edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

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A little residual Ingmar

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The closest contact I ever had with Ingmar Bergman, so to speak, was a night in 1981 or '82 when I talked for a long while with Harriet Andersson, who had a relationship with Bergman in the '50s and starred in various Bergman films of that general period (including Summer With Monika, Sawdust and Tinsel, Through a Glass Darkly) and later costarred in Fanny and Alexander.

There was actually a little more than talking going on. There was enough of an attraction that after 90 minutes or so Andersson suggested that we could perhaps leave the party (some invitational soiree on behalf of Swedish filmmakers that was happening in some cavernous space in Soho or Tribeca) and head uptown and... who knew?

I knew one thing: an attractive middle-aged woman (she was nudging 50 but looked a good ten or twelve years younger) who had once been entwined with the great Ingmar Bergman was now somewhat interested in me. I was certainly flattered. If you believe that lovers pass along certain particles and auras to each other and that these are somehow absorbed and become part of who and what they are for the rest of their lives, I was thinking that on some ethereal level I might absorb a little residual Ingmar.

But instead of grabbing a cab, Andersson arranged for us to ride uptown in a limo with a group of her Swedish film industry friends, including actor Erland Josephson, who had starred in several Bergman films himself including Hour of the Wolf, The Touch, Cries and Whispers and Scenes from a Marriage. There were five or six of us crammed into the back seat, and it was only a matter of ten or twelve seconds before they all realized what was going on and starting making joke after joke. In Swedish, of course, but translations were unnecessary.

The mockery and the giggling and the howling went for two or three minutes, but it felt like a non-stop barrage to me. I tried to smile and be a good sport at first, but after a minute or so my eyes froze over. I distinctly remember Josephson being the worst of them. He was slightly in his cups and looking at me with a certain fiendish glee as he let go with one derisive snort after another. The import, more or less, was "Hah!...you worthless nobody!...you think you are good enough to lie down with Harriet?...think again!"

By the time we were let off at Andersson's hotel at 59th Street and 7th Avenue, I was on the verge of vomiting. It was all I could do to say "very nice meeting you" to Andersson before turning and walking off. She'd been howling along with the rest of them, after all. Nice.

No "Bourne" surge above $50 million?<< previous | next >>Terkel on Bergman

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 31, 2007 at 12:19 PM

comment #1

T. Holly says ...

It's good to be above the line.

Posted by T. Holly at July 31, 2007 01:44 PM

comment #2

Joe Leydon says ...

Yeah, Jeff, but in all the years since, I bet there hasn't been a week in your life when you haven't wondered: Maybe I should have tried to boff her anyway.

Trust me: I feel that way whenever I remember how Oprah Winfrey flirted with me at the junket for The Color Purple.

Posted by Joe Leydon at July 31, 2007 01:53 PM

comment #3

alynch says ...

Jeff, I can't tell if you're looking back on this event humorously or bitterly.

Posted by alynch at July 31, 2007 02:09 PM

comment #4

christian says ...

maybe they were laughing with you?

as in: hey erland, this young man will be having the sex tonight, ya?

erland: he looks like a lamb to slaughter, no? he will find out that andersson is a vamp caution, ya?

Posted by christian at July 31, 2007 02:12 PM

comment #5

MAGGA says ...

I find it moderately funny that Jeffrey is seen as an exhibitionist when talking about a story that resulted in a threesome, but no one complains when he ends up humiliated. I for one would like more film related personal stories. This one was pretty cool. But MAN, you should have had the last laugh, Jeff!

Posted by MAGGA at July 31, 2007 02:55 PM

comment #6

berg says ...

"I might absorb a little residual Ingmar"... "the love child of Joe Leydon and Oprah" ... wear a condom

Posted by berg at July 31, 2007 03:14 PM

comment #7

cjKennedy says ...

heh heh..."residual Ingmar."

Posted by cjKennedy at July 31, 2007 03:31 PM

comment #8

gruver1 says ...

