Max Von Sydow has shuffled off this mortal coil and is now strutting the boards of the firmament. Now to be fair to the gentleman, he had a marvelous run; reaching the ripe old age of 90 and essentially dying “with his boots on” – his forthcoming Echoes of the Past has yet to have a release date, but no doubt it will bear a dedication to him. I find it interesting and equally bittersweet when the stars I watched in my youth- men and women who I thought* (keyword) were “very old” when I was first watching them perform in the films of the 70’s and 80’s that I grew up on. Sydow to me always had a timeless quality to him- and since he played “older roles” it damn near made him feel immortal, and thus like an old worn piece of furniture, it was easy to take him for granted as “always being there.” Now I wouldn’t come to see his amazing early work in films like the Seventh Seal until I was in college, but in the meantime I got to see this impossibly tall Swedish gentleman show up in films I loved as a kid, like Flash Gordon, Dune, Conan the Barbarian, and Strange Brew…but let’s face it, I still love those films…and I haven’t really grown up. In High School I saw him in the defining role for a generation of video kids- playing Father Merrin in the 1973 William Friedkin film The Exorcist. I’m also rather fond of him showing up as the meticulous, albeit genial, hitman in Sydney Pollack’s 1975 Three Days of the Condor, opposite of Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. Possessing soft features with a booming voice- Sydow could play marvelously sympathetic characters, yet was able to turn on a dime, arch and eyebrow and be the unquestionable personification of evil if the role called for it. Perhaps that’s why even watching his performance now as a tall blond Jesus of Nazareth in The Greatest Story Ever Told, I can forgive the casting choices of white, 1965 Hollywood- and just marvel at the stellar performance he gave. He had warmth, subtlety, and possessed a marvelous range to draw from. I’m going to miss the concept of him making new films…but I’m absolutely going to cherish his filmography. Thank you for your talents Mr. Sydow. Rest in peace.
The Brewmeister is dead. Long Live the Brewmeister.