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

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A FILM TRILOGY BY INGMAR BERGMAN {Spine #208}

BERGMAN, Ingmar (Sweden)
Through A Glass Darkly [1961]
Spine #0000A/Spine #209
Blu-ray/DVD


2003 synopsis

While vacationing on a remote island retreat, a family's already fragile ties are tested when Karin (Harriet Andersson) discovers her father has been using her schizophrenia for his own literary means. As she drifts in and out of lucidity, her father (Gunnar Björnstrand), husband (Max von Sydow), and younger brother (Lars Passgård) are unable to prevent Karin's harrowing descent into the abyss of mental illness. Winner of the 1962 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and featuring an astonishing lead performance by Andersson, Through a Glass Darkly presents an unflinching vision of a family's near-disintegration and a tortured psyche further taunted by God's intangible presence.

2018 synopsis

While vacationing on a remote island retreat, a family's fragile ties are tested when daughter Karin (an astonishing Harriet Andersson) discovers her father (Gunnar Björnstrand) has been using her schizophrenia for his own literary ends. As she drifts in and out of lucidity; her father, her husband (Max von Sydow), and her younger brother (Lars Passgård) are unable to prevent her descent into the abyss of mental illness. Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign-language film. Through a Glass Darkly, the first work in Bergman’s trilogy on faith and its loss (to be followed by Winter Light and The Silence), presents an unflinching vision of a family's near disintegration and a tortured psyche further taunted by the intangibility of God’s presence.

89 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in Swedish
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2003/2018
Director/Writer


Ingmar Bergman was 43 when he wrote and directed Through a Glass Darkly.

Other Bergman films in the Collection:


The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

#0000A: 250-page book featuring an essay by Catherine Wheatley.
#209: Twelve-page booklet featuring an essay by Peter Matthews.

Commentary

None.

#0000A:

Introduction

By Bergman, recorded in 2003.

Excerpted interview

With Andersson, recorded in 2012 (9 minutes)

#0000A/#209:

Exploring the film

Video discussion with Ingmar Bergman biographer Peter Cowie, recorded in 2003 (11 minutes).

Original U.S. theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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