Religiosity in the Films of Ingmar Bergman

Abstract

We have been examining some particular ways in which the modern world challenges our ability to find meaning. Antonioni’s films suggest that a culture shaped by money and industry has left little resources with which individuals can build a meaningful life. Similar observations can be found throughout the arts, philosophy, and behavioral science; and these cultural conditions are precisely what make existentialism so compelling to contemporary thinking persons. These are also conditions that have ramifications beyond the ability of persons to engage one another, of course. Religion and morality are two areas directly impacted; and since these are typically sources of meaning in themselves, it’s not surprising that this impact exacerbates the problem with meaninglessness. Both topics get considerable attention from existentialist philosophers, but the deep effect that they have on individuals at the personal level means there is concern across many disciplines, filmmaking not least. In this chapter we will focus on religiosity, and in the next, morality.