WINTER LIGHT

I know that Woody Allen thinks that Swedish director Ingmar Bergman was one of the great filmmakers of the twentieth century, an opinion to which he's fully entitled. Surprisingly, despite jokes about his films and references to his work, I had never seen a Bergman film until recently. Thanks to TCM, I watched THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960) last week and today viewed WINTER LIGHT (1963). 

Bleak. Grim. Stark. Depressing. Despair. Doubt. Pain. 

These are all words I'd use to describe WINTER LIGHT. Not much happens in this story of the pastor of a small Swedish church who undergoes a crisis of faith so crippling that he spurns the love of a woman and fails to minister effectively to one of his parishioners, a man, who because of this failure, takes his own life. 

Yeah, sweetness and light this ain't. 

Although unrelievedly downbeat, WINTER LIGHT is nonetheless an extremely well made film. All of the actors are first rate and the crisp black and white cinematography of Sven Nykvist adds much to the narrative. Bergman doesn't make many show offy camera movements, relying instead on long takes (the jilted woman delivers a minutes long, one take monologue directly into the camera), close-ups and compositions in which characters turn their backs to the camera and each other. It's visually impressive even if the story is a downer. 

Gunnar Bjornstrand stars as pastor Tomas Ericsson, a man who has lost his faith and belief in God following the death of his wife. Pastor Tomas is physically ill throughout the film but he soldiers on, performing his duties in an effort to distract himself from the fact that he is standing on the edge of a yawning, spiritual abyss. Ingrid Thulin is Marta Lundberg, a young school teacher who pours out her unrequited love for Tomas throughout the film. 

One of Pastor Tomas's parishioners, Jonas Persson (Max van Sydow), comes to speak to the pastor about his fears and anxieties over the news that Red China has nuclear weapons. Tomas is unable to console the man in any way and the distraught fisherman later takes his own life. 

Tomas goes to the scene of the suicide and later, delivers the news to the man's widow. The film ends with Tomas preparing to conduct a worship service in an empty church. 

Bergman's film is an unflinching study in what happens when a man of God loses his faith and subsequently finds his entire life falling apart. It's not the stuff of light entertainment but it is skillfully mounted and executed. 

The other Bergman film I've seen recently, THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960), also involves the Swedish church and man's relation with God. Set in Sweden in the Middle Ages, VIRGIN is the story of a close knit family of farmers led by patriarch Max von Sydow. His only daughter is sent on a mission to the church to deliver candles for a worship service. Her journey through the woods brings her into contact with three brothers. The oldest two rape and murder the innocent young girl and later, all three seek refuge in von Sydow's farmhouse, without knowing that it's the home of their victim. 

When von Sydow discovers the truth about his unexpected guests, he goes on a murderous rampage, killing all three in a brutal sequence. Afterwards, the family goes into the woods to recover the girl's body. When she's lifted from the ground, a spring bubbles forth. von Sydow, with blood on his hands, vows to build a church on the spot where his daughter died and serve God for the rest of his life.

The rape and revenge storyline of THE VIGIRN SPRING served as inspiration for Wes Craven's controversial horror film, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), a film which I've never seen. I have a copy of it and it's on my list of films to watch 

My take on Bergman based on these two films is that he was indeed a remarkably talented filmmaker. These films are well made and deal with thought provoking themes. I'm open to seeing more of his films but I don't know that I'll ever hold him in such high regard as Woody does. 

Thumbs up.