Dave S
Traveling home by train, sisters Anna (Gunnel Lindblom) and Ester (Ingrid Thulin) stop in an unnamed country to take a break from their journey. Ester, unable to leave their room due to an alleged illness, comforts herself with alcohol and nicotine. Anna, the more carnal of the two, searches the city for comfort in the arms of a stranger. What is most striking about Ingmar Bergman's The Silence is, not surprisingly, the silence, unsettling throughout. The interior shots are particularly disturbing as they are seemingly devoid of sound, even white noise, other than dialogue and percussive sounds. Like most of Bergman's movies, The Silence feels rich in themes, allowing the viewer to draw from it what they want. Sven Nykvist's (a Bergman regular) cinematography is striking, as are the performances from Lindblom and Thulin, also Bergman mainstays. Fans of Bergman will lap this up, while casual viewers may find it a little dry and obtuse.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
10/16/23
Full Review
rob k
Two sisters torment each other, while a boy wanders around the corridors of a hotel among old people and dwarves. Not for the prudish.
The Silence" followed immediately "Winter Light.". It is the third of the trilogy that started with "Through a Glass Darkly." As with its two predecessors, "The Silence" is written for a small ensemble in a relatively small set. Bergman uses only a few leading characters (Ester, Anna, and Johan), and the work takes place over a limited time period, about twenty-four hours, and very restricted in space.structure of the films set reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window and Dial M for Murder.
Two sisters -the sickly, intellectual Ester (Ingrid Thulin) and the sensual, Anna (Gunnel Lindblom)-travel by train with Anna's young son, Johan (Jörgen Lindström), to a foreign country that appears to be on the brink of war. Attempting to cope with their alien surroundings, each sister is left to her own vices while they vie for Johan's affection, and in so doing sabotage what little remains of their relationship. Regarded as one of the most sexually provocative films of its day, Ingmar Bergman's The Silence offers a disturbing vision of emotional isolation in a suffocating spiritual void.
In his book about the making of Winter Light, Vilgot Sjöman describes how Bergman told him about an idea for a new film:
'Two women and a thirteen-year-old boy in a completely strange city. The older woman has a hemmorrhage and they stop at a hotel. Ingmar explains that some of the material goes back to an old radio play The City. The rest is quite fresh and is based on a dream he had during his illness in December.'
Shooting the film.
The film, as Bergman explained it to Sven Nykvist, was certainly meant to be dream-like, but there were to be no hackneyed dream effects such as soft focus images or fades. The challenge lay in the fact that the film itself must have the character of a dream. The director and cinematographer decided to use Eastman Double-X negative, developed to a higher gamma than usual. Coming after the ascetic imagery of Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light, they decided to be far less restrained. Bergman describes it as 'a cinematic sensuality that I still experience with delight. To put it simply: we had an enormous amount of fun making The Silence.'
An excellent psychological drama,featuring exquisite cinematography by the great Sven Nykvist."The Silence", is brooding. With minimal dialogue and the recurring sound of a ticking clock,its dark sexual spell, devastating performances (specifically by Ingrid Thulin) and Bergman's masterful handling of the profound landscapes of the human face makes "The Silence" a masterful mood piece that's definitely hard not to admire.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
scott s
For a film that has very little dialogue, it seems to capture your attention. Two sisters are trying to live there lives in a world that is emotionally void. Each shot by Bergman drives the harrowing narrative makes this a unique film from his catalog.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
james g
This is a Bergman film, 100%. It's the acting and the camera angles and the cinematography that count for the most. For Bergman fans, certainly.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Absolutely one of the best of Bergman!
So cruel, loveable and hopeful.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
andrey k
Another one thoughtful and beautifully-shot Bergman movie; actually his movies can not be unthoghtful. Two leading ladies are having crises each of her own; Bergman slowly in meditating manner reveals the inner world of his heroines, as they stay in some town on their way back homeю
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
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