Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

The first part of a 'religious' trilogy of films released from 1961-1963, Through the Glass Darkly may be the most accomplished of the three, and has the literary qualities of some of the best authors while still sticking to a character-driven story about mental drought and bewilderment. All four members bring out the heart of Bergman's message, with Andersson playing Karin in true sincerity and passion for the plague of her mind that has brought a cloud over her and her father, husband and younger brother (a woman with three generations of men). Some might digest the speculation on the inter-relationship of god and love with insanity, yet it is undeniably a masterwork by a artist filmmaker. A+

Fmovies: Here's a film which will tweak your sensibilities. The family...yes the family, center of all great and good. An early sixties Swedish family has gathered in an isolated summer vacation spot on the sea to examine itself and its ties. The two male adults are intellectuals of sorts and the female is both the daughter of one and the wife of the other. She is also the sister of her writer/father's adolescent son. Love is at the center of familial relationships and this film makes no bones about it. Yes, love is the tie. It is also the tie between Man and God, or so it would seem to have been told, especially to those in the West and specifically in Sweden: those who have fallen for a Christian message.

We see in "Through a Glass Darkly" a family in strife. A daughter and wife who is just back from an insane asylum; a teenage son who is unsure of himself, most grievously because of the lack of fatherly love; a husband who is part of this family and yet remains apart from the family and a father who has been running away from familial love since the death of his wife, the mother of the son and daughter. He has been running away from loving responsibility under cover of his "art".

What can be made of this strange brew is made well by Bergman, a man who questions the authority of God, the Family and Patriarcy; but who still comes up on the side of love?

Bergman was a complicated man who made complicated movies. He shocked a lot of critics and audiences in the early 60s. Essentially, his cinematic art was a window through which one could vicariously watch Bergman question his faith and the meaning of life and by extension, his audience could participate in this philosophical exercise. Bergman said once:

"My fear of death was to a great degree linked to my religious concepts. Later on, I underwent minor surgery. By mistake I was given too much anesthesia. I felt as if I had disappeared out of reality. Where did the hours go? They flashed in a microsecond.

"Suddenly I realized, that is how it is. That one could be transformed from being to not-being -- it was hard to grasp. But for a person with a constant anxiety about death, now liberating. Yet at the same time it seems a bit sad. You say to yourself that it would have been fun to encounter new experiences once your soul had had a little rest and grown accustomed to being separated from your body. But I don't think that is what happens to you. First you are, then you are not. This I find deeply satisfying. That which had been formerly been so enigmatic and frightening, namely, what might exist beyond this world, does not exist. Everything is of this world. Everything exists and happens inside us, and we flow into and out of one another. It's perfectly fine like that."

What does love mean to those who are obviously imperfect? How can one pursue love when the way is blocked by either madness or fear or lust or all of these forces to one degree or another?

These are questions which Bergman examines in "Through a Glass Darkly". See it.

Bergman's haunting, somber feature "Through a Glass Darkly" is the kind of distinctive, sometimes uncomfortable, and carefully-crafted movie that can stick in the minds of its viewers long afterwards. Its combination of images, scenery, characters, and themes provides plenty of things to think about, more than could be assimilated in any one viewing. Bergman is one of the very few film-makers who had the knack for making this kind of feature coherent and memorable at the same time.

The story could hardly be more efficient. The very small cast and the tight scenario place a premium on the writing, acting, and photography. The characters have a good balance of similarities and differences that makes for a wide range of possibilities, and the story makes good use of them. The seaside setting is used nicely, with the beautiful scenery and thematic images both complementing the story. The old shipwreck is skillfully worked into a psychologically harrowing sequence.

The setting is combined with the family relationships, biblical allusions, philosophical questions, and much more, to raise a wide range of interesting and thoughtful questions. Although "Through a Glass Darkly" does not feature the extensive use of unusual imagery found in Bergman features like "The Seventh Seal" or "Persona", or the dream sequence from "Wild Strawberries", in its own way it is also effective.

Through a Glass Darkly fmovies. How do you write a review about a film which is so perfect for you as this one is for me? This is probably the only film that I can't think of having any flaws, even minor ones. And it's so compelling and touching. Really, you should see a movie for so many reasons. Here you can see how a film can have probably one of the best cinematography EVER without using any CGI and computers, just with manipulating the light, and perfect camera work.You can enjoy a compelling story about God and the numerous aspects in relationships between people, which works both on a grand scale and in every specific case between the characters. It's really depressing at times but it always feels so real and convincing. You feel that this story is actually happening before your eyes, at least I did . You will get a flawless acting from all 4 actors in the movie, especially Harriet Andersson. Her part is so extremely difficult but she pulls it off superbly. See it, if you like the old days of moviemaking, when the smart plot, decent acting and innovative camera work and cinematography were still more important than the special effects and the media hype.

10+/10

Harriet Anderson's performance is beyond brilliance. She has a very difficult role, but there seems not the hint of acting on her part. It is a role where the character seems to be acting and is having a very rough time. Her performance is transparent and haunting. I saw this film most recently a few years ago (and have seen many movies since then), but i still recall vividly three of her scenes. The photography is magical and while not as praised as Wild Strawberries, Persona or Winter Light ( and a few other Bergman classics), its power and its passion reach inside your soul and dares you to resist living the story and the characters of the film. Also, Max von Sydow is brilliant as usual--he is certainly the most underrated actor of all time--theater, television or cinema. I highly recommend this film and then your viewing t he 1971 Passion of Anna, also with Max v.S. and a performance by Liv Ullmann that rivals Harriet's in Thtorug a Glass Darkly. The theme of Darkly is the human predicament in a world of suffering and illness. How does man survive if he actually "lives" his/her life, rather than just sports through life without any experience of art and the spiritual (good or bad). This film is part of a loose trilogy that includes the magnificent Winter Light and The Silence, though each can be viewed separately with no loss of discovery and enjoyment. When I was in college at UCLA from 1968-75 (under and grad school), Bergman was the rage with many people. He seems to be lost in the mists of time. But if go back and watch his films from the late 50's to the 70's, you will see cinema at its boldest and its greatest. Buy the films or rent them (Netflix has a good collection.). Darkly will shake your world and cause ripples of thought and feelings that move for a long, long time inside your mind, and if your fortunate your soul.. See this film.

Through a Glass Darkly marks one of the first collaborations between Bergman and his long time cinematographer Sven Nykvist (who passed away this last September). Nykvist shot films as varied as Lasse Hallestroms 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' to Woody Allen's 'Crimes and Misdemeanors.' Nykvist's touch is present throughout the film, a style that begins to become a part of Bergman's signature mise-en-scene.

Bergman's screenplay is transitional because of it's scarcity of saturation. Using a cast of only four and only one location, the family's country home on an island off the coast of Sweden. Karin (Harriet Andersson) is slowly going mad, her family (fiancée, father and brother) are trying to understand her and not send her away, trying to let her know that things may be alright as she descends into hysteria, talking to walls, waiting for god to come out of the closet.

The film is quite simply a masterpiece. A portrayal of descent into madness and the effect on others that feels more grounded in reality than even the best of films on madness (see: Shock Corridor – Samuel Fuller, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Milos Foreman, or The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada – Tommy Lee Jones) Nykvist's mostly static camera gives the film a brooding sense of anticipation, lingering motionlessly, allowing the actors to move freely into deep frames, marginalizing themselves as they move about the large empty frame. The camera even goes so far as to linger a little too long at times, waiting long after the actors have exited the frame, making sure that the audience is aware that the hollowness, these spaces they live and think in exist without them, these voids the audience is watching never go away.

These sentiments are echoed by the well penned script. The father's regret over the madness of his deceased wife, the husbands jealousy, his inability to act, the nearly sexual love the brother feels for Karin, his isolation and inability to get over his immaturity. It's a delicately woven, exquisitely beautiful film on the landscapes of the mind and the solitude of life and the search for god. A good introduction to the psychological drama of Bergman for anyone unfamiliar with one cinema's masters.