I went to Catholic schools in western Pennsylvania and then to a liberal arts college in the American Midwest, where I saw my first non-Hollywood films, mostly in the monthly student-run Cinema Club screenings.   It took me at least a year to understand the basic film language those movies employed, although I was fascinated from the start.  Bergman was of course always on the Cinema Club menu, along with the French New Wave, Italian films,a few Japanese films.  I had a slightly different take on "The Seventh Seal" but it did also remind me of doctrinal discussions, and the portentiousness of sermons, especially during our high school retreats (some of which were straight out of "Portrait of the Artist...") Nevertheless I was taking these issues very seriously my first few years in Illinois, as college was causing those familiar "agonizing reappraisals." Eventually I also started writing about film.    

Last year I sought out the DVD of "Wild Strawberries," another Bergman film full of summer, which I first saw that first or second year of college.  It's a wonderful movie, and the DVD has some terrific extras, including a long interview with Bergman at 80.  It's worth checking out...What if we'd had DVDs in the 60s?        

"The end of all intelligent analysis is to clear the way for synthesis." H.G. Wells "It's not dark yet, but it's getting there." Bob Dylan