The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

184 Atom Egoyan
Bergman was working outside that for the longest period of time. He was a
state-funded artist.
I think we tend to forget. When we look at an Andrei Tarkovsky movie,
for all the huge difficulties he had in making those films, once they were
approved he had a lot of freedom. And he had time. He could schedule the
film’s production over a much longer period of time than he would have
been given in the West. Many of the films that I most adore are the product
of a state-funded system.
Such as?
Egoyan: I would say the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, all those Italian
masters, and a lot of the Eastern films, although I suppose those productions
were much more industrialized. I suppose the Japanese tradition was
also very industrialized if you look at stories of the film studios there. I’m
even thinking of the films of Robert Bresson. They were made with very
small crews of people who were able to focus on their work without tremendous
schedule pressures.
How did your interpretation of Persona change when you became a
mature adult?
Egoyan: I became much more aware of the actual grammar that it was
reinvent ing. I sort of began to make images myself; I began to be able to
dissect it and to see what the innovations were—what Bergman was actually
reacting against and how he was able to change the form.
Liv Ullmann’s story of having a child, because it was part of her artistic
experience, was really horrifying to me. And maybe that goes back to
what you were saying before, about the notion of artistic indulgence and the
people who become the victims of it.
I also think it just taught me so much about the admiration I had for the
performers, and their ability to contain and to completely trust their director.
Interestingly, though, I’ve always felt that Bibi Andersson gave a most
amazing performance, and yet we give a lot of attention to Liv Ullmann. But
as I become more involved with filmmaking and film practice, I’ve really
come to appreciate the specific innovations of the movie.