The first thing to mention is a little known fact. This film is part of a trilogy: it is followed by 'Winter Lights' and 'The Silence'. So if one really wants to come to terms with what Bergman has to say about religion and God then all three should be watched.
In spite of this 'Through a Glass Darkly' can very easily stand alone as a cinematic masterpiece. Nykvist's cinematography is something purely beautiful and each individual actor, without exception, produces a wonderful performance.
Dealing with God, Sanity, Love, Sexuality, Artistic production, philosophy and more the film itself is bursting with meaning and the intellectual achievement on Bergman's part should not be underplayed. Although there are rather assertive overtone's of Freudian misogyny in the use of female hysteria yet one cannot necessarily mark this negatively.
All in all it is a beautiful and thought-provoking watch and I would recommend it to all. Especially so to the fan of Bergman for it is my firm conviction that 'Through A Glass Darkly' is one of his very best pieces.
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Production Year: 1957 - Drama - Director: Ingmar Bergman - Original Language: Swedish - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson, Victor Sjostrom, Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjrnstrand
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Uli Edel - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Benno Furmann, Kristinna Loken, Alicia Witt, Julian Sands, Samuel West, Max Von Sydow
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Sorry but much more information is required to achieve higher ratings. If you add anything to this review in terms of additional detail and opinion, please do not hesitate to drop a quick message in my guestbook and I will come back and re-rate :)
gillianae 17.07.2009 06:52
I'm sorry I have been unable to rate your review more highly. Your comments are very interesting and show that you are very knowledgeable about these types of films. It would be helpful if you could assume that assume that everyone else knows nothing at all about the film (and I'm included in this number) and give some basic background to the plot and other basics. Thanks.
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