#0000A/#101: BERGMAN, Ingmar: Cries And Whispers (1972)

BERGMAN, Ingmar (Sweden)

Cries And Whispers [1972]

Spine #0000A/Spine #101

DVD/Blu-ray

2001 synopsis

Legendary director Ingmar Bergman creates a testament to the strength of the soul — and a film of absolute power. Karin and Maria come to the aid of their dying sister, Agnes, but jealousy, manipulations, and selfishness come before empathy. Agnes, tortured by cancer, transcends the pettiness of her sisters' concerns to remember moments of being — moments that Bergman, with the help of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Sven Nyquist, translates into pictures of staggering beauty and unfathomable horror.

2018 synopsis

This existential wail of a drama concerns two sisters, Karin (Ingrid Thulin) and Maria (Liv Ullmann), keeping vigil for a third, Agnes (Harriet Andersson), who is dying of cancer and can find solace only in the arms of a beatific servant (Kari Sylwan). An intensely felt film that is one of Bergman’s most striking formal experiments, Cries and Whispers (which won an Oscar for the extraordinary color photography by Sven Nykvist) is a powerful depiction of human behavior in the face of death, positioned on the borders between reality and nightmare, tranquility and terror.

91 minutes
Color

Monaural

in Swedish

1:66:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2001/2018

Director/Writer

Ingmar Bergman was 54 when he wrote and directed Cries and Whispers.

Other Bergman films in the Collection:

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Crisis (1946)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: A Ship To India (1947)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Port Of Call (1948)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Thirst (1949)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: To Joy (1950)

#0000A/#613: Summer Interlude (1951)

#0000A: Waiting Women (1952)

#0000A/#412: Sawdust And Tinsel (1953)

#0000A/#614: Summer With Monika (1953)

#0000A: A Lesson In Love (1954)

#0000A: Dreams (1955)

#0000A/#237: Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955)

#0000A/#11: The Seventh Seal (1957)

#0000A/#139: Wild Strawberries (1957)

#0000A: Brink Of Life (1958)

#0000A/#537: The Magician (1958)

#0000A: The Devil’s Eye (1960)

#0000A/#321: The Virgin Spring (1960)

#0000A/#209: Through A Glass Darkly (1961)

#0000A/#211: The Silence (1963)

#0000A/#210: Winter Light (1963)

#0000A: All These Women (1964)

#0000A/#701: Persona (1966)

#0000A/#961: Shame (1968)

#0000A: Hour Of The Wolf (1968)

#0000A: The Passion Of Anna (1969)

#0000A: The Rite (1969)

#0000A: Fårö Document (1970)

#0000A: The Touch (1971)

#0000A/#229: Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

#0000A/#71: The Magic Flute (1975)

#0000A: The Serpent’s Egg (1977)

#0000A/#60: Autumn Sonata (1978)

#0000A: Fårö Document 1979 (1979)

#0000A: From The Life Of The Marionettes (1980)

#0000A/#262: Fanny And Alexander — The Theatrical Version (1982)

#0000A/#263: Fanny And Alexander — The Television Version (1982)

#0000A/#264: Fanny And Alexander — The Making Of Fanny And Alexander (1982)

#0000A: After The Rehearsal (1984)

#0000A: Saraband (2003)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

#101: Six-page wraparound featuring an essay by Peter Cowie.

#0000A: essay by Emma Wilson.

Commentary

None.

#0000A/#101DVD: Ingmar Bergman: Reflections on Life, Death and Love with Erland Josephson

From 2000, a candid and revealing 52-minute interview with Bergman and long-time collaborator Josephson, originally broadcast on Swedish television.

#0000A:

Introduction

By Bergman, recorded in 2003.

Interview

With actor Andersson, conducted by film scholar Cowie in 2012 (20 minutes).

Behind-the-scenes

Footage narrated by Cowie (34 minutes).

On Solace

A video essay created by filmmaker :: kogonada in 2014 (13 minutes)

U.S. trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
By Spine #