Stupid Traditions: First In an Endless Series

"It's an unbelievable loss for Sweden, but even more so internationally," Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, which administers the directors' archives, told The Associated Press.

It's an unbelievable loss? I don't know how stupid sentiments like that one originate and then become obligatory in certain contexts, like obituaries, but the idea that Bergman's death now is a loss to anyone certainly qualifies. You now find some statement like this in nearly every memorial or obituary. This obituary notes that Bergman made more than 50 films (he actually made 62 films). He was 89 frickin' years old! What was lost? If he didn't make his artistic statements in 62 films, he never would. At his age, it's doubtful he was going to make another film anyway.