Editing Ingmar Bergman (section)

===Tax evasion charges in 1976===
On 30 January 1976, while rehearsing [[August Strindberg]]'s ''[[The Dance of Death (Strindberg)|The Dance of Death]]'' at the [[Royal Dramatic Theatre]] in Stockholm, he was arrested by two plainclothes police officers and charged with income tax evasion. The impact of the event on Bergman was devastating. He suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of the humiliation, and was hospitalised in a state of deep depression.

The investigation was focused on an alleged 1970 transaction of 500,000 [[Swedish kronor]] (SEK) between Bergman's Swedish company ''Cinematograf'' and its Swiss subsidiary ''Persona'', an entity that was mainly used for the paying of salaries to foreign actors. Bergman dissolved ''Persona'' in 1974 after having been notified by the Swedish Central Bank and subsequently reported the income. On 23 March 1976, the special prosecutor Anders Nordenadler dropped the charges against Bergman, saying that the alleged crime had no legal basis, and added that it would be like bringing "charges against a person who has stolen his own car, thinking it was someone else's".<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=http://svtplay.se/v/1371714/oppet_arkiv/atal_mot_bergman_laggs_ned|title=Åtal mot Bergman läggs ned|trans-title=Charges against Bergman dropped |work=[[Rapport]]|publisher=[[Sveriges Television]] |format=News report|date=23 March 1976|language=sv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121001454/http://svtplay.se/v/1371714/oppet_arkiv/atal_mot_bergman_laggs_ned|archive-date=21 November 2011}}</ref> Director General Gösta S Ekman, chief of the Swedish Internal Revenue Service, defended the failed investigation, saying that the investigation was dealing with important legal material and that Bergman was treated just like any other suspect. He expressed regret that Bergman had left the country, hoping that Bergman was a "stronger" person now when the investigation had shown that he had not done any wrong.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=http://svtplay.se/v/1371715/oppet_arkiv/generaldirektor_om_bergmans_flykt|title=Generaldirektör om Bergmans flykt|trans-title=The Director General about Bergman's escape|work=[[Rapport]]|publisher=[[Sveriges Television]]|format=News report|date=22 April 1976|language=sv|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904225911/http://svtplay.se/v/1371715/oppet_arkiv/generaldirektor_om_bergmans_flykt|archive-date=4 September 2011}}</ref>

Although the charges were dropped, Bergman became disconsolate, fearing he would never again return to directing. Despite pleas by the Swedish prime minister [[Olof Palme]], high public figures, and leaders of the film industry, he vowed never to work in Sweden again. He closed down his studio on the island of [[Fårö]], suspended two announced film projects, and went into self-imposed exile in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]]. [[Harry Schein]], director of the [[Swedish Film Institute]], estimated the immediate damage as ten million SEK (kronor) and hundreds of jobs lost.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=http://svtplay.se/v/1371717/oppet_arkiv/harry_schein_om_bergmans_flykt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120235441/http://svtplay.se/v/1371717/oppet_arkiv/harry_schein_om_bergmans_flykt|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 November 2011|title=Harry Schein om Bergmans flykt|trans-title=Harry Schein about Bergman's escape|work=[[Rapport]]|publisher=[[Sveriges Television]]|format=News report|date=22 April 1976|language=sv}}</ref>