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IMDbPro

Winter Light

Original title: Nattvardsgästerna
  • 1963
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 21m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
26K
YOUR RATING
Winter Light (1963)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:54
1 Video
80 Photos
Drama

A small-town priest struggles with his faith.A small-town priest struggles with his faith.A small-town priest struggles with his faith.

  • Director
    • Ingmar Bergman
  • Writer
    • Ingmar Bergman
  • Stars
    • Ingrid Thulin
    • Gunnar Björnstrand
    • Gunnel Lindblom
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    26K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ingmar Bergman
    • Writer
      • Ingmar Bergman
    • Stars
      • Ingrid Thulin
      • Gunnar Björnstrand
      • Gunnel Lindblom
    • 107User reviews
    • 63Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:54
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos80

    Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom, and Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light (1963)
    Gunnar Björnstrand and Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light (1963)
    Gunnar Björnstrand in Winter Light (1963)
    Max von Sydow and Gunnar Björnstrand in Winter Light (1963)
    Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light (1963)
    Gunnar Björnstrand in Winter Light (1963)
    Gunnar Björnstrand in Winter Light (1963)
    Gunnar Björnstrand and Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light (1963)
    Gunnar Björnstrand in Winter Light (1963)
    Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom, and Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light (1963)
    Max von Sydow, Gunnel Lindblom, and Ingrid Thulin in Winter Light (1963)
    Winter Light (1963)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ingrid Thulin
    Ingrid Thulin
    • Märta Lundberg
    Gunnar Björnstrand
    Gunnar Björnstrand
    • Tomas Ericsson
    Gunnel Lindblom
    Gunnel Lindblom
    • Karin Persson
    Max von Sydow
    Max von Sydow
    • Jonas Persson
    Allan Edwall
    Allan Edwall
    • Algot Frövik
    Kolbjörn Knudsen
    Kolbjörn Knudsen
    • Knut Aronsson
    Olof Thunberg
    Olof Thunberg
    • Fredrik Blom
    Elsa Ebbesen
    Elsa Ebbesen
    • Magdalena Ledfors
    Lars-Olof Andersson
    • Young Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Axberg
    Eddie Axberg
    • Johan Strand
    • (uncredited)
    Tor Borong
    • Johan Åkerblom
    • (uncredited)
    Lars-Owe Carlberg
    • Parish Constable
    • (uncredited)
    Ingmari Hjort
    • Persson's Daughter
    • (uncredited)
    Stefan Larsson
    • Persson's Son
    • (uncredited)
    Johan Olafs
    • Gentleman with Horse
    • (uncredited)
    Bertha Sånnell
    • Hanna Appelblad
    • (uncredited)
    Christer Öhman
    • Young Boy
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Ingmar Bergman
    • Writer
      • Ingmar Bergman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ingmar Bergman's favorite of his own films.
    • Goofs
      When Tomas leaves the church to go to the scene of the suicide, there is a lot of snow on his car and on the ground. When he arrives at the scene, though, the car is clean, and there is no sign of snow on the ground.
    • Quotes

      Algot Frövik, Sexton: The passion of Christ, his suffering... Wouldn't you say the focus on his suffering is all wrong?

      Tomas Ericsson, Pastor: What do you mean?

      Algot Frövik, Sexton: This emphasis on physical pain. It couldn't have been all that bad. It may sound presumptuous of me - but in my humble way, I've suffered as much physical pain as Jesus. And his torments were rather brief. Lasting some four hours, I gather? I feel that he was tormented far worse on an other level. Maybe I've got it all wrong. But just think of Gethsemane, Vicar. Christ's disciples fell asleep. They hadn't understood the meaning of the last supper, or anything. And when the servants of the law appeared, they ran away. And Peter denied him. Christ had known his disciples for three years. They'd lived together day in and day out - but they never grasped what he meant. They abandoned him, to the last man. And he was left alone. That must have been painful. Realizing that no one understands. To be abandoned when you need someone to rely on - that must be excruciatingly painful. But the worse was yet to come. When Jesus was nailed to the cross - and hung there in torment - he cried out - "God, my God!" "Why hast thou forsaken me?" He cried out as loud as he could. He thought that his heavenly father had abandoned him. He believed everything he'd ever preached was a lie. The moments before he died, Christ was seized by doubt. Surely that must have been his greatest hardship? God's silence.

      Tomas Ericsson, Pastor: Yes...

