Reviews (109)

Death and a masterpiece
After ten years in the crusades, Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) returns to his homeland with his squire (Gunner Bjornstrand) to find it is blackened with plague. Upon his return he is faced with a meeting with Death and the realization of his ultimate fate. The clever knight prolonges his destiny by challenging Death to a game of chess. Through the film Antonius strives to find the meaning of life and the existence of God. The story is joined by several other intriguing characters played by many of the familier Bergman Actors and Actresses.
Truely a masterpiece by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. This film displays the true soul of man and his ignorance and acceptance of his existance. I was particularly marveled by the contrast between the beliefs of the knight and the squire. Whenever Antonius' search for faith became too ambitous, his squire always levels him with reality. Through the charcters of the film, Bergman shows us the living fabric of man's contradicting natures and ambiguous answers to life. As an avid film viewer I strongly recommend this film to serious movie spectators. This DVD is truely a treat as all the films in the Criterion Collection. The transfers are considerably noteworthy. If you have already seen this film and found that it was enjoyable, check out other Bergman films or look into some of the other Criterion titles.

A Compelling, if Somewhat Dated, Classic of Existentialism
I recently watched the Criterion edition release of this film, The Seventh Seal, with some friends. Although the film's techniques -- innovative and startling in 1957 -- are somewhat cliche today, the film still packs a powerful message, which is that although we cannot know if God exists, it is still possible for us to perform meaningful acts in the time allotted to us.

The story focuses on the story of a Swedish knight, Antonius Block, returning to Sweden from the Crusades -- played by the ageless Max von Sydow. The knight and his squire, Jons, are on the way home through a land ravaged by the Black Plague. On a lonely beach, the knight encounters Death, played with admirable restraint, and a good dose of dry humor, by Bengt Ekerot. Before Death claims Block's life, the knight challenges him to a game of chess -- if Block wins, he goes free; otherwise, when the game is over, Death will come for him. In that Death is busy, the game is renewed throughout the movie.

The movie also focuses on a troupe of actors who are traveling along the same road as the knight. Block knows that Death plans to come for the young actor and his family, and by prolonging his game with Death and thereby distracting him, he enables the young family to escape.

The movie, although obviously shot with a very small production budget and featuring a very minimalist approach (it could well be a stage play), is haunting -- one thinks about the movie's simple lessons for days afterward.

The film has often been parodied -- by Woody Allen in Love and Death, or in the recent "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" where Death is forced to play games such as Twister and Battleship with the film's heroes -- but it is still well worth watching.

The Criterion edition features both a Swedish and English-dubbed soundtrack, as well as a commentary track from a noted film critic.

An amazing and thought provoking movie.
This film is absolutely amazing. It is one of the few movies I watch more than once or twice.
It is an achievment in style. The film manages to look amazing by virtue of Bergman's skill with lighting and cinematography alone. Especially compared to the big budget, color Hollywood titles of the time (such as The Ten Commandments) which look plastic despite their "special effects" and use of color (this film is black & white).
The subject of the movie is man's search for the meaning of life and the question of whether or not God exists. The film is both thought-provoking and blunt in its presentation of this subject and the answers which Bergman provides are suprisingly blunt.
The DVD quality is great, as it always is with Criterion Collection DVDs, and Peter Cowie's commentary is particularly good.

However, I will admit that this film is not for everyone. It also seems to require (for me anyway) one to be in a certain "mood" to view it. If you want to simply be entertained then this is not a film for you, but if you want to view a skillfully directed and wonderfully thought-provoking (if a bit dated) film then go for it.

The silence of God!
Ingmar Berman(1918) established a challenging premise a chess mate between a knight from the Crusaders and the Death (Bengt Ekrot). If he wins, he'll live ; otherwise the Death will claim him . And this original duel happens after Sydow has left behind the misery, the plague and an unending war. He's deeply dissapointed with God and certainly he concludes that it doesn't exist.
This game will let exchange , scrutinize several ideas concerned with the faith , the silence of God and its own existence. God is a comfortable idea for the mankind ; it keeps them warmth , besides the man can dream with the hope of a celestial Paradise after this journey through this awful and miserable world. The ending sequence with the Dance of the Death is one of the most captivating and fascinating images in all the cinema story.
Many people state this is the Masterpiece : and obviously to me it's one of the three major achievements ; Persona and Cries and Whispers would be the rest .
But I've watched almost forty films of this brilliant swedish film maker and in his particular case ; a minor film from Bergman is above the average . So my advise is try to find out and watch all you can from this outstanding director.
This film won the Special Jury Prize 1957.
A timeless cult movie.

Absolutely Brilliant
A profound, affecting movie. Excellent dialogue and performances. Stark black and white cinematography. One of Bergman's greatest films. In fact, one of the greatest films of all time. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

One of the more upbeat and accessible films by acclaimed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Written by Bergman, this autobiographical story follows the lives of two children during one tumultuous year. After the death of the children's beloved father, a local theater owner, their mother marries a strict clergyman. Their new life is cold and ascetic, especially when compared to the unfettered and impassioned life they knew with their father. Most of the story is seen through the eyes of the little boy and is often told in dreamlike sequences. Colorful, insightful, and optimistic, this is far less grim than most of Bergman's work. It was awarded four of the six Oscars for which it was nominated, including Best Foreign Language Film. Though this was announced as his last film, Bergman continued to work into the late 1990s, though mostly for Swedish television. --Rochelle O'Gorman ... Read more

Reviews (27)

A Universe of Humanity
I agree ... that Fanny and Alexander is not just a great film, but that it is a career retrospective of Bergman's art encompassing a universe of humanity and the artist's concerns and feelings for all of life.
As such, it is imperative that the US DVD release should not only come soon, but that it should be the complete five hour version released in Europe, but never seen here in the US.
With the Oscar winning art direction, costumes and cinematography, this is Bergman's most luxuriant film that sucks you in with a sweep that never drags. In repeated viewings in theaters and on VHS, I never had a moment of distraction, but always wanted more. Now we can have it, in one of the greatest films of all time.

Bergman's Powerful Farewell
Though I give Fanny and Alexander only 4 stars, I can totally understand reviewers who give it 5 stars. I did so only because I prefer more "artsy" or "ambiguous" Bergman such as Persona or Cries and Whispers. But Fanny and Alexander is by far the best mainstream film I've ever seen, and this is Bergman's most accessible. I can't believe how thoughtful and thought-provoking this film and others like it are, in comparison to average Hollywood fodder. Even young Bertil Guve and Pernilla Allwin give stunning performances as the title characters, portraying emotion and expression as genuinely as any of the adult characters. I won't even begin to analyze the plot, the film being over 3 hrs. long; see it for yourself. I will just say that Fanny and Alexander is among filmdom's best. Kudos to the master for going out in style!

Powerful
This ORIGINALLY THREE HOUR LONG film was extended for Swedish Television a couple of years after its release. I've seen both versions and must say that the story makes much more sense in the five hour version, and I hope that's the one we eventually will get. However, some stuff (15 to 20 minutes or so) could have been left out in the extended version without having affected the story line, but all shots are nevertheless enchantingly beautiful. Bergman has said that this film (apparently his last for cinema) sums up all his work as a director, and I have no doubt that his career in film couldn't have ended on a higher note. The movie is flawless and powerful, plus on DVD we'll be able to watch it in the widescreen format!

fanny & alexander
when you release the DVD version of Fanny & Alexander, make sure that it is the 5+ hour uncut epistle
or don't bother to contact me , i won't be shortchanged. you cannot EDIT a masterpiece !!!!

