551. Viskingar och rop/Cries and Whispers (1972)

Running Time: 91 minutes
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman
Written By: Ingmar Bergman
Main Cast: Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson
Click here to view the trailer

BERGMAN WEEK: CHAPTER IX

Nine down, one to go. My tribute to Ingmar Bergman which has spanned across three months at this point is getting ready to wind to a close and I've still yet to be totally blown away by one of his films. Obviously my expectations are too high, but it's hard to lower your expectations for such an acclaimed filmmaker and the director of "Scenes from a Marriage" - a personal favorite of mine. Unfortunately, "Cries and Whispers" didn't go far in restoring my hope for Mr. Bergman.

The film centers around three sisters: Agnes (Andersson), Maria (Ullmann) and Karin (Thulin) and Agnes' maid, Anna (Sylwan). Agnes is dying of cancer (at least the book cites it as cancer, although it's never really mentioned what her illness is exactly) and during her final days her two sisters and her maid cling to her bedside to try and make her as comfortable as possible. Over the course of the few days that the film takes place over, Agnes' two sisters and Anna take time to reflect on their past, each represented in flashback form, using various whispering voices and a closeup of the actresses' faces to signify the beginning of a past event. The film takes place wholly inside the manor of Agnes', where the walls are painted blood red. As far as summation of the plot is concerned, however, that's about as best as I can do, because really this film was quite perplexing to me and honestly, like many other Bergman films, I couldn't quite peg it.

SPOILER ALERT!

Watching "Cries and Whispers" was like trying to get directions from a mute - I just couldn't understand what Bergman was trying to tell me. I realize that there was much more to this picture than meets the eye, but I'll be damned if I really knew what he was trying to say. I understood that Karin and Maria (and probably Agnes too, when she was well) had a hard time showing their true selves to one another. They couldn't even show the most human of characteristics toward their loved ones (their husbands, one another). Hell, it took Agnes getting cancer before the sisters finally came around and even then, in her most desperate times of need, it was Anna who had to step in and be the comforting and consoling one. The sisters (Karin and Maria) were almost like robots and this film seemed to portray a turning point in their lives, where they were forced to be human, at least a little bit. These are women who were of a bourgeoisie lifestyle and never really had to face death and when they were faced with one very real facet of life, they took it upon themselves to flashback into the past and face others.

I got the sense that Agnes was the exact same way, but as the cancer was ripping her apart inside she couldn't help but to reach out for a human connection. That connection really came in the form of Anna, but I'm not sure the extent of their relationship. Was it just me or was it hinted that Anna and Agnes may have had some sort of lesbian relationship going on. I mean, Agnes obviously had no husband and Anna and Agnes just had a really tight bond that seemed to go far beyond employer and employee. At one point, when Karin is reading an excerpt from Agnes' diary, Anna rushes closer to try and hear a little bit of what is said. Perhaps she's showing concern over what Agnes' may have written, about a possible sexual relationship that existed between them. And at the end, Anna reveals that she has taken Agnes' diary, as one of the final frames shows her opening the book, sending us into our final flashback and the end of the film.

I don't know. All this thinking about "Cries and Whispers" is starting to make me really curious - even more curious than I was when I started writing this post. Perhaps this film wasn't AS bad as I initially pegged it for. I'm still really lost, but I do want answers. Well, this will have to be one that I toss around the old noggin' and we'll see where it ends up, but for now I'll leave it at that. As far as the technical elements go, the acting (as per usual with Bergman films) is top notch and the color cinematography from Nykvist is breathtaking.

RATING: 7/10 Initially I had it pegged for a '6', but over the course of my writing and pondering it got bumped. I think that's the first time I've changed a rating mid-review. Next up: "Fanny and Alexander".

MOVIES WATCHED: 414
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 587

March 20, 2012 10:37pm