Through A Glass Darkly (DVD)

...inevitably seeps through his earlier films then this is a worthy offering form a great director.

'Through A Glass Darkly' is available on DVD from Amazon.co.uk for £15.99 (+p&p)

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© Mauri 2004
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Ingmar Bergman the Swedish director is rightly considered to be one of the giants of world cinema. His work was not always accessible and seldom commercial but his manipulation and knowledge of the cinematic medium was rarely surpassed by other directors. 'Though A Glass Darkly' or 'Sasom i en spegel' or is in many ways typical of Bergman's work. Most will know his more celebrated film 'The Seventh Seal' which deals with the nature of life and death and is set at the time of the medieval plague…well that is almost a comedy compared to 'Though A Glass Darkly'!

PLOT

Ingmar Bergman's `Through A Glass, Darkly' is set on a secluded island off the coast of Sweden and follows a young woman on the brink of madness. Karin plays a woman just released from a mental institution but still plagued by her mental illness. She believes that God will appear to her and then she will be saved from any further suffering. Her fragile state of mind brings problems for those caring for her. The story examines the way that her family Martin her husband, David her father cope with the situation. As the story unfold and the different character discuss what is to be done with Karin we learn each of them is in their own way disturbed by their past and issues of love, old age and incest begin to surface. What will be Karin's plight we she descended in to a total breakdown or is she right and is salvation to be found on the isolated isle?

CAST, PERFORMANCES AND OPINION

Harriet Andersson .... Karin
Gunnar Björnstrand .... David
Max von Sydow .... Martin
Lars Passgård .... Fredrik

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Let me make it quite clear from the outset that Bergman film are not to everyone's taste, in fact if you have been brought up on a diet of puerile Hollywood blockbusters that don't give you the time or scope to think about the images in front of you then you are going to struggle.

Bergman films are all about thought and the processes of the mind and how these exhibit themselves on our emotions. The story is set on a bleak island and is filmed in a harsh black and white that served to emphasise the melancholy and despair that all the characters feel.

These are not happy bunnies!

Bergman composes his films much like an artist or a photographer composes a painting or picture. No aspect of the scene is left to chance and everything serves to convey or reinforce the feeling of the characters. Whether it is a raindrop running down a pane of glass a close up of someone's face, the dark shadow is a dimly lit room, or a reflection in a mirror nothing is left to change everything has a purpose. The atmosphere of the film is heavy with emotion, his camerawork is often reflective, long panning shots of bleak exteriors, details portraits of people looking away in the distance, being in the same room but failing to communicate. Repressed emotion is the order of the day. Sven Nykvist the cinematographer and long time associate of Bergman must also get a fair amount of credit for the realisation of such powerful and striking images.

The film is ostensibly about Karin struggle to maintain her sanity, but more than this it is her search maybe misguided for salvation. Further Bergman makes the point that her madness is relative to the differing states of mental torment that the other around her are suffering and she is not the only one that need or is searching for some kind of salvation.

There is no great epic story to unfold this is a really intimate piece of filmmaking. Most of it is filmed in enclosed claustrophobic spaces and there is not much relief from the dourness of the story.

The performances are excellent, as always Max Von Sydow, one of the most adaptable and accomplished actors in European cinema, is outstanding as the emotionally tortured husband harbouring deep feelings on guilt. Harriet Andersson is totally believable as a woman on the brink of insanity slowly a visionary. Andersson was part of a regular group of actors (as was Sydow) that Bergman turned to and she was in fact discovers and promote by him. The advantages of such close associations are obvious the director know the strengths of his actors and the actors are used to what is expected of them. In a film that deals with such intimate issues and relationships such close associations between director and cast are desirable and give the piece more credibility.

Bergman is most criticised for over emphasising religious themes in his films and for being on the one hand impenetrable and yet too pedantic and obvious with the use of symbolism. There is no doubt that 'Through A Glass Darkly' is rich in symbolism much of it religious and obviously so. Karin's search for salvation is directed toward god, she becomes a visionary on the verge of a miraculous experience but at the same time we know she is mental deranged and thus could it be that her salvation will be false. For me humanist message can be gathered from this film. We are all in end of salvation but maybe god isn't the answer and spiritual salvation is not necessarily religious.

The only criticism I have with the film as a whole is the ease with which Bergman seem to deal with the subject matter, it is almost as if the familiarity with the cast and subject matter as led to a slight loss in tension and spark from the proceedings. This is hardly a major failure on Bergman's part and it might not be relevant to those who are not so familiar with his earlier films.

OVERALL

'Through A Glass Darkly' is beautifully filmed, brilliantly observed and acted. The individual scenes are more like tableaus than conventional cinema. The austereness of the lonely island and the darkness of the sets complement the dark and serious subject matter. I wouldn't say this is the best film for Bergman virgins wanting to see what Bergman has to offer. But certainly for anyone who has 'experienced' Bergman before and can stand the emotional turmoil that inevitably seeps through his earlier films then this is a worthy offering form a great director.

'Through A Glass Darkly' is available on DVD from Amazon.co.uk for £15.99 (+p&p)

Thanks for reading and rating this opinion

© Mauri 2004
 

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