Bergman's finest contribution to the history of cinema...
The upper-class Ekdahl family is a warm and vibrant family and this shines through in their extravagantly decorated home in which they are about to celebrate Christmas Eve. They have the Christmas feast in the kitchen with the servants, and this is something some servants find inappropriate. However, the family is very close to everyone who is a part of the family or friends of the family. The mother Helena (Gunn Wållgren), who is on the later part of her life, has three mature and married sons, Gustav Adolf, Carl, and Oscar. Gustaf Adolf (Jarl Kulle) is a funny and happy fellow who is constantly cheating on his wife, who is aware of his cheating, but maintains a civil manner and still loves her husband. The family smarts went to Carl, (Börje Ahlstedt) who is a scientist with nihilistic life philosophy. Carl suffers from depression which is frequently expressed toward his loving wife in an emotionally abusive manner. Oscar (Allan Edwall) is the theater director full of love, which he shares as often as he can with his dear children, Fanny and Alexander. However, Oscar does not feel well, and he hides his poor health from the family as he believes that life must go on. Oscar passes out when he is rehearsing Shakespeare's Hamlet and dies a short time after. Fanny deals much better with the death of her father than Alexander, who does not know how to deal with the pain and anguish from his father's death. The warmth and love that the family has keeps the family together, despite many family issues, which all surfaces as the audience is brought to the issues through Bergman's story telling. A year after Oscar's death Emilie (Ewa Fröling), Oscar's wife, is remarrying the Bishop Edvard Vergerus (Jan Malmsjö). The Bishop who asks Emilie to leave all her past, issues, and belongings at home when they move into the Bishop's rustic home. However, Fanny and Alexander cannot leave their past behind them and they often end up being punished by the callous Bishop, who proclaims that his strictness is an act of love from God.

Fanny and Alexander is a film that dissects socially learned morals and values in the shadow of family secrets and issues. These secrets and issues are often the emotional engine behind the human motivation which produces certain manners and behaviors from the Ekdahl family members and those around them. For example, Carl's depression is partially inherited from his financial difficulty that is hampered by his mothers reluctance to give him money, which enhances his nihilistic self-perspective and deepens his negative self-worth. Bergman displays his vast insights into psychology and the human psyche in Fanny and Alexander as he displays the production of numerous emotional states such as happiness, anger, desire, anguish, and many more. These emotional states are clearly acted out by a terrific cast as they face several hurdles throughout the film. In addition, the misé-en-scene is outstanding, since it elevates the understanding for the different emotional states provided in the different homes. A great example is the comparison between the Ekdahl's home which has several strong colors and the art that awakens different emotions, which brings life to the home and the Bishop Vergerus' home that is very sparingly furnished with thick white prison-like walls, which almost suffocates any expression of feelings. The cinematography maximizes the use of the camera in order to enhance the emotional states of each scene. When all aspects of film making are put together in Fanny and Alexander it leaves the audeince with a brilliant cinematic experience. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Bergman's most enjoyable battle between reason and ...?
Ingmar Bergman's best films give the viewer the feeling of participating in a rite. Its rhythms are less those of conventional narrative, than of theatre or a religious procession, say. As with rites, the appeal is not to the viewer's intellect; their effect is both sensual and spiritual, troubling precisely because we can't put our finger on that appeal.

Of course, this requires a kind of faith, and is open to charges of manipulation, precisely the theme of 'The Magician', a splendid slice of unnerving Grand Guignol horror, where a rather academic argument between the Enlightenment values of sceince, reason and empiricism confront those of superstition, magic and the inexplicable. These latter values might be called medieval, pre-Renaissance, and we are reminded that the modern theatre developed in this period from the Church, from rites and passion plays. this is the kind of effect 'The Magician' has, visually and tonally.

The argument is not between the doctor and the mesmerist, but between the film's surface narrative (which, as an argument, promotes the predominance of reason) and the film's form (which destroys every attempt at argument). Everything within the film that seems to derive from supernatural forces can all be ascribed, more or less, to rational causes, for example psychological weakness; even if it is this very weakness, that border between what we know and what we can't know, in which the mesmerist exists. Although we might say 'Ah, it's only a delusion', the very fact that these self-generated delusions can convincingly take the place of safe, everyday reality, can become that reality, suggests the limits of rationality, without any recourse to the supernatural.

The shams of actors, con-men, misanthropes pretending to be mute, women pretending to be men might all be illusions which, once exposed, can restore the status quo; but once the idea has been suggested that a boundary can be crossed, that an illusion can be real, than a system based on those boundaries is undermined.

In a film where actors pretend to be what they're not, whose narrative proceeds like theatre and climaxes with a theatrical spectacle, Bergman's technique can be called a charade - e.g. the haunting trip through an eerie forest, the fog streaming in the sunlight like a magical gateway; the terrifying attack on the doctor in a surrealist attic, are all an illusion to give us a sensation, but they also undeniably reveal a world for us that lives with us and which we never acknowledge. As ever with Bergman, it is only with acting, deception and illusion, not ational argument and empirical evidence, that we can even begin to approach the truth.

Interesting interpretation of a classic story
I enjoyed this film immensely. I discovered this film by accident, yet I was surprised by Bergman's visual intensity and sly metaphor. Where one filmmaker might tell a simple tale of a magician maligned by suspicious citizens, Bergman takes this idea further. His is the story of a visionary, who having first gained the favor of a town, is later reviled for awakening their self-awareness. And, when the man is cast from town, seemingly as a penniless drifter, he creates his best illusion of all. Bergman is well-known for his use of relgious metaphor, and this film attests to his genius. I won't offer my conclusions, but leave this discovery to the pleasure of the viewer. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Ingmar Bergman's gloomy but incisive 1961 classic about a woman's descent into madness--and the inability of her family to mitigate her pain with love--is still a stunning work. Harriet Andersson plays Karin, a psychiatric patient newly released from a hospital and staying in the island home where she found some measure of security in childhood. Instead of getting on her feet, however, Karin begins disintegrating after realizing she no longer loves her physician husband (Max von Sydow) and is being rather coldly observed by her writer father (Gunnar Bjornstrand), whose distant fascination with her plight is recorded in his daily journal. Hearing voices, believing God to be a spider, and pursuing an incestuous relationship with her brother, Karin slips into an inexorable decline, objectively witnessed by those too emotionally frozen to help. The first of Bergman's trilogy on themes of faith and isolation (the other entries being Winter Light and The Silence), Through a Glass Darkly finds the legendary Swedish filmmaker at an artistic and philosophical peak. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The Blackness, The Darkness, Forever.
Brilliant study of insanity set on the bleak island landscapes off the coast of Sweden. Writer/director Ingmar Bergman philosophically probes and questions man's relation to God through the tortured eyes of an emotionally disturbed young woman, haunting played by Harriet Andersson. Her husband, father and brother - superbly portrayed by Gunnar Bjornstrand, Max Von Sydow and Lars Passgard - share the island with her for a summer, and experience a devastating descent into hell as Anderston goes beyond the brink. Deservedly received two Academy Awards, for best foreign-language film and best story and screenplay written directly for the screen.

Excellent: Bergman with a Vengeance . . .
(revised 8/3/02)
Ignore this film at your peril.

It is all too educational and necessary. . .

. . .all I would put forward has been asserted here by the four other reviewers. I would add some caveats, however. If you only know Harriet Anderson from, say, "Smiles of a Summer's Night", you are in for some surprises. She is as adept in the strait-jacket role as she is in the circus-tent...

Perhaps too adept. It is interesting to see her here, ten years earlier than "Cries and Whispers", exhibiting the same superior abilities in adeptly losing control -- in a manner you will never forget. . .

