Bergman Books

"the problems with teens today is that they do not" care.Mostly Ithink that it's the parents fault for not telling them about sex and then sitting down talking to them about it.this way things like what happend in this book dont happen to you. alot of parents say that wont happen to my kids i ttaought them about sex,but the question is now is did you teach them everything or just what you thaought they need to know?Think about it.Do you even know if your kid/kids are sexually active?You may think that they will tell you but it takes alot for a kid to tell there parents that they are having sex and that is what most parents dont think about. maybe you should.Make the difference talk to your kids about sex and tell them everything.

If you are weary about all of the emotionalism emanating from the evolutionist side of this controversy, this book is for you. Don't rely on the misinformation put out by the liberal media. Read this book and learn the issues for yourself from an intellectual standpoint.

In 1950 Midtown Manhattan, NBC Symphony second violin Fritz Stern visits private investigator Jack LeVine. Fritz, who has been with the symphony for over a decade, firmly believes that someone kidnapped the renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini. Stern bases his assessment on the fact that the great conductor could not remember the evening's program when the symphony performed for President and Mrs. Truman. Still a paying client is a client so Jack accepts the case.

Stern tells Jack to start with the nasty Sidney Aaron, NBC vice president for Special Programming. Following that meeting, Jack concludes something is not right at NBC. However, things turn ugly when someone kills Stern. Jack stays with the case, which takes him to Cuba and the Mafia, but not any closer to learning the truth even with his life now on the line.

TENDER IS LeVINE is a fabulous historical mystery that works because Andrew Bergman makes 1950 seem so real that it in turn anchors the mystery and Jack. The story line is fast-paced and the investigation is fun to watch, but this tale belongs to the period as history has never unfolded any better than this superb detective tale.

Harriet Klausner

Contains the screenplays of three Bergman films -- "Through a Glass Darkly", "Winter Light" & "TheSilence". Translation from Swedish by Paul Britten Austin. The volume also has some 30 black and white still photos from the films.

The translated screenplays are much better than the subtitles on the films themselves. They are more accurate, and they leave nothing out !

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) is one of the great Hasidic masters. In this work Chaim Kramer teaches a few of his Torahs, and those of his closest disciple Reb Noson ( 1780-1844) .These teachngs are to help us have greater happiness in life, through appreciating the great gifts G-d gives us all the time. The unearned gift of G-d's mercy and kindness to us should be with us in heart and mind all the time.
The work is filled with wisdom . Here is one teaching I found of particular meaning.
"We see that praising God is more than simply glorifying His Name. It is in itself a system whereby we strengthen our faith in God. And perhaps in an even deeper sense , praising God can instill in the individual the faith that he himself is important and plays a significant role in God's Master Plan. Thus the more we praise God the stronger becomes our faith."

This book is a great teacher resource book for learning about animals that live in trees. I use it with my Pre-K kids during our forest animals unit. The lessons include a raccoon puppet and an owl art project, but this guide is more than just a craft instruction book. The children will learn all about raccoons and owls and other animals before making each project. The art and science lessons are very well integrated. Many of the animals also have large pull-out posters to use during discussions.

Some other trial advocacy books, including Mauet's, provide good general advice but at times neglect techniques that would help the reader follow their advice. Perhaps this shortcoming is in part because the authors' experience blinds them to some of the problems faced by inexperienced readers, and perhaps it is in part because it's a lot easier to tell someone what to do than to explain exactly how to do it, especially when there may be multiple approaches to acheiving the same result--more than one way to skin the cat.

This book doesn't just tell you what your arguments, examinations, etc., should incorporate and achieve--it recognizes the difficulties in developing them and provides advice on how to go about making them effective and complete. The authors strive to anticipate and prevent the difficulties inexperienced readers may have, and they do not shy away from explicitly addressing the why's, how's, and how-to's.

However, rather than giving you a step-by-step recipe to baking a cake, they extract and synthesize, identifying the stages that are important to baking every kind of cake--preparation, assembly, planning, execution, presentation, etc.-- and they explain to you the key considerations that are common to every good cake recipe at each of those stages.

It's a relatively small, thin book and an easy read. Yet it's the kind of book you can benefit from reading multiple times and consulting again and again. With every read, you'll strengthen your understanding and skill set, and when you read it with a particular case in mind, new ideas will spring forth in the form of aha! moments.

Yes, this book is better than sliced bread. It is not, however, perfect. I don't like the lack of negative space, and there's something about the organization that troubles me. (I can't quite put my finger on it.) It's also not exhaustive: Professor Moore, who I had the very good fortune to have as a professor at UCLA law, definitely supplemented, expounded, and illustrated considerably. So, don't throw out your other manuals.

"It's very good to pour out your heart to God as you would to a true, good friend." --Rebbe Nchman of Breslov

From the book: "Earth and Heaven are the body and the soul, respectively. Where--and when--they kiss is the inner peace, harmony and tranquility that each of us seeks."

