The following is an interview that filmmaker and Films in Review contributor, John Gallagher, conducted with the celebrated Swedish actor. The subject was the distinguished—and elusive—director, Ingmar Bergman.

JOHN GALLAGHER: During your early career in Sweden, you alternated regularly between theatre and film.

MAX VON SYDOW: Sweden is a small country, there is a small audience, so we cannot have specific theatre actors and movie actors. We have to do everything. In those days, of course, we didn't have television. The climate is also a factor. In the winter, I rehearsed for the theatre during the day and acted at night. In the summer, we would make a film. That is what I was brought up to do.

JG: How did you meet Ingmar Bergman?

MS: After having gone through the national theatre academy in Stockholm (The Royal Dramatic Theatre School), which took three years, I got an offer to work in a municipal theatre outside Stockholm. I spent two years there and moved to another municipal theatre in the south of Sweden, the Malmöo City Theatre. I was there for two years, and at that time Bergman was one of the directors. He frequently came to see the stage work we did, and then I got the offer to move over to Malmö in the fall of 1955. I participated in two theatre productions during that season. The following summer Bergman did The Seventh Seal. That was my first film with him. From then on we worked together in theatre and in films for many years.

JG: Bergman had described your association as "an enigmatic relationship."

MS: It's very difficult to describe. Of course it's easier for a director who knows his actors personally. It's wonderful to work with a director on stage and then do films. After the first production I got to know Bergman. As anybody who has seen his films knows, he has a very special view of the world. His films are not typically Swedish, but they are typically Bergman. You learn to know his views and you learn what he wants to show. If you work with him in a play you know what it is that tempted him to work on it. Because of this he doesn't really talk too much about what he wants you to do. In his way of blocking or pacing the scene you understand pretty well what he wants. He uses very basic terms in his instructions. He has always been very interested in music and often uses musical terms when working. He doesn't really tell you what to do, but if he doesn't like what you're doing, he tells you how to do this or that. He's quite marvelous because he leaves the initiative to you and he's open to suggestions. It can sometimes be a wonderful give and take relationship.

JG: Can you comment on Bergman's working relationship with cinematographer Sven Nykvist?

MS: They started working together with The Virgin Spring (1959) and since then Sven has shot almost every picture for him, as far as I know. They know each other so well they don't have to say very much. Sven knows exactly what Bergman wants him to do. It's lovely to watch them work. Both of them are very interested in light and lighting, particularly the subtle light of the Scandinavian summer nights, which can be magical. One of the reasons Bergman chose the island of Fårö for so many of his films was because of the light there. The air is very humid there, most of the year, and the light can be spectacular. Sven and Bergman create challenges for themselves which have been very tricky to realize. For example, they had a difficult time through Winter Light (1962), which was an experiment with black and white. And Cries And Whispers (1972), in which I didn't participate, was an experiment with colour, especially the red interiors.

JG: On the earlier films, such as The Seventh Seal, The Magician, and The Virgin Spring, was there much rehearsal time?

MS: Not very much. I think not until Through A Glass Darkly did we rehearse before the production started. He doesn't rehearse very much, just enough for the camera people and his actors to feel comfortable. He doesn't want to wear out his actors or the freshness of the scene. He doesn't do many takes either.

JG: How locked into the text is he?

MS: At first, he was very locked into the text. Later on, I think that it was in Shame, he gave us the topics and allowed improvisation. I don't know if he's done that lately.

JG: In Wild Strawberries, you acted with the director Victor Sjöström, one of the pioneers of the Swedish cinema.

MS: Fascinating, a wonderful actor and a nice person. In Wild Strawberries, I had a very small part, but I worked with him a couple of times on the stage. Victor was a very generous man with an enormous knowledge of filmmaking. Unfortunately, he didn't direct any movies during the later part of his life.

JG: In making The Seventh Seal, did you have a sense that it would be such a lasting work?

MS: We knew we were working on something good. Bergman already had a very special position in Sweden and was considered the artistic director, not always liked by the critics but always paid respect. But really, at that time, we had no idea the films would be recognized abroad as they later were.