The final scene in the battered, antiqued room with husband and father is not a good one for the pace-maker crowd. Be sure you've been eating your Wheaties and taking your vitamins. Director Bergman is, here as elsewhere, playing for keeps.
-moosbrugger

A powerful film--themes of love, meaning, and God.
This film shows 24 hours with Karin, her husband, father, and younger brother. They are staying at a remote vacation house on the water. Karin is suffering from schizophrenia, and hears voices that tell her that He is coming. This is a powerful, gripping film that explores themes of love, meaning, and the existence of God. The novelist father is focussed on his work, and usually maintains emotional detachment from his children--except when he is sobbing, deep in despair. Karin's husband is blithly unaware of his own heart, striving to be perfect on the surface. Her brother is young and confused, hurt by her evil use of him, and longing for love from his father. Karin is played by Harriet Andersson, who captures well the tormented woman, who goes in and out of the world lived by the men in her life. The cinematography is stunning, and the background music (cello?) is used sparingly, but with great effect. One theme of the film seemed to be this: To one who does not believe in God, those with religious beliefs will seem to be like Karin--out of touch with reality, and unable to live with the normal pain of living a life without purpose. I'm sure Bergman felt like that, having rejected the religious beliefs of his pastor father. Too bad he didn't search past the god of his father for the God of Jesus Christ.

THROUGH a GLASS, DARKLY
"Through a Glass, Darkly" is Ingmar Bergman's pensive chronicle of a young woman's descent into the maelstrom of schizophrenia. This four character study is set on a secluded island off the coast of Sweden, where Karin (Harriet Andersson), upon having just been released from a mental hospital, is brought by her husband, Martin (Max von Sydow). They are joined there by her father, David (Gunnar Bjornstrand), a novelist, and her brother, Minus (Lars Passgard). Karin has reached a pivotal juncture in her life, facing the uncertainties inherent in the nature of her illness. Doctors have advised Martin that she is occupying a middle ground between two worlds, and that the next few days may be crucial in determining the outcome. Will she emerge in the light, or succumb to the darkness of the voices that beckon her from within. Through Bergman's eyes we observe the effects of Karin's situation on each of her loved ones, and how differently each one of them strive to cope with and understand her elusive affliction. This is one of Bergman's finest works, the first of his "Faith" trilogy (followed by "Winter Light" and "The Silence"). "Through a Glass, Darkly" is an absorbing, evocative, and sometimes intense drama that should not be missed. An Oscar winner for Best Foreigh Film of 1961, it firmly establishes Ingmar Bergman as one of Cinema's greatest directors.

Stuningly lyrical and powerfull
Bergman presents a brilant domestic drama that is one of the greatest films ever made. It brillant ly looks at a family that is falling apart and dosent realize it . Powerfull with brillant prefromance form the entire cast and excallant Sven Nykvist cinematogprahy ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Made in 1960 and set in medieval Sweden, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is based on a folk ballad. It also examines a society in transition from Norse pantheism to Christianity. The film starkly contrasts Ingeri--a dark, feral, Odin-worshipping foster daughter to a Christian family headed by Max Von Sydow--and their own daughter, a pretty and blond but also vain and naïve girl named Karin, whom Ingeri resents. They travel out together to a distant church where Karin is to offer votive candles to the Virgin Mary. However, en route, Karin is raped and murdered by two desperate goatherds, accompanied by a 13-year-old boy. By coincidence, the goatherds then seek refuge with Karin's parents and even try to sell them her clothes, which proves to be a mortal error.

Bergman was greatly influenced by Akira Kurosawa when he made The Virgin Spring, as evinced in its ominous use of dark and shade and lengthy sequences without dialogue. However, this is more than pastiche. Although the Christian ending with which Bergman feels obliged to conclude the film doesn't quite sit well in a movie in which God is as palpably absent as in any Bergman movie, the slow, remorseless pace of the murder and subsequent retribution bring to mind Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing in their sense of the futility of vengeance. --David Stubbs ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A very affecting film
This is definately a DVD worth buying. You don't have to be a Bergman buff to be enthralled by this film.

Rife with symbolism, suspense, and magical performances by the actors, this horrifying classic film feels almost contemporary in its sophisticated treatment of violence, jealousy, and revenge.

This film includes some brilliant cinematography you won't soon forget. Like the films of M. Night Shyamalan, there is simply so much to look at that you'll feel transformed into another place and time.

A Must See Experience
Great photography!
Great Acting!
Great Story!

You will find yourself lost in this story about a father's revenge. The actors never let you think for a minute that you are not watching an actual film of medieval times.

There are a couple of very violent and disturbing scenes that are necessary for the story. All the lead actors are great. I especially liked the performance of the pregnant brunet girl who is jealous of Karin.

The filming makes you feel as if you are recalling a long forgotten memory or dream. Don't pass up the chance to see this film.

Good Story
'The Virgin Spring' is a good story about a father trying to avenge the rape and murder of his daughter. It is a good story, but not something which will blow your mind.

BEFORE IN THE BEDROOM THERE WAS THIS MASTERPIECE
The similarities between In the Bedroom and The Virgin Spring are uncanny, considering that Bedroom is not based on this story of a parental revenge. I've seen The Virgin Spring several times and I never get tired of it. There is always something new to discover in it. When Ingmar Bergman is good, he is great. When he is great, he is incomparable. This is one of his greatest creations. The black and white cinematography is stunning. In addition to the visual beauty of this film, the story is so compelling, so devastating ultimately, that I defy anyone who
does not cry from the soul in the end. This is a movie made by a master. It is one of the two or three best movies about the so-called dark ages that I have seen. One of the others is The Seventh Seal, also by Bergman coincidentally, which explores life, death, faith, justice, cruelty, revenge, and, of course the transcendental power of love. In The Virgin Spring, Bergman explores all of these and other related themes with such brilliance that he has managed to create a film that is completely entertaining, enlightening and spiritually uplifting. I can't boast about it enough. Do yourself a favor and get this movie, I assure you you will never forget it!

Max Von Sydow & Ingmar Bergman at Their Best.
This is the only foreign movie to win an Academy Award. Its in stark black and white during Medieval times. Lots of Pagan imagery.
Max comes across as the Norse god Odin full of vengeance. He's
down right scary when he goes after the 3 who raped and murdered his beautiful daughter.
You won't be able to take your eyes off that scene, or the rest of the movie for that matter.
This movie is an A+ ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Stunning evocation of love and war
Sweden never had a civil war, but Ingmar Bergman imagined it in this brilliant film. Like Stephen Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan", "Shame" brings home the horror of wholesale butchery without a drop of sentimentality. Unlike that movie, though, "Shame" comes nowhere near hero-worship. In fact, I think it's actually the more masterful of the two films, for it evokes war's brutality on a much smaller scale and yet with greater subtlety and closer attention to the impact of destruction on individuals.

Filmed in 1968, at the height of the Cold War, "Shame" portrays the ordeal of a young couple named Jan and Eva Rosenberg (Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann), who own a small farm on a remote island in Sweden and who struggle to survive as the conflict that ravages the mainland spills over and starts to engulfs them. Jan and Eva are thoroughly apolitical and want nothing to do with the war. While obviously evoking the competing totalitarian ideologies of the Cold War (communism & capitalism), Bergman's genius is that he never actually identifies what these two competing ideologies are. By doing so, he creates a film that has no explicit political message unless it be that war is hell. The film forces us to step outside our own narrow political prejudices and look directly at the effects of war on humanity, irrespective of politics. For Bergman, belief systems are totally irrelevant. By not even telling us what they are here in the first place, he focuses exclusively on the human tragedy involved.

Moreover, by setting this conflict in Sweden, an affluent Western country that has never been involved in a major modern war, Bergman makes us consider what war must feel like when it shows up in one of "our" societies. This is no a faraway place, and it has not been ravaged by ancient feuds and incessant hatreds down through history. It is as close to "us" here in the West as could be. Furthermore, by setting "Shame" in a country as pristine and "virgin" as Sweden, Bergman brings home to us with crushing force what most Europeans and Americans are now unable to fathom in hindsight due to so many decades of adjustment to it -- the savage, soul-splitting nightmare that devoured Europe in the 20th century and tore civilization apart at its very seams.

