God and the Devil - by Peter Cowie

About the Book

"A chronicle of the life and career of one of film's defining figures, God and the Devil draws on exclusive extracts from Bergman's diaries, letters and production workbooks. Peter Cowie brings us close to the man and the artist, as he wrestled with themes of love, sex and betrayal - with the figure of Death always hovering overhead."--

Book Synopsis

"Immensely insightful." The Guardian

"A commanding portrait." Total Film

"Indispensable . . . rich, engaging, thorough." Sight & Sound

The first biography of Bergman in 40 years, containing exclusive extracts from workbooks and letters.

'Bergman's films stand alone as beacons in film history.' Wim Wenders

A chronicle of the life and career of one of film's defining figures, God and the Devil draws on exclusive extracts from Bergman's diaries, letters and production workbooks. Peter Cowie brings us close to the man and the artist, as he wrestled with themes of love, sex and betrayal - with the figure of Death always hovering overhead.

Review Quotes

"A commanding portrait...one that consistently ties events in his life to specific scenes, themes and locations in his movies. Having met Bergman in 1969 and corresponded with him until 1995, veteran film author Peter Cowie is able to channel first-hand knowledge of Bergman into a book that's respectful without being overly reverential." - Matt Looker, Total Film

"Indispensable...rich, engaging, thorough."- Sight & Sound

"Cowie's meticulously researched book maps the details of Bergman's eventful personal life onto his characters and themes." - Barney Horner, New Statesman

"Scrupulous, accurate and trustworthy."- Tom Shone, Sunday Times

"Brings us as close to the man - and the artist - as we're likely to get...Sure to become the definitive Bergman biography." - Paula Hammond, Film Juice

"Immensely insightful." - PD Smith, Guardian

"Film historian Cowie provides a prosaic account of the life of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Peter Cowie began writing about the cinema while at Cambridge University in the early 1960s. In 1963 he founded the annual "International Film Guide", which he edited for four decades. His more than thirty books include studies of Orson Welles, Francis Ford Coppola, and Akira Kurosawa, as well as more than a dozen commentaries on classic films for The Criterion Collection, and has lectured in four continents.