Max von Sydow Biography

Standing over six feet-four inches tall, the bony Swedish actor Max von Sydow spent much of his acting career portraying stern, oppressive characters. Born to a family of academics in Lund, Sweden, von Sydow studied at the Royal Dramatic School in Stockholm, where he made his screen debut in Only a Mother and married his first wife, actress Christina Olin. In 1956, he moved to Malmö and met director Ingmar Bergman at the Malmo Municipal Theatre. After starring in The Seventh Seal, von Sydow went on to star in more than a dozen films with Bergman, including Wild Strawberries, Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, and Winter Light. He worked almost exclusively with Bergman's acting company until 1965, when he took the role as Jesus in George Stevens' epic The Greatest Story Ever Told. This part opened the door to American films, where he was often typecast in strong, humorless roles, like the rigid missionary Abner Hale in Hawaii. In the '70s, he went back to Sweden to work with Bergman in four more films and appeared opposite frequent co-star Liv Ullmann in Jan Troell's two-part saga The Emigrants and The New Land. It wasn't until 1973 that he made his first big Hollywood blockbuster with the role of Father Merrin The Exorcist, which he reprised in Exorcist II: The Heretic. Moving to Rome in the '80s, von Sydow had a fun role as Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, played Barbara Hershey's intense artist boyfriend in Hannah and Her Sisters, and received his first Oscar nomination and numerous other awards for his work in Pelle the Conqueror (1988). After making his directorial debut with Katinka, he worked in several theater projects and a couple of biblical TV miniseries (Sampson & Delilah and Quo Vadis). It was during this time that he was cast as the devil in the Stephen King film adaptation Needful Things, marking von Sydow as the only actor to play both God and Satan. He also appeared in Judge Dredd and Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World. He continued acting sporadically in Hollywood for What Dreams May Come and Snow Falling on Cedars. Moving on to the international circuit, he appeared in Intacto (Spain), Vercingetorix (France), and Non ho Sonno (Italy). In 2002, he co-starred with Tom Cruise for the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Minority Report.He continued to work steadily throughout the decade in projects as diverse as Rush Hour 3, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Shutter Island. Coming nearly sixty years after his earliest film work, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close earned the venerable actor his second Oscar nomination - a Best Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of a mute grandfather. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

• 1. Father Merrin: THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
  2. Father Damien Karras: THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Jack P (10 days ago)

• 1. Father Merrin: There is only one.
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Pete H (14 days ago)

• 1. The Renter: Sometimes we have to face our fears.
  From Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Submitted by Samira O (41 days ago)

• 1. Dr. Naehring: Did you know that the word 'trauma' comes from the Greek for 'wound'?
  From Shutter Island. Submitted by Michelle R (47 days ago)

• 1. The Renter: YES. YES. NO.
  From Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Submitted by Wout J (3 months ago)

• 1. Princess Aura: Look! Water is leaking from her eyes!
  2. Emperor Ming: It's what they call tears. It's a sign of their weakness!
  From Flash Gordon. Submitted by Mat S (3 months ago)

• 1. The Knight Antonius Block: No man can live faced with death, knowing everything's nothingness.
  From The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet). Submitted by Zbigniew Z (3 months ago)

• 1. King Osric: There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
  From Conan the Barbarian. Submitted by Anthony D (4 months ago)

• 1. The Knight Antonius Block: I met Death today. We are playing chess.
  From The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet). Submitted by Ty L (8 months ago)

• 1. Nels Gudmundsson: Accident rules every corner of the universe... except perhaps the chambers of the human heart.
  From Snow Falling on Cedars. Submitted by Chad E (9 months ago)

• 1. Frederick: If Jesus came back and saw what's going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up.
  From Hannah and Her Sisters. Submitted by Chad E (9 months ago)

• 1. Dr. Naehring: Wounds can create monsters and you are wounded, martial. And wouldn't you agree, when you see a monster, you must stop it?
  From Shutter Island. Submitted by girly g (10 months ago)

• 1. King Osric: There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
  From Conan the Barbarian. Submitted by Kos G (11 months ago)

• 1. Regan MacNeil: (in Karras' mother's voice) Dimmy, why did you do this to me? Please Dimmy, I'm afraid.
  2. Father Damien Karras: You're not my mother!
  3. Father Merrin: Don't listen. Get out!
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Creep F (12 months ago)

• 1. Father Damien Karras: Why her? Why this girl?
  2. Father Merrin: I think the point is to make us despair, to see ourselves as animal and ugly. To make us reject the possibility that God could love us.
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Creep F (12 months ago)

• 1. Chris MacNeil: Would you like some bourbon in that, father?
  2. Father Merrin: Well, my doctor says I shouldn't but thank God my will is weak.
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Creep F (12 months ago)

• 1. Father Merrin: I cast you out! Unclean Sprit!
  2. Regan MacNeil: Shove it up you?re a**!
  3. Father Merrin: In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is he who commands you! It is he who flung you from the gates of Heaven to the depths of Hell!
  4. Regan MacNeil: F**k Him!
  5. Father Merrin: Be gone.
  6. Regan MacNeil: F**k Him, Karras! F**k Him!
  7. Father Merrin: From this creature of God! (Regan moaning) Be gone! In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Creep F (12 months ago)

• 1. Father Damien Karras: I think it might be helpful if I gave you some background on the different personalities Regan has manifested. So far, I'd say there seem to be three. She's convinced.
  2. Father Merrin: There is only one.
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Creep F (12 months ago)

• 1. Father Merrin: It's the power of Christ! The power of Christ compels you!
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Creep F (12 months ago)

• 1. Narrator: In the morning, the sleeper has found rest on the bottom of the river. The force of the stream has opened the door and is leading you on. Above your body, people are still alive. Follow the river as days go by. Head for the ocean that mirrors the sky. You want to wake up to free yourself of the image of Europa. But it is not possible.
  From Europa (Zentropa). Submitted by Anastasia B (12 months ago)

• 1. Narrator: You will now listen to my voice. My voice will help you and guide you still deeper into Europa. Every time you hear my voice, with every word and every number, you will enter into a still deeper layer, open, relaxed and receptive. I shall now count from one to ten. On the count of ten, you will be in Europa. I say: one. And as your focus and attention are entirely on my voice, you will slowly begin to relax. Two, your hands and your fingers are getting warmer and heavier. Three, the warmth is spreading through your arms, to your shoulders and your neck. Four, your feet and your legs get heavier. Five, the warmth is spreading to the whole of your body. On six, I want you to go deeper. I say: six. And the whole of your relaxed body is slowly beginning to sink. Seven, you go deeper and deeper and deeper. Eight, on every breath you take, you go deeper. Nine, you are floating. On the mental count of ten, you will be in Europa. Be there at ten. I say: ten.
  From Europa (Zentropa). Submitted by Anastasia B (12 months ago)

• 1. Father Merrin: Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that - do not listen.
  From The Exorcist. Submitted by Jake A (13 months ago)