Queer Bergman: Sexuality, Gender, and the European Art Cinema

One of the twentieth centurys most important filmmakersindeed one of its most important and influential artistsIngmar Bergman and his films have been examined from almost every possible perspective, including their remarkable portrayals of women and their searing dramatizations of gender dynamics. Curiously however, especially considering the Swedish filmmakers numerous and intriguing comments on the subject, no study has focused on the undeniably queer characteristics present throughout this nominally straight auteurs body of work; indeed, they have barely been noted.

Queer Bergman makes a bold and convincing argument that Ingmar Bergmans work can best be thought of as profoundly queer in nature. Using persuasive historical evidence, including Bergmans own on-the-record (though stubbornly ignored) remarks alluding to his own homosexual identifications, as well as the discourse of queer theory, Daniel Humphrey brings into focus the directors radical denunciation of heteronormative values, his savage and darkly humorous deconstructions of gender roles, and his works trenchant, if also deeply conflicted, attacks on homophobically constructed forms of patriarchic authority. Adding an important chapter to the current discourse on GLBT/queer historiography, Humphrey also explores the unaddressed historical connections between postWorld War II American queer culture and a concurrently vibrant European art cinema, proving that particular interrelationship to be as profound as the better documented associations between gay men and Hollywood musicals, queer spectators and the horror film, lesbians and gothic fiction, and others.