Swedish director Ingmar Bergman has told a television interview that his wife Ingrid's death has left him indifferent to life, and he would be prepared to commit suicide.

The 81-year-old director told Swedish station TV4 of his grief and shock after she died in 1995.

Bergman rarely speaks to the media, and only agreed to the interview because it would be conducted as an hour-long conversation with his friend, actor Erland Josephson.

"We used to joke about it, me and Ingrid, that I would be the first to die. Instead, she died. It has crippled me," he said.

"It is the most cruel thing I have ever experienced. I am immensely indifferent to whether I keep on living."

'It is terrifying to become a vegetable'

Bergman, whose film credits include The Seventh Seal and Fanny And Alexander, still works as a theatre director. He said he would still consider ending his life at some point.

"It is terrifying to become a vegetable and be a burden to others. But you can decide yourself if you want to go," he said.

Asked if he meant suicide, he said yes.

Nodding at Josephson, he added: "I hope I have enough sense left if I get that bad, to be able to plan and organise it."

"I and Erland have promised to control each other's senility potential."

Bergman acted as a witness when Josephson married his third wife in Stockholm last week, but he usually lives as a recluse on the island of Faaroe, 100 miles south west of the capital.