The visual impact of this film is also stunning. For while Scandinavian filmmakers had already filmed such incredible movies in color as "Elvira Madigan" (1967), Bergman chose to film this one in black and white. The effect of the black-and-white still-shots of Sydow and Ullmann's faces is remarkable (and what a face Sydow has!). The script and plot is phenomenal, alternating masterfully between understated and yet overpowering scenes of love and war.

Brilliant movie. Five stars.

Bergman's War Movie; And One Of His Very Best
One doesn't think of Ingmar Bergman as a director of action or thriller (genre) movies. But he directs the war sequences in "Shame" with stunning confidence. It seems he could have made many more big (even epic) movies if he had been so inclined. This film features Bergman veterans Von Sydow and Ullmann as ordinary people who are turned into refugees by a ferocious war in which they get caught. They lose everything, are harassed, beaten and exploited. Eventually the neurotic Von Sydow proves he will do anything to survive. Simone Weil once wrote "the great mystery of life is not suffering, but affliction." That is: suffering brings out the best in some people, others it turns into beasts. This movie asks that most painful question: what would you do in the same situation? The film presents a harrowing landscape of hell on earth that ends in a climax that will inevitably remind you of "Titanic", although Bergman did it first. It's more immediately accessible than many of Bergman's other movies because the anguish here takes external form, not just emotionally interior terror. A neglected masterpiece that should be seen at least as often as his other great works.

Great film; bad commentary by Gervais
Among the Bergman films I have seen, this is an unusually realistic and absorbing film. In fact, I recommend this film to people who probably would not appreciate or enjoy his other films.

But for the same reasons I recommend the film to mainstream filmgoers, I fear that the film might not reward repeat viewing in the same way as Bergman's more difficult films (like Persona, The Silence, perhaps Cries & Whispers). Of course, not everyone buys DVDs for the same reasons I do.

Anyway, I'm writing this review mainly to warn viewers of this DVD not to expect much from the audio commentary by Marc Gervais. He speaks mostly of other films, of the actors, of the varying degrees of greyness, and of his own mundane middle-class lifestyle. On the latter point, consider the fact that Gervais completely ignores the great "shame" monologue when he naively talks about how waiting in a crowded doctor's office is probably the closest thing any film viewer has experienced to the concentration camp-like environment which the protagonists must endure.

Worst of all, Gervais gets the war all wrong. He doesn't realize that the final bombardment defeats the invaders ...at least for a while, at least on that part of the island. He doesn't realize that the government doesn't change hands -- it just gets incredibly repressive, just like governments do in wartime. He actually believes that Jacobi acts as a traitor following the invasion of the island.

In making these mistakes, Gervais obviously misses so many clues that contradict Gervais' interpretation. For example, there is the silence following the big bombardment -- indicating that the invaders have been put down. Then there is the reaction of the camp officials to Ullman's participation in the filmed interview. Plus, the camp officials speak of the invaders liquidating nearly all the citizens (note that the events & scenes onscreen indicate that the citizens might have been killed in the crossfire more than anything else). Finally, there are many smaller clues that Gervais should have recognized later. Like when Jacobi speaks of having just visited his son in the military while his son was on leave -- something that would be impossible if Jacobi were acting as traitor or even living in rebel-controlled territory.

Generally, Gervais seems oblivious to the different ideological discourse on each side. Yet somehow Gervais lived through the 1960s and the Cold War without learning how to recognize the discourse and behavior of reactionary regimes or even the most stereotypical discourse of the orthodox, dogmatic left.

As a result of his misinterpretation, Gervais misses the fact that a once-friendly & benign government becomes arbitrarily cruel and repressive to it's own people. He also misses the fact that the govt bombs its own territory -- nearly destroying our couple's house -- to finally "pacify" part of the island. Finally, he misses the way in which the danger comes from one side, then from the other side, then from the other again, then of course from within.

I discuss this at length only because this is a matter of completely misreading the film, of the plot itself, of essentially conflating two different characters at various points.

True, both sides are shown to be equally guilty in this film. And Bergman dresses them in identical uniforms. But still, I expect better from a scholar's commentary ...and from any DVD release from such a significant -- and notoriously challenging -- director as Ingmar Bergman.

PS: If you like 'Shame', don't miss 'Come and See'. The recent 'Bloody Sunday' also serves a similar purpose -- to document and demonstrate the power of war to reshape individuals in the most horrifying ways.

MGM corrected the OAR problem
MGM recalled the original issues of "Hour of the Wolf" and "Shame" because they were presented in a fake widescreen that cropped the top and bottom of the film. These are masterpieces that should not be missed, and they are now beautifully presented in their proper aspect ration of 1.33:1 with the entire image now intact.

One of the five gems of Bergman
This film is simply extraordinary. The performances given por Von Sydow and (one of my female icons) Liv Ullman, are superb.
It's just the genius of Bergman what it makes the great difference. The story increases gradually in organic intensity. The passions and the hopeless get together and produce an efervescence state very close to the paranoid.
¡A real landmark in the story of the cinema!. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Between 1961 and 1963, Ingmar Bergman released a remarkable trilogy of so-called chamber dramas, each one concerned with the futility of sustaining faith in God, family, love, or much else. The series proved transitional for the internationally renowned Swedish filmmaker, securing his crucial collaboration with cinematographer Sven Nykvist (with whom Bergman would go on to make his many masterpieces--including Persona and Cries and Whispers--of the '60s, '70s, and early '80s), and underscoring a new preference for intimate, relationship-driven stories, austere settings, and haunting tones of emotional isolation and despair.

Following Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light, The Silence is the most abstract entry in the trilogy, a somewhat eerie story of two sisters, Esther (Ingrid Thulin) and Anna (Gunnel Lindblom), and the latter's son (Jörgen Lindström), all traveling by train to Sweden but forced to stay in a foreign country when Esther's chronic bronchial problems require her to rest. A stifling atmosphere, a desolate hotel, encounters with a troupe of carnival dwarves, Anna's anchoring illness, and an empty sexual encounter for Esther underscore the unnerving feeling that God has abandoned these characters to dubious salvation in their own connection. A highly memorable film. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (9)

enigmatic
I'm an Ingmar Bergman neophyte and have seen about ten of his films to date, and I think this one haunted me the most. It couldn't leave my mind for a few days. It's crammed with hopelessness and emptiness, and to put it bluntly, is quite depressing. I was able to put up with Persona, Cries and Whispers, The Seventh Seal, and a few others with a fierce motivation to assess and analyze, but this one left me quite deflated. I think it was because of the way the little boy was used; he is left to roam the hotel occupied by weird hotelkeepers and dwarves that like to dress him up in girl clothes while his mother is out all day on sexual rampages with complete strangers, while his dying aunt spends her last days in a room upstairs. The pain displayed is so raw and unflinching that one is inclined to feel uncomfortable and wondering. I think the capper was the ending of this film on the train: mother and son leave the country and leaves the aunt alone to die, and the son, who has openly worshipped his mother all along, looks up at her with such open contempt that she visibly reacts, putting her hand to her throat. And then he looks down at this picture that aunt has given him. It ends on such an enigmatic note that one has no choice but to feel depressed for some time.

another bergman classic
Easily the finest Bergman film I've ever seen. I like these 'chamber' movies because of the strange, paranoid claustrophobia of it and appreciate the film more in this way than as a religious insight or whatever, even though it's the end of his whole trilogy of faith thing. I found it more likeable as an evocation of early Polanski films and the little Georges Bataille I've read which also often create a vaguely impending, ominous setting. The film is about two sisters who been have obviously joined and subsequently repulsed by a sexual relationship with each other and while one sister is dying in a foreign country where they don't understand the language, the other is off experimenting in heterosexual encounters. One of the sister's also has a kid and the movie is often seen through his eyes. For me, the movie was about communication and I guess the young boy in his black and white, innocent naivety represents the inability to articulate feelings and emotions other than in bold, crude expressions that seems also to become the sister that is not dying. The sexuality is never explicit but always feels graphic and often disturbing and this hinted, uncertain quality of the girls' relationship runs through to the child who seems only too understand things on a vague level. I'm thinking of the foreign butler who I thought was very creepy, showing the little boy pictures of dead people after enticing him with sweets. The scene with the little people I couldn't help but think of David Lynch and his 'man from another place'. Overall, a darn good movie. Highly recommended.

