Cries & Whispers (1972)
"Viskningar och rop" (original title)

When a woman dying of cancer in turn-of-the century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman

Stars:

Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin

Won 1 Oscar. Another 21 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Harriet Andersson	...	Agnes
Kari Sylwan	...	Anna
Ingrid Thulin	...	Karin
Liv Ullmann	...	Maria (and her mother)
Anders Ek	...	Isak, the priest
Inga Gill	...	Story teller
Erland Josephson	...	David, the doctor
Henning Moritzen	...	Joakim, Maria's husband
Georg Årlin	...	Fredrik, Karin's husband

Storyline

In turn-of-the-century Sweden, cancer-stricken, dying Agnes is visited in her isolated rural mansion by her sisters Karin and Maria. As Agnes' condition deteriorates and pain management becomes increasingly more difficult, fear and revulsion grip the sisters, who seem incapable of empathy, and Agnes' only comfort and solace comes from her maid Anna. As the end draws closer, long repressed feelings of grudging resentment and mistrust cause jealousy, selfishness, and bitterness between the siblings to surface.

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Plot Keywords:

mansion | turn of the century | dying | jealousy | pain | 

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Taglines:

A haunting and shattering film experience.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish German Danish

Release Date:

5 March 1973 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Cries and Whispers

Filming Locations:

Taxinge-Näsby estate, Mariefred, Södermanlands län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinematograph AB, Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ingmar Bergman explained the use of the color red in this film: "'Cries and Whispers' is an exploration of the soul, and ever since childhood, I have imagined the soul to be a damp membrane in varying shades of red."

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Quotes

David: Come over here Maria. Look at yourself in the mirror. You are beautiful... but you have changed. These days you cast rapid, calculating, sidelong glances. You're gaze used to be direct, open, and without any disguise. Your mouth is an expression of discontent and hunger. It used only to be soft. Your complexion has become pallid, you use make-up. Your fine, broad forehead now has four creases above each eyebrow... And this fine contour from the ear to the chin... it's no longer quite so evident...

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Connections

Referenced in All in the Family: Black Is the Color of My True Love's Wig (1973)

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Soundtracks

"Suite No. 5 for solo Cello in C Minor, 4th mvt 'Sarabande'"
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Played by Pierre Fournier

User Reviews

One of Bergman's Most Powerful Works

Upon its release CRIES AND WHISPERS was hailed as one of Bergman's finest films. Although it has not quite held onto that original evaluation, it remains a very fine film--a subtle and delicately performed drama as remarkable for its silence as for its occasional moments of dialogue. And in many respects it offers an extremely good introduction to Bergman's work.

Like many of Bergman's films, CRIES AND WHISPERS shows the director's preoccupations with memory, communication, time, community, and death. The story is bleak: Agnes is dying and her sisters Karin and Maria have come to attend her during this final illness--but they prove unable to communicate in a meaningful way with either Agnes or each other, and Agnes' emotional care is left largely to her long-time maid, the devoted Anna.

As the film unwinds, we are bought into the memories of each woman in turn. The dying Agnes (played with powerful realism by Harriet Andersson) not only grapples with increasing pain, she recalls with regret the emotional separation that existed between her long-dead mother and herself. Sister Maria (Liv Ullman), a mindless sensualist, recalls an act of adultery that has poisoned her marriage; Sister Karin (Ingrid Thulin), who is emotionally cold, recalls an act of self-mutilation designed to thwart her husband's desires. Only the maid Anna (Kari Sylwan), with a peasant's directness, actually works to be of comfort, even going so far as to cradle Agnes' head on her naked breast and dreaming of comforting Agnes while her sisters fail.

The film is ever so delicately tinged with subtle elements of lesbianism, sadomasochism, and incest, and the emotional problems experienced by Maria and Karin are at least partly sexual in nature--but these are not the focus of the film so much as they are surface indications of a deeper internal turmoil. As to what that deeper turmoil is... Bergman might say it is the nature of life itself. We each stand alone, usually in denial of our own mortality, usually unable to reach each other in any meaningful way. A deep film, and in spite of its occasional awkwardness a memorable and touching film. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer