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Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, 1961) ; Art House Rating:
Bergman's first "chamber drama" is also one of his most accessible, telling the story of schizophrenic young Karin (Harriet Andersson) who has recently left a mental hospital to return to the island home of her family, her doctor husband Martin (Max von Sydow), her novelist father David (Gunnar Björnstrand) and her younger, awkward brother Minus (Lars Passgård). The siblings have a problem with their father because he always seems to be off somewhere writing his latest "popular" novel and never seems to have time for them. Besides that, Karin seems to be getting worse, she's become frigid, cannot sleep and honestly believes that she's living in two worlds and is beginning to feel that she prefers the one which nobody else can see or hear. Harriet Andersson goes through staggering emotional range in this powerful film, beautifully photographed by Sven Nykvist. There are a couple of scenes in this film which are the equal of Bergman's best. For me those would be the scene with the voices coming through the cracks in the wall and the possible arrival of Karin's God in that second-story room near the film's climax. This was the first film of a trilogy which also included Winter Light (1962) and The Silence (1963).
Bergman's first "chamber drama" is also one of his most accessible, telling the story of schizophrenic young Karin (Harriet Andersson) who has recently left a mental hospital to return to the island home of her family, her doctor husband Martin (Max von Sydow), her novelist father David (Gunnar Björnstrand) and her younger, awkward brother Minus (Lars Passgård). The siblings have a problem with their father because he always seems to be off somewhere writing his latest "popular" novel and never seems to have time for them. Besides that, Karin seems to be getting worse, she's become frigid, cannot sleep and honestly believes that she's living in two worlds and is beginning to feel that she prefers the one which nobody else can see or hear. Harriet Andersson goes through staggering emotional range in this powerful film, beautifully photographed by Sven Nykvist. There are a couple of scenes in this film which are the equal of Bergman's best. For me those would be the scene with the voices coming through the cracks in the wall and the possible arrival of Karin's God in that second-story room near the film's climax. This was the first film of a trilogy which also included Winter Light (1962) and The Silence (1963).