This book is so rich, brimming with simple, beautiful, and accessible techniques and ideas for connecting with your own Soul and awakening the connection of your Soul to the Creator. You could open this book to any of the 288 pages and find pearls of wisdom that you can put into use right now. Written in what I call "bite-sized" portions, you can take it at your own pace.

You don't need to have experience with prayer. This book is great for a beginner, someone who is seeking, someone who wants to learn "Hitbodedut," the art of meditation through talking with God, with the help of the teachings of Rebbe Nachman through the pen of Ozer Bergman. You don't need to be religious to read this book. No matter what your relationship with God is like now, the guidance and inspiration in this book will nourish you.

From the back cover of the book:

Are you looking for
a spiritual practice that
will calm, strengthen and
awaken your heart?

A spiritual practice
that will ease your mind
and strengthen your
decision-making?

A spiritual practice
that requires no specific
background or training,
and no equipment?

A spiritual practice
that you can take with you
you wherever you go
and practice any time
you wish?

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
recommended such a practice.
It's called "hitbodedut."

This is the how to book.

Note: At the time I write this review, the book is only for sale by another vendor for $75. Do not spend that. Go to the Breslov org website and buy it there for $18.

review by: Laya Saul, author of the self-help book for teens, "You Don't Have to Learn Everything the Hard Way" (which is one of the reasons I LOVE this book, it makes "the way" smoother.)

My two year old daughter loved the way she could follow the simple actions in this elegant book. Somehow Modan and Bergmann convey a family life that is rich and loving with just a few words and pictures.

Simple, cutting, to the point; Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" is a movie with a message, yes, a message that tells a story about a man and his chess board. The opponent, a pale man with a simple mission greets the knight Antonius Block in the 14th century Sweden; returning home to a disease ravaged land, yes the Black Plague has eaten its way to his home. Job I mean Block meets his match in this cunning story that was put together one summer with a bunch of friends of Ingmar and his girl friend Mary, the leading lady.
--Ross

One of the things that separates a great artist from a lesser one is his ability to switch forms, themes, and the like, yet still imprint that unmistakable essence that lets a viewer know which artist they are dealing with immediately. Rarely has there been a greater and more vivid example of this reality than in comparing the two films Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman released in 1957: The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.
The first film, which is the subject of this essay, is stark, cosmic, spare, allegorical, and unremitting in its view of life, whereas Wild Strawberries is rich, personal, realistic (even if it uses symbolism), and open to several viable interpretations. Both films starred many of Bergman's `stock actors from the 1950s: Max Von Sydow as Knight Antonius Block, Bibi Andersson as Mia, the wife of Jof the jester (and utterly gorgeous, as opposed to mere cuteness in Wild Strawberries), and Gunnar Björnstrand as Block's squire Jöns, a pragmatic Sancho Panza to Block's spiritual Don Quixote. While Björnstrand is nominally the third lead in the film, behind Sydow and Bengt Ekerot as the personification of Death, in truth he is the dominant lead character, with by far the most, and the best, lines of dialogue. And while this film is an allegory loaded with symbolism, it is also a very simple story of a middle 14th Century knight's return to Sweden from the Crusades of the Middle Ages.... The acting is uniformly excellent. Sydow is utterly transparent as Block. We see every cranny of doubt and belief written on his face. Poppe, as Jof, shows what Roberto Benigni might be like, if he had a dram of depth, Ekerot's Death is frightening only in his pomp and banality, but Björnstrand gives a truly great performance in the most difficult of the roles- treading between comedy and drama, realism and absurdism, as the squire who seems to be the wisest of all the characters. While this film was made at the height of the early Cold War, and many early reviewers took the Plague as an allegory for nuclear war, the film is far more than a simplistic political screed. At 96 minutes it also is not tool long that it batters the viewer with its message, nor too short that it slips quickly by. This film proves why black and white is still a vital tool in filmmaking. Had it been shot in color its dreamy quality would be rent, for shadows and depth are far easier to portray in black and white, and are far more suggestive of moodiness and inner turmoil. One problem is that the DVD version of the film I have, from The Criterion Collection, errs in allowing the black and white English words to be used, rather than colorizing them for clearer and speedier reading, thus detracting from the visual cornucopia onscreen. This is why watching the film, a second time, with or without comments, is recommended, for many visual subtleties are revealed that are lost in a first viewing's necessity to read the dialogue
All in all, it's little wonder why speed-addicted, and Lowest Common Denominator afflicted American viewers have never taken to films like this, of such high quality. Yes, the writing is spare, but it is not meant to be realistic, and some of the imagery, and acting is straight out of silent German Expressionism, which only reinforces the revery-like feel of the film. And while Americans are noted for cherishing their dreams as hopes, how few ever recall their dreams as theater?

Of Ingmar Bergman's early black and white films, The Seventh Seal (1957) is my personal favorite. The story takes place in the middle of the 12th century. The black plague strikes Europe. A knight (Max von Sydow) and his squire, Jons (Gunnar Bjornstrand) return from the Crusades: the Crusades were a series of military campaigns by western European Christians to recover the Holy Land from the Saracen Muslims. The ocean delivers Antonius and his squire to a beach. The sky is half lit; the ocean is restless; the sun is almost under the horizon. A black bird--a scavenger--hangs over Antonius. He prays. But he and his squire are not alone. Nearby stands a tall figure in a long black robe. His face is pale and familiar--he is Death. Antonius is ready, but first he must challenge Death to a game of chess. If Death prevails, Antonius dies; if Antonius prevails, Death must allow him to live. Death agrees; his chess figures are black. The game begins.

