by the world's greatest playwrights, such as Ibsen or Shakespeare.
03:21Watching Bergman's films is an enriching experience.
03:27Nothing is immediately obvious or predictable, but gradually it becomes clear where he is taking you.
03:34If you study a film such as Wild Strawberries, you'll see that every little detail is significant.
03:41Each image on the screen is there for a purpose and gradually builds up an understanding of the central meaning.
03:50With Bergman, too, you know that a small gesture made by a character or the expression on a character's face can tell you just as much as the words uttered.
04:01In his film Persona, the central character says nothing, but meaning is conveyed by what we see on the screen.
04:10But Bergman wasn't just a great cinematographer, he was also a great storyteller.
04:16Each of his films follows a similar pattern in that the story is organized on two levels.
04:22Firstly, on the level of a straightforward, dramatic narrative, but secondly, on the level of myth, and the story works throughout the film on both these levels.
04:35In Bergman's film Wild Strawberries, an old man travels back to the places he knew as a child and a young man.
04:43In the film, we can identify themes that occur again and again in Bergman's work.
04:49First of all, we have the idea of the journey.
04:53Part of the journey is a real one, but linked with that is the theme of dreams, where they can take us and what we can learn from them.
05:03Another theme, which was to be central to Bergman's work throughout his life, is that of relationships, and in particular, the ties that join the members of a family together.
05:15And finally, as the old man in Wild Strawberries struggles to make sense of his life, we have another theme which underlies all his work.
05:24No matter how anxious or unhappy his characters may appear to be, and that is that we have to accept everything that life can give.
05:35It's not a fashionable philosophy and it may be why Bergman's films have fallen out of fashion.
05:46That is the end of part four You now have one minute to check your answers to part four.
06:10Thank you.
07:02Thank you.
07:10Experience it again and again, and every time you do, you'll learn something new from it.
07:17Very few films achieve this.
07:19Most of them are mere entertainment, and very few of them could be said to be works of art.
07:25They simply don't have the depth that a work of art has, and this means that you may see them once, but you won't want to watch them again.
07:34Why is it that so many commercial films today have such a limited shelf life.
07:42One problem is that for many films, once you've seen them once and you know what happens, that's it.
07:48They rely on the element of surprise to keep you interested, and once that's lost, that feeling of what's going to happen next, there's nothing left.
07:57In addition, the commercial nature of filmmaking means that rather than focusing on the development of characters in the film.
08:06Many films are just becoming vehicles for actors, box office successes who essentially play the same part each time.
08:15Then, as well as this, many critics would argue that the greatest black and white films had their own special world with its own special atmosphere.
08:24And that nowadays it's harder to create this because the director is unable to play with light in the same way.
08:32Another problem is that many directors lack the ability to focus the camera on the important points there may be impressive visual images but they don't contribute to the meaning of the film.
08:50Which brings me on to Ingmar Bergman the great Swedish film director who died in two thousand and seven no other director has equaled Bergman in his ability to convey emotion.
09:03His films have the dramatic force of a work by the world's greatest playwrights, such as Ibsen or Shakespeare.
09:11Watching Bergman's films is an enriching experience.
09:16Nothing is immediately obvious or predictable, but gradually it becomes clear where he is taking you.
09:23If you study a film such as Wild Strawberries, you'll see that every little detail is significant.
09:30Each image on the screen is there for a purpose and gradually builds up an understanding of the central meaning.
09:39With Bergman, too, you know that a small gesture made by a character, or the expression on a character's face, can tell you just as much as the words uttered.
09:50In his film Persona, the central character says nothing, but meaning is conveyed by what we see on the screen.
09:58But Bergman wasn't just a great cinematographer, he was also a great storyteller.
10:04Each of his films follows a similar pattern in that the story is organized on two levels.
10:11Firstly, on the level of a straightforward, dramatic narrative, but secondly, on the level of myth, and the story works throughout the film on both these levels.
10:23In Bergman's film Wild Strawberries, an old man travels back to the places he knew as a child and a young man.
10:31In the film, we can identify themes that occur again and again in Bergman's work.
10:38First of all, we have the idea of the journey.
10:42Part of the journey is a real one, but linked with that is the theme of dreams, where they can take us and what we can learn from them.
10:52Another theme, which was to be central to Bergman's work throughout his life, is that of relationships, and in particular, the ties that join the members of a family together.
11:04And finally, as the old man in Wild Strawberries struggles to make sense of his life, we have another theme which underlies all his work.
11:14No matter how anxious or unhappy his characters may appear to be, and that is that we have to accept everything that life can give.
11:24It's not a fashionable philosophy, and it may be why Bergman's films have fallen out of fashion.
