English title: Cries and Whispers
Also known as: Cris et chuchotements
Genre: psychological drama
With: Ingrid Thulin (Karin), Liv Ullmann (Maria and the Mother), Harriet Andersson (Agnes), Kari Sylwan (Anna), Erland Josephson (the Doctor), Henning Moritzen (Joakim), Georg Årlin (Fredrik), Anders Ek (Isak)
Direction and screenplay: Ingmar Bergman
Release: 1972
Studio: Cinematograph AB, Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)
Rating: -
MBiS score: 8.9/10
Death for One, Rancour for the Rest
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Story-line: the huge house is silent now, except for clocks ticking away as they always have. Agnes wakes up in pain, sees Maria sleeping and goes to write in another room. Agnes, you should know, is nearing death and her two sisters, Karin and Maria, have come over to take care of her with the help of Anna, the faithful maid.
Pluses: a superb cast altogether, expert direction by one of cinema’s greatest auteurs, a very serious screenplay highlighting the fraught relationship between siblings and the crucial but equivocal roles played by Anna and the Doctor, Sven Nykvist's slow and aesthetic camera work (which was honoured at the Oscars) and the production's very striking colour pattern (white dresses, red living room and dark furniture).
Minuses: a warning to movie buffs: although Bergman is often associated with austere dramas – an overgeneralization – this one does confirm his reputation.
Comments: CRIES AND WHISPERS presents a sombre meditation about death, memories good and bad, family dynamics and hidden feelings… universal themes illustrated here in a schematic, unflinching way. Its main characters are four women – whose personalities range from devoted to heartless – complemented by a few men who have contributed to the women's dissatisfaction with life. Although CRIES AND WHISPERS does merit a very high score, I have found it less involving than other Bergmans (the enthralling WILD STRAWBERRIES, for one) in spite of its immense symbolic and artistic value. It’s a movie masterpiece that elicits admiration but, unfortunately, only moderate sympathy.
MBiS
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