Death and the chessboard vanish, the sun burns overhead, and once again, Antonius and his squire are alone on the beach. They find two stray horses and begin their inland journey. Deeper inland, they encounter symbols of death and danger. The clouds are light and unable to cool the sun. Antonius and his squire encounter the corpse of a monk. They stroll past an old rundown wagon. Three troubadours--Jof (Nils Pope), his wife, Mia (Bibi Andersson), and Skat (Erik Strandmark)--sleep inside the wagon. They will travel to the Saint's Festival in Elsinor, and the lead actor shall play the role of Death in a play on the church steps. Antonius and his squire visit the church in Elsinor. There, an artist is painting a fresco. Within this fresco, Death leads a ghoulish parade of corpses. The knight, Antonius Block, notices a priest inside of a small room. There, Block alleviates his conscience. Iron bars separate Antonius and the priest in the chamber who bears Antonius's confession. A black cloak obscures the priests face. Antonius speaks freely. His whole life has been meaningless. Is there a God? Antonius tells the priest of his scheme to stall Death with a game of chess. The chess game is a respite for Antonius to search out the meaning of life on earth. Antonius's confession amuses the priest. Antonius discloses his strategy: he shall outmaneuver Death with a bishop and a knight. Hearing this, the priest rises from his seat and shows his face: the priest is Death--the Knight has been fooled! Round one to Death.

And so the story progresses. Most of Bergman's early films-- Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, The Virgin Spring, etc.--were allegorical. The Seventh Seal is the best known of his earlier films, all of which were done in black and white. I loved this film the first time I saw it. Bergman's films and characters speak to you. Bibi Andersson--who plays one of the traveling troubadours in the film-- has starred in many of Bergman's early black and white films such as The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, and the Magician. Also, she has starred in many of Bergman's latter color films such as Scenes From a Marriage and Persona. Max von Sydow starred in several of Bergman's earlier films. The Seventh Seal is a glass of wine--drink it and enjoy.

author of Gotta Be Down!

For me, the Seventh Seal, along with Casablanca, is one of the best movies ever made. In terms of asking the question, "Is there meaning in life and Is there a God?," no other film dares to so boldly ask such questions and give such existential answers. There appears to be a Mother Mary and a Christ Child, but there's also Death in this film, and Death, disguised as Clergy, or with the help of ignorant people as well as the clergy, tortures people wholesale in this film. Each person in this film tries to find meaning in his or her own way, as a Knight playing chess with Death tries to find the meaning of his life, before losing and dying to Death at the end of the chess match. At first, the Knight, Antonius Block, appears to have the upper hand in the match, as we do when we feel young and strong, but by the end of the film, as near the end of our lives, Death has the upper hand. In the end, the Knight finds meaning by appearing to help a young family escape Death, but I'm not sure if Death made it appear that Death lost the family just to let the Knight have some meaning before his own end. I highly recommend the film in case you haven't already seen it if you wish to explore these religious questions of meaning and "Does God exist?," all mixed in with life during the Middle Ages with a Crusade, and a Plague to boot to get people to thinking. . .Don't be put off that the film has sub-titles. Once you get used to reading them, they can be quite funny. Worth watching and worth owning, particular the Criterion Collection, because of the work they have done to restore the original film. Definitely a must see.

Made in 1956, in black and white, this film was one of the first ones ever to explore the topic of death. Fans of Ingmar Bergman know that director explored the meaning of death in his work. Born and raised in a strict and religious family, Bergman was intrigued about the mysteries of life and death, purpose of life and meaning of punishment. This film, placed in 14th century Sweden immediately after Crusades were over and Black Plague decimated the population of Europe, explores exploitative power of religion., pristhood and church, hardship of life for artists and actors and one knight's desire to elude death until he finds answers to his own questions about life and death; purpose of life; belief in God and other existential questions. In attempt to gain time, he bargains with death to buy in some more time while playing the game of chess. He is hoping that finding answers would give him hope on his life spent on earth and also help him save a young family from doom in hopes that perhaps the next generation will find a greater purpose. We learn that search is futile and that there is no barganing with death. We all receive death and our final hours differently just as we are all unique individuals and as such live our lives on earth. Some of us are ready and resigned to it, some scared, some fearful, others welcoming of death as a means of our begining of the new life. Just like life, death turns out what we make of it. It is unavoidable and part of every living being. It cannot be denied, talked out of it, bargained with or postponed. It comes at its own time on its own terms and releases itself into a new day. It gives a different kind of hope to humanity and still leaves many unanswered questions. It eventually gets us all: evil ones, meek ones, righteous ones and cynical ones. We only hope it will release us into something eternally good and not turn into perpetual punishment for our ignorance.