Winter Light Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Dark, Dark, Dark....

It takes a certain sort of genius to sustain a film as unremittingly bleak as this, but be sure Bergman's the man to do it. In a community caught in the 'grips of death and decay', a pastor who has lost faith wrestles with his fear of the lack of meaning, spiritual emptiness and self-loathing in the company of his atheistic mistress, an equally tortured soul. The scene in which he tells her in clear and uncompromising detail why he has become tired of her is just one instance of the depths of despair plumbed by this film and moved me greatly. The circumstances of and background to the relationship are revealed cleverly in a monologue delivered to camera by Ingrid Thulin and in two or three sessions of dialgogue at different parts of the film. The austere beauty of the black and white cinematography is as stunning as ever, and the performances from the two leads brilliant. The treatment is as earnest and sombre as befits the seriousness of the theme, and even the comparitive light relief provided by the organist and the verger has the air of Macbeth's porter at the gates of hell.

Masterly, and deeply, deeply depressing.

A Real Find! - Unique

What can I say?

Bergman paints a picture of pure clarity and realism of thought, in this story of the religious struggle of a priest and his dwindling congregation.

Perhaps not the most approachable of films, but certainly it is classic Bergman. The greatness of this film lies in the simplicity and small details he provides as a director, more so than other common devices.

A film so cold and quiet, you are virtually sitting in the church yourself it seems. Strange, but the moments of pure silence are the best.

Worth seeing, especially for those familiar with other Bergman classics.