Cries and Whispers (1972) Viskningar och rop (original title)

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman

Release Date:

5 March 1973 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A haunting and shattering film experience.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Mansion | Turn Of The Century | Dying | Flashback | Jealousy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 21 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ingrid Bergman	...	Spectator (as Ingrid von Rosen)
Lena Bergman	...	Maria as a child
Lars-Owe Carlberg	...	Spectator
Malin Gjörup	...	Anna's daughter
Greta Johansson	...	Undertaker
Karin Johansson	...	Undertaker
Ann-Christin Lobråten	...	Spectator
Börje Lundh	...	Spectator
Rossana Mariano	...	Agnes as a child
Monika Priede	...	Karin as a child
Linn Ullmann	...	Maria's daughter
Ingmar Bergman	...	Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Ingmar Bergman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ingmar Bergman

Produced by
Lars-Owe Carlberg	....	producer

Cinematography by
Sven Nykvist

Film Editing by
Siv Lundgren

Production Design by
Marik Vos-Lundh

Costume Design by
Marik Vos-Lundh

Makeup Department
Cecilia Drott	....	makeup artist
Britt Falkemo	....	makeup artist
Börje Lundh	....	makeup artist

Art Department
Gunilla Hagberg	....	property master
Ann-Christin Lobråten	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Sven Fahlén	....	sound mixer
Tommy Persson	....	sound
Owe Svensson	....	sound mixer
Owe Svensson	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Anders Bergkvist	....	grip
Gerhard Carlsson	....	gaffer
Stefan Gustafsson	....	gaffer
Bo-Erik Gyberg	....	still photographer
Lars Karlsson	....	assistant camera
Ragnar Waaranperä	....	grip

Music Department
Pierre Fournier	....	musician: cello

Other crew
Katinka Faragó	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Cinematograph AB
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled) (also English-dubbed)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Gutek Film (2007) (Poland) (all media)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Reserva Especial (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies

Also Known As:

"Viskningar och rop" - Sweden (original title)
"Cries & Whispers" - International (English title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish | German | Danish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:12 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 (re-rating) (1998) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Taxinge-Näsby estate, Mariefred, Södermanlands län, Sweden

Company:

Cinematograph AB

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."

Quotes:

Maria:You've changed. Is there someone else?
David:There always is. Besides, I thought the problem didn't interest you.
Maria:It doesn't.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blodigt jävla helvete (2008)

Soundtrack:

Suite No. 5 for solo Cello in C Minor, 4th mvt 'Sarabande'

One of Ingmar Bergman's most personal statements, one of his best

Cries and Whispers is a film that will strike at least one chord with any viewer on its emotional placement, the almost unflinching (and absolutely masterful) camera technique by Sven Nykvist, and with the characterizations from the four female leads, in-particular the dying Harriet Andersson. This is also a film that will be very hard to stomach for most (it was at times for me), with it's sheer display of constant despair and grief, and the overall state of mind these characters hold. Ullman plays Agnes, marked with Tuberculosis, she lays on her death bed like a zombie writhing in pain for the eventual end, with her two sisters, Maria and Karin, and the servant Anna, at her bedside, though seeming at a distance (except for Anna). Bergman also views Maria and Karin's relationships with themselves and their husbands, both rather brutal (Karin has a scene with a shard of glass that had me gasp).

The examination of these roles, and the entire feel of the house, which is always shown as red as blood, make this in the realm of cinematic drama a shocker, and a masterwork to be certain. There's only one aspect of the film that I can criticize: many times in the film Bergman uses a red screen to fade in and fade out, and then again a few seconds later, and this seems to have not much purpose to the symbolic impact since the inside of the house conveys enough that these people are in a metaphorical house of hell already, and the fadings don't add any weight to it. Nevertheless this is one director's great films, a landmark in fact, though this doesn't mean it's quite as accessible as The Seventh Seal or even the epic Fanny and Alexander.

This is cinema for those who almost enjoy, paradoxically, their intestines ripped out and stomped on the floor only to find out it was just an unforgettable dream. Swedish movies rarely get this visceral. A+