Cries and Whispers

Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1972, 95 minutes

As in Bergman films, the focus here on the dynamics of personal relationships given from an interior, psychological and mostly bleak perspective. Three sisters and a maid tear each other apart as one of the sisters (Harriet Andersson) falls seriously ill. The other two (Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Thulin) perpetuate a climate of cold, formal relationships which does nothing more than to bring the ill sister and the maid (Kari Sylwan) emotionally close to each other.

Cries and Whispers maintains a dominant aesthetic crust which is often, however, cracked by the emotional vibrations of its female characters. Bergman's infatuation with religion and individual anxieties acquires in this film a morbid fusion of the two elements. The dark, interior atmosphere finds in the statuesque protagonists its most intense expression. Indeed, all of Bergman's permanent collaborators provide moments of rare ardour and energy. There are scenes which make viewing uncomfortable such as the one where Karin (Thulin) mutilatees herself with a piece of glass in a moment of marital desperation. Others are incredibly moving such as the whole dream sequence, or even more the scene with Karin and Maria (Ullmann) engaging in a passionate release of their suppressed love for each other...

The four women are exquisite in their roles, with Harriet Andersson in perhaps the best performance of her career. Bergman has placed the four women in a room of self-destruction although a tone of hope does come to the surface of this convulsive psychodrama.

Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93