A legendary figure, present in some of the most important creations of cinema, the alter-ego of Ingmar Bergman in latter years, the actor of Tarkovski's two penultimate wills, an icon of significance in numerous arthouse classics, varying from the meditation of Angelopoulos to the mania of Makavejev. Josephson passed away 4 days ago, at 88, leaving behind him a celluloid collection full of intelligence and quiet passion.
Although present in uncredited roles in the very early Bergman efforts in the late 1940s, it wasn't until the late 1960s that he emerged as a regular of the Bergman troupe, as Baron von Merkens in Hour of the Wolf.
He was a part of the starring quartet in the Passion of Anna, next to Bibi Anderssen, Liv Ullmann and Max Von Sydow,
and the sole male inhabiting the world of Cries and Whispers.
In Scenes from a Marriage, he emerges for the first time as Bergman's alter-ego, opposite Ullmann, in this eternal discussion of emotional illiteracy.
He continued by playing second fiddle to Bergman's ladies, Ullmann again in Face to Face, Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata, he directed a little-seen film of his own in 1980, Marmalade Revolution,
and then he started his long foray into European arthouse, with Dusan Makavejev's unforgettable Montenegro, playing Susan Anspach's husband.
He stayed in Yugoslavia for Variola Vera (an important film in the field of Medicine/ Infectious Diseases and Cinema, thus beloved by me, but obscure for the rest of the world), and was unavoidably present in Bergman's Fanny and Alexander.
But at the same time, he became Tarkovsky's face, as Domenico in Nostalghia, and although the film might be the most difficult to pentetrate in Tarkovsky's canon, Josephson's face as Domenico became a part of the fresco, the same bright melting colors in his presence.
But Nostalghia was not his crowning achievement, this followed in double, immediately after:
In After the Rehearsal, Bergman stages a battle of great actors/ actresses, with Josephson's theater director Henrik Vogler against Lena Olin's Anna (our first view of Olin back then), and the ghost of Anna's mother, Vogler's muse, Ingrid Thulin,. A film that should be watched by any aspiring actor, of film and stage, repeatedly, before they even attempt to mumble a single word.
And then Josephson got back to Tarkovsky's Requiem, in Sacrifice. A Bergman film on its own, one should say, a testament beyond critique, but also the ultimate Josephson screen capture, his quiet despair that for once Von Sydow could not have done justice to.
What to remember from latter years:
His brief reunion with Olin in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (but let us be honest, there was too much talent there to focus on Josephson).
His pairing with Klaus Maria Brandauer in Istavn Szabo's Hanussen, essential viewing also for the non-familiar, this real tale of the Weimar Republic era tragic mentalist.
His iconic presence in Angelopoulos' Balkan Odyssey, Ulysses' Gaze.
His presence in the penultimate Bergman offerings: not so much In the presence of the Clown, as much as Saraband, the revisiting of the Scenes from a Marriage couple.
And of course his role as...Bergman, in Liv Ullmann's Faithless, where he allows with dignity Lena Endre to shine.
Few could have this dignity and weight....
He was a part of the starring quartet in the Passion of Anna, next to Bibi Anderssen, Liv Ullmann and Max Von Sydow,
and the sole male inhabiting the world of Cries and Whispers.
He continued by playing second fiddle to Bergman's ladies, Ullmann again in Face to Face, Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata, he directed a little-seen film of his own in 1980, Marmalade Revolution,
He stayed in Yugoslavia for Variola Vera (an important film in the field of Medicine/ Infectious Diseases and Cinema, thus beloved by me, but obscure for the rest of the world), and was unavoidably present in Bergman's Fanny and Alexander. 
But Nostalghia was not his crowning achievement, this followed in double, immediately after:
He starred in this, period
He fathered this gorgeous actress who we all remember opposite Clooney in The American. 
He directed one of the greatest gangster films ever, Romanzo Criminale (a film Scorsese would have died to make, but he is not capable of). An epic retelling of a notorious gangster squad, directed up to each detail with surgical precision and suspense, and featuring a shattering performance by Pierfrancesco Favino as the Lebanese (eqquivalent to Godfather II- De Niro), and a femme fatale as few in Anna Mouglalis. 
And he has the right ingredients: Kim Rossi Stewart is magnetic in the title role, Moritz Bleibtrau is arresting as one of the sidekicks, there are great, relentless scenes of suspense, the film smells of the 1970s, and so on. A proper gangster epic. 
