Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Silence’ completes the director’s trilogy on faith which he commenced with ‘Through a glass darkly’(1961) and ‘Winter light’(1963). Once again Bergman explores themes surrounding the crisis of faith and the meaningless and isolation of human existence in a world where there is no god. His long time collaborator, cinematographer Sven Nykvist uses the black and white palette to create a world of harsh, unforgiving light and dark subterranean spaces. While on holiday Anna (Gunnel Lindblom), her ten year old son Johan (Jorgen Lindstrom) and her dying sister Ester (Ingrid Thulin) stop at a desolate grand hotel in an unnamed European city. Whilst there the sisters intense psychological bond begins to unravel when Anna picks up a man and brings him back to the hotel. In Swedish with English subtitles. Cast also includes Hakan Jahnberg. (Awards: Winner 1964 Guldbagge Award Best Film, Best Actress Ingrid Thulin, Best Director, Ingmar Bergman)
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
311325
Language
Swedish
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Crafts & Visual Arts → Surrealism
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Brothers and sisters
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Mothers and sons
Feature films → Feature films - Sweden
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Anxiety
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Dwarfism, Pituitary
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Sex (Psychology)
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Terminally ill
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)