Ingmar Bergmans Cries and Whispers is a brilliant and at times shockingly traumatic piece of chamber cinema. It also represented a renaissance for Bergman, whose previous few films had flopped commercially. Set in a large house with interiors done out entirely in a disquieting red and against a soundtrack of ticking and barely audible chatter, the film features three of Bergmans female stalwarts. Harriet Andersson plays Agnes--a thirtysomething woman dying of cancer--Ingrid Thulin plays her sister Karin--non-tactile and caught in a marriage with a man she finds physically repulsive--and Liv Ulmann is the almost childishly sensual second sister Maria. Kari Sylwan, meanwhile, stars as the earth-motherly maid Anna, whose cradling of the dying Agnes against her naked bosom is one of the centrepieces of the movie. Much of what transpires here can be construed as fantasy sequence, including one extraordinary incident in which Thulin cuts her vagina with broken glass and smears the blood over herself, in order to avoid sex with her husband. Agnes unbearable cries of anguish in her death throes, however, are all too real. Many familiar Bergman themes are explored in Cries And Whispers--mortality, the existence of God (here doubted by a Pastor) and the space between people. However, they are set against a singular, blood-red, dreamlike ambience that is irresistible. This is Bergman at his finest. On the DVD: the dominant red backdrops of the movie are richly enhanced in this edition. Text-only extras include notes from Bergmans own memoirs. In a lengthy extract here, he reveals that he had considered Mix Farrow for the part of one of the sisters. Philip Stricks additional notes add further context and background--it seems that the films success in America was due to its distribution by, of all people, Roger Corman. --David Stubbs
On a windswept barren island Andreas lives simply and quietly until he becomes entangled with Anna a beautiful mysterious widow and a neighbouring couple harbouring their own sorrows and illusions. But soon secrets from Andreas and Anna's pasts threaten to destroy everything...
The Rite was Ingmar Bergman's first made-for-television project. It explores an issue that he continued to return to throughout his career: the artist's place in society and the often troubled relationship betwen men and women. Filmed with a cast of just four principal actors the story revolves around three close friends including a husband and wife who make up a theatre troupe. They have been prohibited from performing a short play called 'The Rite' and are brought before the l
Jane Magnusson directs and narrates this passionate tribute to the hugely influential cinema and personality of film icon Ingmar Bergman. Journeying through 1957 - the year Bergman released The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, made a TV film and directed four plays for theatre - a wealth of archive and contemporary interviews reveals previously untold stories and insight into Bergman's life and character. Featuring extensive clips from his vast body of work, Bergman: A Year in A Life explores the existential themes and personal dilemmas at the core of the director's artistic legacy and offers a deeper understanding of what makes his work so powerful and enduring. Included in this limited edition Blu-ray set is director Jane Magnusson's 4-part 2018 TV series on Ingmar Bergman Special Features: Trailer Other extras TBC Fully illustrated booklet
One of Ingmar Bergman's key early works - directed when he was just 30 years old - To Joy explores some of the themes that would come to chracterise many of his later films: the incompatibility of spouses and the responsibility of artists. Marta and Stig both play in an orchestra conducted by Sonderby. Their relationship is a happy one and they soon decide to get married and have children. However things begin to turn sour when Stig begins a sordid affair that threatens to dest
Ingmar Bergman's dramatisation of four Birgit Tengroth short stories novel which interweaves several episodes from the lives of Rut (Henning) and her husband Bertil (Malmsten)... Intricate and intense this powerful psychological drama is based on works by Birgit Tengroth (who also plays Viola in the film) and stands as a true Ingmar Bergman classic. Upon its original release in 1949 the lesbian relationship featured in the film was removed by censors: Bergman's original vision is
Jane Magnusson directs and narrates this passionate tribute to the hugely influential cinema and personality of film icon Ingmar Bergman. Journeying through 1957 - the year Bergman released The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, made a TV film and directed four plays for theatre - a wealth of archive and contemporary interviews reveals previously untold stories and insight into Bergman's life and character. Featuring extensive clips from his vast body of work, Bergman: A Year in A Life explores the existential themes and personal dilemmas at the core of the director's artistic legacy and offers a deeper understanding of what makes his work so powerful and enduring. Special Features: Original Other extras TBC Fully illustrated booklet
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