Still Timely
Watching this movie, I am reminded of the old Biblical story of the prophet who sought the word of God in many places but found it in the great silence. This unsentimental movie tells the tale of two sisters on their return from a vacation, one of whom suffers gravely from lung disease perhaps cancer, the other is accompanied by her little boy. While many questions lie realistically hidden in the shadows of silence--most importantly the understandable pain of the two sisters--nevertheless there is unexpected tenderness, remarkably from a stranger and a child.

Still Timely
This is an unsentimental tale of two sisters returning from a vacation in Northern Europe, one of whom is dying of lung cancer and the other is accompanied by her little boy. Their story is caringly and courageously told.

Darkness made visible
With its scenes of illicit sex and masturbation, descriptions of couplings in churches and the strongly implied lesbianism of one of the protagonists, _The Silence_ caused something of a scandal in Sweden upon its release (Bergman reportedly received a wad of used toilet paper in the mail from an outraged viewer). Those hoping to be titillated, however, should look elsewhere, for this is an unremittingly bleak film about the perversion of love in a god-forsaken world and every sexual contact in the film is joyless and empty. The plot concerns two sisters returning from vacation who must stop in a menacing hotel in an unidentified country on the brink of war when one sister, who we quickly realize is mortally ill, becomes too sick to travel. As in _Persona_, which this film somewhat prefigures, the two female leads represent in some sense fragments of the same divided self--Anna, played by the voluptuous Gunnel Lindblom, is all heedless concupiscence, while Ester, portrayed by Ingrid Thulin in a fearless performance (perhaps her greatest on screen), is the coldly remote intellectual, puritanical and moralistic. The fragmentation, it becomes clear, is complete and irreparable--the film suggests that no self can be whole in a godless, monstrous world. Yet love is not totally extinct, as we learn in the scene (perhaps _The Silence's_ emotional core) in which the desperately ill Ester, a professional translator, passes on to Anna's young son Johan the few words of the country's strange language she has managed to learn (her ignorance of the language underscores the failure to communicate that is one of the film's themes). But the quietly devastating conclusion leaves the viewer wondering whether their message can have any lasting effect. No film I have seen of Bergman's is more nightmarishly dark and despairing than _The Silence_. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Ingmar Bergman's vision of The Magic Flute (sung here in Swedish) remains one of the indisputable classics in the opera-as-film catalog, its charm andenchantment undiminished since the film's initial release in the 1970s. This is a case not of competition between two geniuses (and two media) but of affirmative, graceful, and enlightening synergy. Instead of simply filming a staged run-through of the opera, Bergman chooses to play with the framework around such a performance (given in Stockholm's elegant Drottningholm Theatre)--and he moreover rearranges the order of the scenes in the final act. Intermittent shots of audience reactions--including those of a young girl infectiously involved in the story--and sudden, psychologically probing close-up angles result in a richly textured, multilayered effect.

Certainly Bergman renders the fairy-tale aspects of Mozart's mise-en-scène with such buoyant detail that the film makes an excellent entrée both for youngsters and for anyone who is uneasy about how to approach an opera. Yet there is much food for thought to be savored by the already initiated as well. One of Bergman's more brilliant interventions is to depict Sarastro and the Queen of the Night as a divorced couple engaged in a bitter battle over daughter Pamina. The director supplies plenty of energetic wit and arabesques of allusion (in addition to his Prospero-like demeanor, the high priest Sarastro is shown at one point during the intermission perusing the score of Parsifal), and--as might be expected of one of film's greatest symbolists--teases out the opera's weightier allegorical levels with hauntingly beautiful effect. Brilliant chiaroscuro and contrasted lighting patterns, for example, offer ongoing visual commentary on the contest between darkness and light. The cast is exceptionally photogenic, their abundant youth and obvious chemistry more than compensating for the often no-more-than-mediocre vocal performances (with the exception of Håkan Hagegård's utterly disarming, still-fresh portrayal of Papageno). For a desert-island audio recording, tryThomas Beecham. --Thomas May ... Read more

Reviews (39)

a magnificent adaptation
As the film opens with the overture, it focuses on the face of a beautiful child in the audience, and it is as if we see this fantastic production through her innocent eyes; it's an adaptation that captures all the playfulness and enchantment of Mozart's glorious last opera, and brings it to life with renewed vigor.
The attractive cast, though occasionally vocally uneven, is a total delight; Josef Kostlinger is superb as Tamino, Hakan Hagegard shines as Papageno, Ulrik Cold impressive as Sarastro, and Elisabeth Erikson is adorable as Papagena.

The sets, which sometimes seem to shift like smoke, as well as the costumes, are masterful, and include everything from lovable fuzzy creatures, to a brilliant vision of the "dark regions", with dancers writhing and wrestling as its tortured inhabitants.
I also enjoyed the backstage views during intermission; Tamino and Pamina playing chess, Sarastro looking over a score of Parsifal while a chorus member reads Kalle Ankas (a Donald Duck comic book), and especially the formerly fire-spewing dragon trudging past a doorway.

I never fully appreciated "The Magic Flute" until I watched this film; it's strange that Ingmar Bergman, more known for his somber films, should bring out so much light and joy from this magnificent opera.
It would make a perfect introduction for young people to opera, and the singing in Swedish seems quite natural and enjoyable (especially for us older folks who have listened to the great Jussi Bjorling for decades), and the subtitles are excellent and easily to read.
Those who like filmed opera, will surely find this to be an imaginative, wonderful production. Total running time is 135 minutes.

The Drama Of Mozart's Magic Flute
The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last opera, is a multi-layered Singspiel opera that is accessible to children as well as adults. It is an allegory of good versus evil, layed with Freemason ideals, and scored by Mozart's most sublime music. Ingmar Bergman filmed a live performance in a Stockholm theater in Sweden. The singers are singing in Swedish, not its original German, and the camera provides glimpses of going ons backstage and shots of the audience, focusing especially on a red-haired girl who is deeply engaged in the opera. This way, Bergman makes opera a dramatic experience. At times, it feels as if we are not watching an opera at all, but a play. The Swedish cast is fresh, energetic and engages the audience in the fabulous story. The story should be familiar to opera buffs. Tamino, a lost prince, finds he has been commissioned to save a beautiful princess, Pamina, from the clutches of a supposed evil wizard, Sarastro, and return her to her mother the Queen of the Night. As the opera progresses, we discover that Tamino has been deceived and he is, in essence, "shown the light" of truth through the aid of the enlightened religious order of Sarastro's men. The Queen, Pamina's mother, is the villain, bent on dominating the earth, and Sarastro, Pamina's father, is a benevolent holy man who intendes to foil the dark queen's plans. The custody battle over Pamina is true to the Mozart allegory. He had Pamina represent Austria, Sarastro, the "father", was the wise ideals of Freemasonry, while the "mother" Queen of the Night is the suppression and censorship of Freemasonry by imperialist autocrats like the Empress Teresa, whom the Queen is modeled after.

