Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14021 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: Swedish
• Subtitled in: English
• Dimensions: 1.20 pounds
• Running time: 410 minutes

From 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.

Through a Glass Darkly concerns a psychologically fragile woman, Karin (Harriet Andersson), who seeks recovery from a nervous breakdown while on a remote-island vacation with her family. Unfortunately, her father (Gunnar Björnstrand), a successful writer, regards her with clinical detachment, her husband (Max Von Sydow), a doctor, feels unavailing in the effort to treat her, and her brother (Lars Passgard) is wrapped up in his own quest for sexual fulfillment. Karin's descent into further loneliness and delusion exacerbates the heretofore unspoken alienation at the heart of this entire family, and drives the characters to brood over the existence of God (or, in Karin's case, imagine that God is the chilling spider hidden behind an attic door). Through a Glass Darkly is a heartbreaking, powerful work of art.

Winter Light reunites Björnstrand, this time playing a pastor suffering a crisis of faith while ministering to a shrinking congregation, and Von Sydow as a parishioner lost to acute anxiety over the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. Neither man can help or heal the other, or even inspire renewed confidence in practiced rituals and older, more certain views of the world. Set on a chilly, Sunday afternoon, Winter Light's heavy stillness, lack of music, preference for intense close-ups and distancing long shots, and barren setting all lead us inescapably into the core of a profound silence, an echo chamber in which love can't grow and religion rings hollow.

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

Video Details
At the beginning of the 1960s, renowned film director Ingmar Bergman began work on what were to become some of his most powerful and representative works—the Trilogy. Already a figure of tremendous international acclaim for such masterworks as The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and The Virgin Spring, Bergman turned his back on the abundant symbolism and exotic imagery of his ‘50s work to focus on a series of impacted, emotionally explosive chamber dramas examining faith and alienation in the modern age. Utilizing a new cameraman—the incomparable Sven Nykvist—Bergman unleashed Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence in rapid succession, exposing moviegoers worldwide to a new level of intellectual and emotional intensity. Each film employs minimal dialogue, eerily isolated settings, and searing performances from such Bergman regulars as Max von Sydow, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom in their evocation of a desperate world confronted with God’s desertion. Drawing on Bergman’s own severely religious upbringing and ensuing spiritual crisis, the films in the Trilogy are deeply personal, challenging, and enriching works that exhibit the filmmaker’s peerless formal mastery and fierce intelligence. The Criterion Collection is proud to present The Ingmar Bergman Trilogy: Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence.

On the DVD
New high-definition digital transfers of the trilogy films, with restored image and sound
Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie - five part documentary
Exploring the film
Essays by film scholars Peter Matthews, Peter Cowie and Leo Braudy and filmmaker Vilgot Sj�man
Poster gallery for the films of the trilogy
Original U.S. theatrical trailers
Optional English-debbed soundtracks
New English subtitle translations

Customer Reviews

A life-changing faith examination...
The trilogy consists of three seperate stories using the same actors, all telling a similar theme with different backgrounds, very little plot, intense angst and the literal silence of music, as well as at times, excruciating silence between the characters. It's as if the dialogue is, at times, and mostly in the third, what they don't say.

The first, "Through a Glass Darkly", is off of what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11,

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (KJV)

It is the story of a psychologically disturbed woman, her father who is a successful but struggling writer, her husband who is a doctor who cannot diagnose her, and her little brother who is starting to enter his phase of understanding human sexuality. In the end, she totally loses it and is convinced that, when the door to her closet mysteriously opens, God calls her over and shows himself as a tiny spider who crawls out. This was the easiest for me to watch, and the most blatantly theological, I think, though it comes close to the second one. The movie explains the concept of knowing there is a God, but wondering why He is so excrucuatingly silent at times.

