Woody Allen's favorite director. Ingmar Bergman is the most cerebral filmmaker of all time and one of the most gifted storytellers to ever live. He innovated the use of a more visually based narrative structure to give the viewer more insight into the philosophical and religious leanings in his films. Bergman's influence can be seen in Woody Allen's filmmaking in Annie Hall a great deal. The scene where Annie's spirit floats out of her body to observe the events at hand is very akin to Bergmann's sensibility. Roman Polanski's films also bear similarities to those of Bergman. Cul-de-sac and Repulsion especially bear an incredible stylistic resemblance to Bergmann's Hour of the Wolf and The Silence.