Superb singing. The arias "Dies Bildnis", in which Tamino looks at a portrait of Pamina and falls in love, is well made. Papageno's character is sharply defined as comic, earthy and human. In this film, he wears no feathery costume or plumage, and is instead an actual human man with earthy appetites for food and lovemaking. The Queen of the Night's two arias "O Zittre Nicht" and "Der Holle Rache" are full of dramatic prowess and coloratura technique, both escalate to high F's. Pamina's "Ach Ich fuhls" which she sings in a backdrop of utter darkness, is melancholic and moving. Finally, Sarastro's character is divine, with a sonorous bass-baritone voice, and a final scene almost likens him to Jesus or God. As a bonus, this film presents us a view of the going-ons backstage during intermission. Tamino and Pamina play chess, the Queen of the Night puffs away on her cigar and Sarastro reads the manuscript to Wagner's opera Parsifal, all the while the interlude "March Of The Priests" plays in the background. This is superb performance, quality drama and on DVD, this is a must have for all opera fans who put opera DVDs on their collection.

a major classic
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film which can best described as an operetta, is based on the opera of the same name by Mozart. The only difference is that the libretto is in Swedish. The origianl Swedish title of the film is Trollflöjten. The movie is well known and has remained popular to this day.

Disappointingly, the Criterion DVD has no special features on it.

Sublime
No other director is the history of the medium had the balls to something like that.And no other director in the history of medium broke all the rules,so often,like Ingmar Bergman.In a time of his life that he did everything that someone could do with film ,(The Seventh seal,Wild Strawberries,Persona etc etc)this very pleasent work was born.The rest is history...

Worst Magic Flute Ever
I have watched several live Magic Flute productions and a few other video productions. And this is THE WORST EVER. First, I would like to mention that I love imaginative interpretation. But this one tries to be different and look avant-garde, but yet lacks imagination and artistic quality.
Musical performance. Very bad. Pick up any Magic Flute CD randomly. It cannot be worse than this. Technical sound quality. It sounds very archaic. So bad. It is worse than the good quality LP mono recording that I have. Besides, why should I
watch Magic Flute in Sweedish ? If it's not original German, I would rather choose English. And I am sure that if there is an another Magic Flute produced in China and sung in Chinese, that DVD will get billions of 5 star rating. This Amazon rating system is simply ridiculous.
In the beginning of the opera, while Overture is being performed, it shows the face of a girl in audience for a long time. What is this ? Why should I watch this girl's face so long time ? Why ? If her expression, harmony with back ground, different angle, etc.. create artistic quality, I would understand. But it's not like that. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Ingmar Bergman's great 1972 film is about the elemental things: death and dying, sex, injury, repression, and the body as a fount of sustenance. No wonder Bergman chooses to focus on female characters, in this case three sisters--one of whom is dying of tuberculosis--and a maid who is the only one capable of caring for the ill woman. The film is noteworthy for many reasons, not least of all an interesting camera style that marries beautiful imagery with an anxious frame. That tension perfectly suits the overlapping psychodramas of the piece, but this is a movie that ultimately pushes beyond the particulars of these characters' virtues or neuroses to a greater mystery, one that somehow sustains our existence while slowly taking it away. A landmark film. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Lies and sisters
Loved It! IS THIS THE FILM THAT TURNED ME ON TO FORIEGN FILMS. But it should not be classified as a FOREIGN film. Our worst fears about death, our selfish thoughts of how others pain as our pain is explored. Like a mirror, this film shows us our own ugly reflection.

It is the story of three sisters, and a servant girl. One sister is dying, as the other three women wait on her. The performances are out-standing, my favorite is Bergman-regular Liv Ullman. There are reflections of the past, a need for answers and redemption. It will ruin our day, but we'll be better because of this cinematic triumph. It is very important to experience this picture, (The dvd has an opinional ENGLISH-dubbed soundtrack)it might make you feel better about your life and family.

Sven Nykvist's Oscar-winning Cinematography is haunting, beautiful, and makes characters out of every color. RED is very dominant and even sticks with you long after the film is over. This is a masterpiece, a bit of truth and pain rolled up in a film.

a shocking and haunting film
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film, with the original title, "Viskningar och rop", remains one of the most chilling art house dramas to come out of Sweden.

The story is about two women Karin and Maria who have moved in with their terminally ill sister, Agnes to help care for her.

While the disease Agnes is dying from is never mentioned by name, seems to be a form of cancer as many other terminal illnesses of the time were contagious and the sisters and the maid don't seem to be worry about being infected.

The film shows flashbacks of the sisters when they were all healthy and some others also. The film is definately not for children as there are many scenes that even some adults might not be able to watch. One of these scenes is sexual in nature and involves self-mutilation with a piece of broken glass.

There is also a disturbing death scene and several others related to terminal illnesses

The Criterion DVD has an interview with director Ingmar Bergman as a special feature and there is also an optional English language track.

One of the top films of Ingmar Berman!
This film is bitter . And merciless . It challenges and disturbs you deeply . FIlmed in the purest mood of resources economy , the film tells about Agnes , a dying middle aged woman with the presence of Karin (Ingrid Thulin) and Maria (Liv Ullman).
The complex and increasingly tense relationship among the members of the family ; with the red color as an additional personae ; will make a story loaded with the anguish you may find in the existencial portrayal ( to name a few The stranger of Camus , House of dolls of Ibsen or Crime and punishment Dostovieski).
The loneliness , the dark shadows of the death , the inner reactions of each member of the family , the pain and the lack of affect who are clearly shown in the ending shot demands from you a special attention . Think it over , because this movie represents one of the milestones in all the cinema story.

The Sounds That Haunt Us
"Cries and Whispers" was one of the first films from Ingmar Bergman I had seen. I was about 13 years old and was a strongly devoted fan. I had only seen the film that one time, but it stand with me. Only, I didn't think it was that powerful. Maybe my age had something to do with it. Could it be I was too young to appreciate it? I enjoyed the previous films I had seen at that point though such as "Wild Strawberries" and "The Seventh Seal".

Well, whatever the reason I saw this film again. Now I'm 21. And I think "Cries and Whispers" is one of Bergman's very best films. A memorable and powerful film. A sheer work of genius.

I read Roger Ebert's review for the movie. He said he had never seen a film to be so much about pain.

Maybe that is true. I hadn't thought of that the first time I saw this masterpiece, but now I understand.

Bergman paints such a bleak, depressing picture here, that you could call this film typical Bergman. Even though it my be a depressing film, you should still see this.

The story has three sisters, one is dying. She is played by Harriet Andersson, who gives what I feel is the film's best performance. The other sisters include Maria (Liv Ullman) who is almost childlike. She seems so innocent. Then there is Karin (Ingrid Thulin) who is cold-hearted. And even though she is not one of the sisters Anna (Kari Sylwan) who is a mother figure. She is the only one who truly cares for Agnes (Andersson).

Bergman than has these characters reflecting on moments from the past, and thus the "cries and whispers" those moments bring. Some are truly terrible memories these characters live with. A scene involving Karin and her husband comes to mind.

Are these people trying to learn from their mistakes? Do they regret their past choices? Is there hope for them? I can't give you the answers to these questions, it is for you to decide.

"Cries and Whispers" on second viewing is one of Bergman's best films. A work of art.

Bottom-line: One of Ingmar Bergman's best films. It was nominated for "Best Picture" in 1973 and Bergman was nominated for "Best Director" as well. A haunting film dealing with our life choices, who we really are and how these events shape us. It leaves a lasting impression on the viewer. I can't speak highly enough about this film.

