“I was very sorry to hear Ingmar passed away,” Allen told Swedish daily Aftonbladet’s website.
“He was a friend and certainly the finest film director of my lifetime,” added Allen, who has also expressed great admiration for Bergman in the past.
In a 70th birthday tribute in 1988, Allen said Bergman was “probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera.”
Bergman, considered one of the most influential directors of the 20th century, died Monday at his home on the Swedish island of Fårö. He was 89.
