Ljuset håller mig sällskap

It makes me happy to see someone, be it the subject's own son or just anyone, film a documentary about a person who should, once he or she has left this Earth at some point, be rightfully remembered. Pioneering cinematographer Sven Nykvist is one of those people, revealed in this documentary to be revered heavily by those who have worked with him, while also having a private, but interesting, life. After a strict upbringing, and only slowly gravitating towards becoming a director of photography, he established himself doing work for various European artists until settling with his main collaborator, Ingmar Bergman, for over twenty-years. Seeing the interviews with the two of them is worth the price of the DVD in and of itself, but it's also of note that Nykvist himself is on his own quite captivating, in a quiet, assured way. His life story is put together lovingly by his son, and the interviews with those that have worked along with him, like Liv Ullmann (actually, all of Bergman's stock company rolls out), Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, and other fellow cinematographers like Storaro and Zsigmond. Aside from the documentary details of Nykvist's life and how he would work with Bergman or Tarkovsky or Woody, what caps it all is what he contributed to the cinema history and language is given precedence. You know more often than not when you're watching a film lensed by Nykvist, even during his later years in the 90's, as he tried out other things with directors. It would be one thing to just think of him as the man behind the lens with these great directors, and particularly the two dozen or so with Bergman. But to get such a fine glimpse of the man and his art, after being sadly forced into retirement by an ailment, is remarkable.