Viskningar och Rop
Agnes is dying of cancer at the end of what one imagines to be late 19th Century, and is taken care of by her sisters Karin (Ingrid Thulin) and Maria (Liv Ullman), and the maid Anna (Kari Sylwan). This is one of the purest and most horrifying films I believe Bergman has ever made. A shade of the color red dominates throughout the film, and brings an immediate and naturally convincing mood. All actors contribute with a powerful and chilling intensity, especially actress Harriet Andersson--whose pain as Agnes is very believable, even enchanting--and are more than well supported by the amazing camera work of Sven Nykvist. To prove that this is the work of a brilliant, highly skilled director, and professional actors and crew, the movie was shot on location in only six weeks!
The Criterion disc features a 52-minute interview with Ingmar Bergman and Erland Josephson (who appears briefly in the movie), taped for Swedish television in 2000. Interviewed by Malou von Sivers, Bergman and Josephson discuss life, death, and love. Bergman, here at age 82, proves to be a down-to-earth and young-at-heart guy. The sound in the interview (surprisingly enough for a Criterion disc), distorts a bit, and can be quite distracting at times, but is not so bothersome that one wouldn't want to continue listening to what these masters of film and cinema have to say (even if the topics barely touch upon their work and careers).
Optional subtitles, as well as an English-dubbed soundtrack are available. The dubbing is surprisingly accurate to the picture, and is done by the actors featured in the movie. At times this accuracy may convince you that the movie was made in English. Still (despite this stunning surprise), I would suggest watching this in Swedish, as intended - at least the first time around.
I watched this movie with a pair of good head-phones, in a comfortable chair, and alone in the dark at three o'clock in the morning. I recommend others to watch it under similar conditions - it adds to the intensity, and one can appreciate the intended mood of the film better if there aren't distractions. I seriously doubt that this picture will disappoint any true fan of good cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The Blackness, The Darkness, Forever.
Brilliant study of insanity set on the bleak island landscapes off the coast of Sweden. Writer/director Ingmar Bergman philosophically probes and questions man's relation to God through the tortured eyes of an emotionally disturbed young woman, haunting played by Harriet Andersson. Her husband, father and brother - superbly portrayed by Gunnar Bjornstrand, Max Von Sydow and Lars Passgard - share the island with her for a summer, and experience a devastating descent into hell as Anderston goes beyond the brink. Deservedly received two Academy Awards, for best foreign-language film and best story and screenplay written directly for the screen.

Excellent: Bergman with a Vengeance . . .
(revised 8/3/02)
Ignore this film at your peril.

It is all too educational and necessary. . .

. . .all I would put forward has been asserted here by the four other reviewers. I would add some caveats, however. If you only know Harriet Anderson from, say, "Smiles of a Summer's Night", you are in for some surprises. She is as adept in the strait-jacket role as she is in the circus-tent...

Perhaps too adept. It is interesting to see her here, ten years earlier than "Cries and Whispers", exhibiting the same superior abilities in adeptly losing control -- in a manner you will never forget. . .

The final scene in the battered, antiqued room with husband and father is not a good one for the pace-maker crowd. Be sure you've been eating your Wheaties and taking your vitamins. Director Bergman is, here as elsewhere, playing for keeps.
-moosbrugger

A powerful film--themes of love, meaning, and God.
This film shows 24 hours with Karin, her husband, father, and younger brother. They are staying at a remote vacation house on the water. Karin is suffering from schizophrenia, and hears voices that tell her that He is coming. This is a powerful, gripping film that explores themes of love, meaning, and the existence of God. The novelist father is focussed on his work, and usually maintains emotional detachment from his children--except when he is sobbing, deep in despair. Karin's husband is blithly unaware of his own heart, striving to be perfect on the surface. Her brother is young and confused, hurt by her evil use of him, and longing for love from his father. Karin is played by Harriet Andersson, who captures well the tormented woman, who goes in and out of the world lived by the men in her life. The cinematography is stunning, and the background music (cello?) is used sparingly, but with great effect. One theme of the film seemed to be this: To one who does not believe in God, those with religious beliefs will seem to be like Karin--out of touch with reality, and unable to live with the normal pain of living a life without purpose. I'm sure Bergman felt like that, having rejected the religious beliefs of his pastor father. Too bad he didn't search past the god of his father for the God of Jesus Christ.

THROUGH a GLASS, DARKLY
"Through a Glass, Darkly" is Ingmar Bergman's pensive chronicle of a young woman's descent into the maelstrom of schizophrenia. This four character study is set on a secluded island off the coast of Sweden, where Karin (Harriet Andersson), upon having just been released from a mental hospital, is brought by her husband, Martin (Max von Sydow). They are joined there by her father, David (Gunnar Bjornstrand), a novelist, and her brother, Minus (Lars Passgard). Karin has reached a pivotal juncture in her life, facing the uncertainties inherent in the nature of her illness. Doctors have advised Martin that she is occupying a middle ground between two worlds, and that the next few days may be crucial in determining the outcome. Will she emerge in the light, or succumb to the darkness of the voices that beckon her from within. Through Bergman's eyes we observe the effects of Karin's situation on each of her loved ones, and how differently each one of them strive to cope with and understand her elusive affliction. This is one of Bergman's finest works, the first of his "Faith" trilogy (followed by "Winter Light" and "The Silence"). "Through a Glass, Darkly" is an absorbing, evocative, and sometimes intense drama that should not be missed. An Oscar winner for Best Foreigh Film of 1961, it firmly establishes Ingmar Bergman as one of Cinema's greatest directors.

Stuningly lyrical and powerfull
Bergman presents a brilant domestic drama that is one of the greatest films ever made. It brillant ly looks at a family that is falling apart and dosent realize it . Powerfull with brillant prefromance form the entire cast and excallant Sven Nykvist cinematogprahy ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Broken Mirrors
"Persona" is by far one of the most complex films ever fabricated in cinema. Like all Ingmar Bergman films, "Persona" challenges the viewer's thoughts of reason and reality. Made in 1967, this still remains to this day, the most haunting and confusing film on self-identity and the duality we have as human beings. Some might find the overlay of the movie too cynical maybe, but only because Bergman so purposely shows us our contradictory natures. Both character leads played by Bergman regulars Liv Ullman and Bibi Anderson give stunning performances, as usual. It's really amazing how well both women played such difficult roles, Ullman's character doesn't speak one line throughout the film and Anderson so captures all the different moods with an almost too realistic touch. Recommended to only serious movie-goers, Bergman fans, art house, foreign film fans, and those who can handle disturbing commentaries on self reflection.

One of the All-Time Greats
"Persona" is not only Bergman's masterpiece; it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made. It is admittedly difficult, but never pointlessly so. The underlying spirit feels much the same as the High Modernist literature of the 1920s: a brilliant fusion of emotion and intellect resulting in a startling new form of expression. Indeed, the opening sequence of the film -- "a heap of broken images" -- brings "The Waste Land" to mind, and Bergman himself remarked, "I had it in my head to make a poem, not in words but in images."

Despite the unconventional style, one never has the feeling of novelty for the sake of mere effect. The formal innovations follow from the content. Much of the film, in fact, is shot in a fairly traditional way, though with Bergman's usual painstaking subtlety. The detailing is even finer than one might expect, with every sound, almost every word, orchestrated with great care.

"Persona" is a deeply compelling film, but it is probably not an ideal starting point for a newcomer to Bergman's work. "Wild Strawberries" is more straightforward and warmer; a great character study that retains elements of fantasy.

A final note: Avoid the grungy transfer on Hen's Tooth Video. The MGM version is far cleaner and is worth the extra money.

Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson are AWESOME!!!
I've never quite been into foreign films, but I decided to check out 'Persona' because it has been associated with one of my favorite films, Robert Altman's '3 Women.' I was frequently told by other film buffs, "If you like '3 Women,' you'll really like 'Persona.'"

They were right, for I was completely blown away by this Bergman masterpiece. 'Persona' is a powerhouse of emotions, and the acting is superb. Liv Ullmann's silence is extremely compelling, for her nonverbal communication conveys a whole lot more than any dialogue could relate! Bibi Andersson's performance is heart-wrenching at times, for her persistance and confusion draws the viewer into her corner like a spider caught in a web.