The second, "Winter Light", takes place one day in a small church in Sweden. A pastor, who is questioning God because of His silence, can barely give a sermon, let alone console his congregation. One man attends with his wife and stays after every service, asking the pastor to console his fears of nuclear war (the movies were made around the time of the cold war) and his paranoia. The pastor, wanting to tell him to put his trust in God, admits through his silence on the matter that he cannot tell him to have faith, for he questions his own. The man leaves, while the pastor is approached by a lover he had so long ago, wanting him back. He does not know what to keep, his love of God or love for her. She is an example of the earthly temptations that keep us from faith in God. Near the end, the man scared of nuclear war shoots himself in the head, causing the pastor to have to console the family of the man he couldn't help, to console with the faith he doesn't have that both he and the man wanted. The wife isn't disturbed, she saw it coming. I must say that this is the best of all that I saw, and excruciating to watch. It mirrors me, a person who sometimes has such strong faith but other times questions and feels he can be of no use to anyone to convey the glory of God through his living because I'm concerned, myself. Highly existential and brilliantly done, very theological. The movie makes a statement along the lines of mankind's doubt of God because of His silence.

The last one is titled, "The Silence", and all hell breaks loose in this one. There is little dialogue and no music. It is about two 20 something sisters travelling by train through Sweden with one's 10 year old son. They end up staying at a mostly empty hotel. One sister has bronchial problems and must rest in bed all of the movie, as well as take care of her sister's child. Her sister is a nihilist, she goes out and sleeps around with men, doesn't care much about responsibility or taking care of her child and at one point is raped by a man she thinks she likes...and has to accept it, despite her sister's attempts to save her from it. This is the hardest to watch for many friends of mine, I had to watch it in three half hour sittings because I could not bear to watch it all at once. The sister who is taking care of the child and who is sick soon realizes her sister's nihilism when they realize the silence of God. In the end, the sister and her son leave while the sick one stays behind in the hotel for awhile longer. This one strikes on the notion that God does not exist, and that is why there is silence. Or possibly, the silence of a world that doesn't believe God exists.

"To Johan--words in a foreign language"
As with Beckett's trilogy of novels _Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable_ this trilogy of novels seems to imitate Baroque music in its structure--at the time, through Bergman's marriage with Kabi Laretei (sorry if this is misspelled), Bergman became even more interested in Baroque music, especially the music of Bach. Bach was a master of chamber music--that is, music with few musicians that give the viewer/listener a sense of intimacy. And the trilogy seems to have, in its three films, the three movements of a traditional chamber concerto. And Bach's music figures prominently in at least two of the films--in the first, with the soundtrack lifted from Bach, and in the last, with one of the few moments of communication centered around Bach's music. (I am not sure if the organ music in the second film is also Bach; it seems a reasonable hypothesis.) The trilogy represents a cinematic break for Bergman from the large, intricate productions exemplified by _Wild Strawberries_ and _The Seventh Seal_.

But the trilogy seems to represent a transition for Bergman from problems of theology to those immediate problems people experience. This is the reason for the necessity of cinematic intimacy--to be close to these people's problems, one must first be close to the people represented.

I have attempted, here, to avoid obscurities. The interpretation of such details has gone on apace, as with all Bergman's films. But these obscurities are often not too dificult to understand, as Bergman often uses the same themes of religion and despair in all his films. The point is that these three brilliant films represent a complete change in structure and technique for Bergman--he even began, here, to use more radical cinematic methods (an example is the revolutionary six minute close up on Ingrid Thulin's character in the misnomered _Winter Light_). The importance of these films from an historical standpoint is their evidence of a paradigm shift for Bergman, as discussed above. That, and their thematic genius.

Three Brilliant Cinematic Experiences by Bergman...
A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman probably considered one of the best cinematic trilogies ever, if not the films alone are considered to be some of the best film ever made. Criterion gives this trilogy an appropriate treatment as they release all three films together with a documentary.

