| Bergman's emphasis on naturalness "- an everyday verisimilitude in lighting and framing and movement - that shuns effect, 'depth', lyrical comment, in favor of surface authenticity, 'normal' colors, locations, and so on" (Page 123) in Scenes from a Marriage reminds me of the Vows of Chastity of the Dogma 95 group. Looks like Bergman anticipated von Trier and his Danish fellow film-makers as well as the critical and philosophical movements of his various times. I'd be curious about Bergman's reaction to von Trier's Breaking the Waves (which captures the Scotland I knew better than Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and other attempts by Scots themselves), Celebration, and Dancer in the Dark (which departs somewhat from naturalness, with the singing and dancing of a condemned woman captured by 100 video cameras!).
Diegesis (defined on Page 175) - a concept I learned from you - is very useful. The Vows of Chastity could be summarized as use nothing that is not diegetic. It is useful also as a way to expand my concept of mind movie. The genesis of the concept was a party in California. Since it celebrated the graduation of a friend, I was taking many photographs to present to her in an album. I ran out of color film, borrowed some black-and-white film, and continued with even more abandon since the film was cheaper. When I ran out of black-and-white film, I continued to take photos with the empty camera (it was the second day of the party!) and then, realizing that I didn't need the camera any more, I took photos by blinking. It then occurred to me that my blinking was interrupting the continuity of my mind movie. Blinking no more, I settled down to enjoy this magnificent show, in which I was producer, director, and principal star as well as director of photography and all the others behind the scenes.
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