1960s Most loved Swedish actress Bibi Andersson

1960s Most loved Swedish actress Bibi Andersson
The name of Bibi Andersson – inherently associated with a number of other major actors in the Swedish cinema – Ingrid Tulin, Harriet Andersson, Max von Sydow, and Gunara Bjernstrand. However, Bibi Andersson in this constellation of “equal values” is somehow especially loved by the Swedish public. It’s no accident that the directory of the cinematographic names of Sweden wrote about her: “… perhaps the best actress of her generation”. There is, apparently, something in her appearance and in the peculiarity of the talent, which makes compatriots treat her with that “home” tenderness. And no accident, that people call her simply “Bibi” and understand who behind two letters “BA” is.

Interviewers of the actress assure the audience that Bibi, like many other actors, sensitively perceives every nuance in the reviews, and reasonably enough determines the value of each review. She joyfully and gratefully responds to real warmth and excitement. According to them, “Bibi is simply too smart to become complacent.”

Indeed, Bibi Andersson herself is able to soberly and critically evaluate herself. “I must admit that my appearance does not correspond to the standards used by the international film industry. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that it is better to cherish those qualities that are inherent in me.” However, her participation in the films of Italy, Denmark, Yugoslavia, and finally Hollywood did not bring her creative satisfaction. Actors Bibi Andersson entirely belongs to the Swedish cinema and in this her national identity becomes the property of the world screen.

Bibi Andersson has that human depth and importance that allow her to be called an artist, and in the same way does not have those “non-national” attributes of purely external “seductiveness” profitablely used by the film market.
In live communication Bibi Andersson has nothing “actor”, although the artistry of her nature comes out very quickly. That special sensitivity, emotional mobility, which, apparently, her profession requires. All this, combined with intellectual liveliness and acuity, a little bit removed by the coldness of the mind.

Only this “coldness” is from the desire for deep, clear awareness. Therefore, even in images filled with open, clear emotionality, there is always something captivating. Looking at the faces of the characters she has played, in the end you will always focus on the sad concentration of her gaze, behind which the actress hides the search for something most important.

Andersson studied at the studio of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm. Worked in the same theater, as well as in the municipal theaters of Malmo and Uppsala. She started working in the cinema in 1953, in the episode in the film by Ingmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night.” Then she played the main role in the film “Last Pair Out” by Alf Sjöberg. Nevertheless, her cinematic debut is considered to be 1956, when she starred in Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal, and then in his Wild Strawberries (1957).

Perhaps, it was these two films that determined the love of the Swedish audience for the actress, which she then carried through many years later. Her heroines were that humanistic value, that bright and pure source, to which the heroes of Bergman, tormented by spirit and intelligence, come.

In connection with his film The Seventh Seal, Bergman said: “Whenever I feel doubt and insecurity, I find refuge in the spectacle of simple and pure love. I seek this love in those immediate women who themselves … the embodiment of purity. ” Bibi Andersson herself said that she treats Mia from the “Seventh Seal” with absolute special tenderness, as an unattainable ideal, a man of dreams.

Perhaps this image inspired Bergman to create the next film “Wild Strawberries (1957)”. In this movie, the actress plays two roles at once. Sara from the dreams of Professor Isak Borg, appears against the background of a strawberry meadow. In this meadow Sarah-Bibi Andersson scattered carefully collected for her uncle strawberries. This Sarah was so real in her human concreteness, still quite a girl, troubled by her sensual love, and already a woman aware of her attractiveness, determined in her desires.

In a much more controversial, even defiantly conflicting attitude to society, there is another heroine of Bibi Andersson – Charlotte from the film “My Sister, My Love.” The actress plays a passion that gives both happiness and suffering, love, full and all-consuming, which young Charlotte is ready to defend at any cost. Charlotte dies in the final.

In fact, the acting range of Bibi Andersson is very wide. She performed in the plays “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” by Olbi (Hackney), “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams (Laura), “Cave” Anuya (maid), “Fraken Julia” Strindberg (Julia), and “Three Sisters” A. P. Chekhov (Irina).

As one of the researchers of Bibi Andersson creativity Eva Muberg wrote, “the strongest aspects of Bibi’s acting talent lie in the ability to portray insecurity in its various forms. She can create the illusion of the “Child of the human” thrown into a ruthless and incomprehensible world. ” And further: “And she herself in life can produce a touching impression of a being both sensitive and brave. But in fact Bibi is much stronger, more healthy than many others. ”

In the creative biography of Bibi Andersson in the 1970s, there were two major achievements: in cinema, the central role in Bergman’s “Touch” and the premiere at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm “The Dollhouse” by Ibsen, directed by Frank Shundström.

In her interviews, Bibi Andersson said that she is independent in her thoughts and actions. According to Eva Muberg, there is no role that Bibi Andersson could not play, except for those roles that have absolutely nothing in common with her.”

Indeed, the actress herself specifies that her the “child’s faith in human reason and solidarity” is ineradicable. She explains her position: “There is no other way to live, as if believing that people can change. I think that everyone can contribute to this. I think it matters for the future, which each of us does every day, because even by our attitude towards work and the closest environment, we can contribute to the improvement of the world. ”

1960s Most loved Swedish actress Bibi Andersson