Interview with Actor Jorgen Lindstrom, Child Protege of Ingmar Bergman

Almost a year ago, 86-year-old auteur Ingmar Bergman announced his retirement from film, theater and television work after a long, distinguished career that spans almost six decades. 

Widely considered by many film buffs and critics to be one of the most important figures in the history of film and one of the best directors in the world, his films like Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Persona and “Fanny and Alexander (to name a few) are often mentioned in numerous “best films of all time” lists. 

He influenced filmmakers as varied as Woody Allen, Robert Altman and Steven Spielberg. His contribution to the art and language of cinema is unquestionably unparalleled.

Among his cinematic contributions is The Silence part of a film trilogy which also includes the films Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light, an esoteric drama about two emotionally distant sisters and a little boy (who is the son of one of them) traveling into a strange city and staying in a strange hotel. 

While there, the little boy goes into strange adventures involving an old man and performing midgets while the sisters struggle with their own personal inner demons. The little boy was played by child actor Jörgen Lindström.  

I recently came into contact with Mr. Lindström via the wonders of e-mail and the internet. I have recently seen ‘The Silence’ and ‘Persona’ and wanted to know more about the actors involved (especially Lindström since I found that he has not acted since the 1960’s and there was no immediate information on what he has been doing since) so I surfed the net and managed to locate the e-mail address of this (former) young actor.
Born in Nacka, Sweden in 1951, Jörgen Lindström is the youngest of three children.  He taught himself how to read at age 5 and his father saw his son’spotential called a Swedish radio station to ask if they needed a child for a play. They did.