 The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman is the 22nd album by American rock group Sparks , released in August 2009 . The duo 's first work in the radio musical or pop opera genre , the album is built around an imaginary visit to Hollywood by Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman in the mid @-@ 1950s . Its storyline focuses on the divides between European and American culture , between art and commerce . Unlike other Sparks albums , the work is conceived as a single piece , to be listened to as a whole , rather than a collection of stand @-@ alone songs . 