As far as Ingmar Bergman, I am now a dedicated fan of his films after viewing 'Persona.' There were a few bits during the opening montage that made me wince (beware!), but after seeing the entire film, I can understand why they were there. In addition, the visual look of some of the key scenes are among the most breathtaking I have ever seen in a film, such as the one where Liv almost floats into Bibi's room like a Nordic goddess.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Ingmar Bergman, arthouse cinema or films about the psychology of relationships.

The Greatest Film of the 20th Century
This is Ingmar Bergman's greatest achievement as a film director (most of us have not seen his stupendous stage productions and only a few of his "made-for-TV" films).

It is, quite simply, the greatest film of the 20th century by its greatest film director. All films should be judged against it---and found worthy or wanting.

one of the best ever made
This is one of the best rated films of all time...and it's definetely justified. It might very well be Bergmans materpiece, and THAT says a lot. The story behind one of the greatest achievments in cinema history was (is); Liv Ullmann, Bibi Anderson, Sven Nykvisk and Ingmar Bergam....That's the whole movie !!! Only 4 people,but it doesn't get much better than this. It's perfect - ... Read more

Reviews (8)

WONDERFUL! A GREAT INQUIRY ON THE HUMAN CONDITION!
People who aren't "turned off" & disgusted by the current state of the world (enviromentally, politically, culturally, sociologically, etc.) will immediately understand this film and appreciate its beauty! Upon the first time seeing it, I felt it was unfocused and confused. The second time, when it occured to me that these people were living in front of the backdrop of something emotionally emasculating (random slaughtering, War, whatever you want to supplement), I realized what a masterpiece this film is. That uneasy feeling that life is unraveling all around you, that human beings are destroying each other, even though you don't directly see it...Bergman captures that feeling beautifully.

The interviews in the film bothered me for a while, but then I started to view them (and commend Bergman's brillance) as Brechtian distancing effects, as if Bergman is saying: "yes, live vicariously through these people, but after all they're just characters representing something, but they are NOT these people, so what???". Fantastic!

If you don't already own this and you love Bergman, what's wrong with you???

Eros and Thanatos
This is one of the very few films that I came out of the theater crawling *under* the carpet... And I still find it disturbing - and at the same time or perhaps exactly because enlightening. Many of Bergman's films of that time dealt with the inherent self-destructiveness of the "human condition"; but most of them also had a plot element that involved an external destructive force: war (The Seventh Seal, Shame), the proximity of death (Wild Strawberries) and so on. Even Hour of the Wolf, the one that comes closest to Passion, has the "wolves" - the coterie that seduces Max von Sidow's character into reliving, facing, and ultimately succumbing to, his inner demons (by the way, make sure that your version of Hour of the Wolf includes the posface, "look, this is a movie, and we just wrapped it up, it's not real, you see, these people are just characters in a movie played by 'normal' people - but the demons will stay with you, cause they're not really ours, they're your own").

Not so Passion. Here, there is no outward force pushing these people - these "normal", whatever their personal demons, people - towards inescapable destruction. There is the wanton, unresolved slaughter of animals; but this doesn't touch the characters, no more than the everyday "slaughter of the lambs" that surrounds much of our lives does us except to at most evoke a vague disquiet, let alone drive them. They're doomed; always were. Nothing can save them. Not love, or the forlorn illusion of, not a bourgeois life surrounded by creature comforts, not even outburts of personal violence. There is simply no redemption.

For the "passion" is not "a" passion, but *the* passion, the passion that drives us all, and indeed all life: the endless collision and collusion between Life and Death, that sets down the boundaries within which we, like Von Sydow's character at the film's closing, must forever pace back and forth.

Genius at work...
I am amongst those Bergman fans who prefer his post-Persona work best. I find many of his late 40's-50's films too calculated & highly pretentious (especially films like The Silence & Winter Light). One of the best Bergman films of the 70's

A movie full of 'Passion'.
After having seen Woody Allen's INTERIORS I was so impressed by the direction. I found out that Allen was paying homage to Bergman and at the time I was just finding out about all sorts of different movies, I was 14 at the time so this was so amazing to me and still is. Afterwards I sought out movies by Bergman but I was always a little afraid of being dissappointed (I had recorded THE SEVENTH SEAL on TV but I thought I ought to take baby steps in terms of getting to know Bergman so I did not see it). But finally I decided to start with THE PASSION OF ANNA and now every week I rent at least two Bergman movies from my library. The direction is genius! I love the way Bergman doesn't try to hype up events. He just lets everything unravel in a natural way. Whenever someone in this movie is saying something regarding their emotional state or past experiences, etc. Bergman lets their emotions shine through and he presents us with intimate close ups of their faces so that we can observe every bit of the emotions that the character is going through. Other directors prefer to use music and other methods which I am not condemning, I actually like some of the other methods that other directors use but I had never seen a movie in which the director let everything happen so naturally, as if it weren't even a movie but a documentery though the look of the movie is not realistic, it looks like a movie but it doesn't feel like one. Bergman gives us a stark and compelling movie about these 4 people who are going through the motions and how they affect each other's lives. Max von Sydow plays a widower who lives a very mechanical life until he gets in involved in the lives of three other people and they are played by Bibi Anderson, Erland Josephson and finally Liv Ullmann as Anna. von Sydow and Ullmann I thought were particularly great. It's hard for an actor to play a man who is emotionally hollow to a certain degree but von Sydow does it perfectly. Ullmann plays a woman who is still suffering after effects of the deaths of her husband and child and who ends up looking for solace in von Sydow's character. She shows great measure of desperation and sadness in her performance without being showy. And the cinematography is very beautiful if a bit depressing to those who hate gray skies. And the lack of music gives it a very strange feeling like I mentioned before. And Bergman uses an interesting method of showing short interviews with each of the four actors with them discussing their characters. I found this to be a bit daring because Bergman ran the risk of breaking the suspension of disbelief of the audience but personally I felt it just made me go deeper into their lives and selves. I can see why Woody Allen idolizes this guy.

Apocalyptic Bergman.
'The Passion of Anna' sometimes feels like a compendium of Bergman films, such as 'The Seventh Seal' (Max Von Sydow struggling to find meaning in an apocalyptic environment), 'Persona' (Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson as two women suffering on a remote island) and 'Hour of the Wolf' (Von Sydow, living with Ullmann on a remote island, tempted by sophisticated strangers led by Erland Josephson).

But though the film deals with the many of those films' themes - emotional violence, power mind-games, dissatisfaction, ennui, exile - it somehow seems lighter, less like spending two hours on a (nerve) rack. This may be because though the title refers to two kinds of passion - an overwhelming love for or interest in something, and a journey of trials and sufferings leading to some kind of redemption - it features a hero who is removed from either.

A gruesome mystery element soon intrudes, as an unknown figure starts slaughtering all the animals on the island. This element performs at least two functions - by asking the question, who is this madman, it forces us to look more closely at our characters; and it creates an apocalyptic feel that is an appropriate backdrop to the characters' mental deterioraton or fatigue, while also suggesting a wider, largely unseen social framework against which these isolated figures exist.

It also contributes to the film's bleak colour scheme - though in colour, the film's winter setting is all brown and grey, with big black bare trees, swathes of mud and stone, dirty smudges of snow. This has obvious symbolic value - just as we first meet Von Sydow repairing his roof, as if trying to paper the cracks in his mind; so we see him alone, sometimes drunk, in this huge, empty landscape, peopled only by dead animals, elusive madmen and an unseen mob.

As is typical with Bergman, the film is full of narrative games or interruptions, such as the actors commenting on their roles, trying to encapsulate coherence while their director proliferates the unknown; and Ullmann's monochrome nightmare, increasing the sense of medieval plague, is a figure for a malaise much closer to home. ... Read more