Through a Glass Darkly is the first installment of Bergman's Trilogy that takes place on an island off the coast of Sweden where a family is having a vacation at their summer home. The father, David (Gunnar Björnstrand), has recently returned from one of his many trips and his closest family is present. His family consists of his daughter Karin (Harriet Andersson), who is struggling with a mental illness that is gradually getting worse, his son Fredrik (Lars Passgård) who is in the middle of his scholarly diversion, and Martin (Max von Sydow) who is Karin's husband and a medical doctor. As the siblings rediscover the family home, they recall blissful moments from their childhood, however, the happiness brings back a strong sense of melancholy that threads their memories. These depressing memories of an absent father and his shortcomings as a care-giver have resulted in deep scars in the sibling's psyche. Reminiscence of their agonizing past affects Karin's mental health as it is deteriorating at a much faster pace, which brings the family members regret and grief. This then causes anguish among all the present family members as they are all affected by Karin in one way or another. Through a Glass Darkly is the beginning of a trilogy where grief and pain commence, which will be followed by Winter Light and Silence. Bergman demonstrates a thorough understanding of the human consciousness as he directs Through a Glass Darkly where he dissects the social structure of a family and its affects on its members. This results in an outmost brilliant cinematic experience.

Winter Light is the second film after Through a Glass Darkly. Pastor Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) is suffering an enduring cold and he must hold mass for an ever-shrinking congregation as he is facing a spiritual crisis of his own. After the mass, Pastor Ericsson attempts to withdraw due to his cold, but is confronted by Jonas Persson's wife. It appears that Jonas (Max von Sydow) is suffering from severe anxiety and depression. However, Pastor Ericsson is inept in helping Jonas's emotional distress and instead addresses his own divine doubts about God. The pastor is also pondering his current affair with Märta (Ingrid Thulin) that he is thinking of ending, but Märta insists that they should continue to see each other. As a result, Pastor Ericsson is meditatively squeezed in between God and Märta as he has difficulty deciding on what he wants. He desires Märta's love as he knows it offers him comfort on a daily basis, but it goes against his ideal perspective of how to serve as a minister. Winter Light is not as grandiose as Bergman's earlier films (e.g., Naked Night and Seventh Seal). It is apparent that he has taken a new path as he is directing this film in a much smaller milieu. The setting is a personal place where catharsis is permitted without interruptions as Pastor Ericsson is facing his own demons. Winter Light serves as an enlightening and purgative link between Through a Glass Darkly and Silence. In the end, Winter Light offers an ultimate cinematic experience for self-reflection as it opens doors where questions must be asked.

Silence is the third film after the succession of Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light. The sisters, Ester (Ingrid Thulin) and Anna (Gunnel Lindblom), are stranded in a foreign city with Anna's son, Johan. Ester is a neurotic over-achiever that often attempts to look at the rationality of things and Anna is a careless thrill-seeker that acts on her impulses. The two of them have unresolved issues that reach as far back as their childhood which have left them in an emotional turmoil. These issues cloud their judgment on how to approach each other as if they were lost within the emotional confusion caused by these issues. This confusion is left in a vacuum where their bitterness is growing in silence. Johan is placed in the middle of this silence as a compassionate shadow between the sisters, which encourages them to maintain a civil harmony. The sisters' only hope for healing is the innocence of Johan's curiosity which is untouched by the worldly cynicism that controls most of the sisters beliefs and values. Johan's innocence is full of acceptance, understanding, life, and love, which is something that Ester and Anna have difficulty in sharing. In addition, the silence between them sets their minds and thoughts pessimistically adrift and is elevated through their personal cynicism. Silence uses cinematography that is unmatched as it enhances emotional turmoil that the sisters are experiencing through the use of provoking camera angles, close-ups, and pans. In addition, the frequent play with light and shadows boosts emotional situations of the characters and enhances how they are perceived by the audience. The lack of sound enhances moments when sound is utilized. Overall, Bergman has manipulated elements of cinema in Silence to perfection as he leaves a brilliant cinematic experience for the audience.

These three films are perfectly summed up with the fourth film, which serves as a documentary for the Trilogy, by Vilgot Sjöman (I Am Curious Yellow and I Am Curious Blue) who served as intern during the 50s for Bergman.

In the end, I appreciate these films as they develops an understanding of why Bergman belongs with the cinematic geniuses of all time such as Antonioni, Chaplin, Clouzot, Fassbinder, Fellini, Godard, Kiarostami, Kieslowski, Kurosawa, Lang, Powell, Pressburger, Renoir, Truffaut and many others.