Wells to alynch: The intent in writing this recollection was to convey 70% humor and 30% bitterness. Actually, make it 65-35. No, 75-25. Wait...

Posted by gruver1 at August 1, 2007 07:04 AM

comment #9

mitch says ...

wondering if I should admit to my early 80's porn star hookup...

probably not.

Posted by mitch at August 1, 2007 10:19 AM

comment #10

gruver1 says ...

Hook-ups in and of themselves make for dull reading. The reasons and circumstances that lead up to them, however, can be fascinating. That said, comparing a porn-star hookup in the early '80s to what I've written here is like comparing maggot-covered carrion to a finely prepared Chateaubriand.

Posted by gruver1 at August 1, 2007 10:47 AM

comment #11

christian says ...

i would say that depends on the porn star.

Posted by christian at August 1, 2007 10:59 AM

comment #12

T. Holly says ...

Has this guy christian ever lived an exciting day in his life? Just wondering.

Posted by T. Holly at August 1, 2007 11:07 AM

comment #13

mitch says ...

yeah, wells, you're right: in my instance I was the finely prepared Chateaubriand, and in your instance you were the maggot-covered carrion.

just sayin'...

looks like you're much more bitter than you led on here :)

Posted by mitch at August 1, 2007 11:40 AM

comment #14

christian says ...

t.holly, i've never once insulted you here, unless you consider a joke about bergman filming a teen comedy as a personal attack.

and my life is filled with exciting days, one of which just happened at the double feature of THE PARTY and SKIDOO with blake edwards in person...

are you this dour outside the blogosphere?

Posted by christian at August 1, 2007 11:43 AM

comment #15

mitch says ...

christian,

it appears that the mere mention of *porn star* within this blog turns up the snob level, for whatever reason. And all this time I've been told that liberals are more inclusive...

nice.

Posted by mitch at August 1, 2007 11:57 AM

comment #16

christian says ...

sadly i learned in the 80's that some liberals can be just as cruel, mean-spirited and filled with intolerance as conservatives. it's why i despise the daily kos, a site run by a former republican reaganite who uses bannings and "concern troll" insults to limit debate.

there, i said it. but then, i'm real liberal.

Posted by christian at August 1, 2007 01:49 PM

comment #17

T. Holly says ...

True story. A guy I know picks up a porn mag and his friend, another guy I know says, "you seen one, you seen 'em all," so my first friend says, "yeah, but I've never seen THAT ONE before."

Posted by T. Holly at August 1, 2007 03:14 PM

comment #18

christian says ...

did you ask your friends if they ever lived an exciting day in their life after that?

Posted by christian at August 1, 2007 03:25 PM

comment #19

GeorgePrager says ...

Sounds like christian is one of those "sensible liberals."

Posted by GeorgePrager at August 1, 2007 03:30 PM

comment #20

GeorgePrager says ...

I would've enjoyed the 5 hour version of SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE more if Erland Josephson hadn't creeped me out so much. My girlfriend absolutely hated him. But I guess that was the point. But I loved the story, Jeff, It could be in your book that you should eventually write, sort of an Anthony Bourdain-type yarn. Do it.

Posted by GeorgePrager at August 1, 2007 03:42 PM

comment #21

T. Holly says ...

Yes christian, they have exciting lives. The point is, that I respect anyone with a collector's devotion an an artist's eye who knows he hasn't seen "that one" before. But porn in-and-of-itself and any mention of it on this thread is like comparing cawing cactus wren to cooing turtle doves, even if it didn't have a happy ending.

Posted by T. Holly at August 1, 2007 05:24 PM

comment #22

mitch says ...

george,

seriously, I'm not trying to be mean, but jeff just isn't that skilled a writer. he's ok, but I've yet to read anything by him that was intellectually provocative.

no offense, jeff, but it's true. further, I feel you were MUCH better in your mr. showbiz days, so much less nonsensically acerbic, more optimistic, more *hip*, more, well, just more. maybe it's time to switch gears?

Posted by mitch at August 1, 2007 05:40 PM

comment #23