    • Connections
      Featured in Ljuset håller mig sällskap (2000)

    User reviews107

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    Grim, dry, depressing and visually stunning, but Pastor Tomas Ericsson is really hard to relate to
    In his not-to-be-missed, detailed interviews to Scandinavian filmmakers/critics Jonas Simas, Torsten Manns and Stig Björkman published in France as "Le Cinéma Selon Bergman" (1973) -- inspired by the Hitchcock/Truffaut/Chabrol interviews, and with material selected from over 50 hours of conversations in the span of 5 years -- Bergman reassesses "Winter..." in affectionate but moderately critical terms. He quotes his wife (as of 1962) Käbi Laretei's comment about it: "Yes, Ingmar, it's a masterpiece, but a boring one!" (or "dreary one", according to another translation).

    Not that it is really boring, at least not for IB's fans (as myself); and not that it's REALLY a masterpiece. It IS one of his driest, grimmest, most depressing films along with "Shame". As usual, there are magnificent scenes: every one Max Von Sydow is in (what an actor -- with barely a single line to speak he builds a very complex character); Åke Fridell's character, who's got the best lines; the argument between Gunnar Björnstrand and Ingrid Thulin at the cottage. Bergman's and Nykvist's visual conception is riveting: you can FEEL the cold of the bleak Swedish winter. However, there are other scenes that seem to drag longer than necessary (even for Bergman), especially the opening church service, and, yes, the letter scene (which is the source of the great letter scene in "Persona"). But I think the main difficulty with "Winter Light" is that Bergman paints his protagonist (Pastor Tomas Ericsson, played by Björnstrand) mercilessly, making it hard for us to make any connection with the selfish bastard, whether you're religious or not. The question of faith -- that should be the important issue here -- is compromised by the incredible level of egotism of Pastor Ericsson; it's hard to believe that man has ever experienced Christian compassion. Bergman despises him and makes us despise him too; I, for one, couldn't manage to feel the smallest degree of sympathy for the man.

    In those interviews, Bergman talks about how difficult shooting "Winter Light" was, with Gunnar Björnstrand ill and detesting his role (no wonder!!) and the influence of Bergman's traumatic religious upbringing (his father was a strict Lutheran pastor), which made it hard for him to convey sympathy for Björnstrand's character. The idea for the film came when a bishop of a small-town church told Bergman of his failure in preventing a fisherman in anguish from committing suicide. Bergman also said that Thulin's character was partly based on his second wife, who had serious eczema in her face and hands.

    Christian faith has been the subject of superior films by great filmmakers -- Dreyer, Rossellini, Bresson, Buñuel, Pialat, Melville, Pasolini, and, of course, Bergman himself. With "Winter Light", I found myself thinking a lot about Bresson's masterpiece "Diary of a Country Priest". Both "Winter..." and "Diary..." deal with lonely, depressed Christian clergymen who struggle to come to terms with faith-shattering issues within themselves and the ones around them. Both live in small, bleak, grim villages and cannot find solace in people around them, or give them sound advice. Both strive for an evidence of God — a signal, a word, an inspiration to help comfort people. Both face the peak of their religious crisis in winter time (no wonder!!) and when faced with suicide (the doctor in "Diary", the fisherman in "Winter..."). But the major difference is that Bresson's priest ultimately finds a way to trust his God, while Bergman's pastor is abandoned by his ("God's silence in an empty church"). And, of course, that Bresson's priest is impossible to dislike whereas Bergman's pastor is a s.o.b. Bergman himself had been very impressed by Bresson's movie, which, in my opinion, is superior and "thicker" than "Winter....", although both display some of the most magnificent b&w cinematography the movies have ever shown (and Bergman talks proudly about the great amount of work it took to reach the right lighting for the film).

    The second of the so-called "Silence Trilogy" (it was never planned as such, but you know, it was the trilogy fad -- S.Ray, Antonioni etc), "Winter Light" is, IMHO, the least satisfying of the three, overshadowed by the powerful study in schizophrenia and incest with richly elaborated characters of "Through a Glass Darkly" and the incredibly daring, close-up approach of female sexuality, childhood innocence, war threat and terminal sickness of "The Silence". Anyway, "Winter Light" is film by Ingmar Bergman — stratospheres above most mortal filmmakers. My vote: 6 out of 10 (considering it's Bergman!).
    helpful•63
    40
    • debblyst
    • Dec 14, 2005

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 5, 1963 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Sweden
    • Language
      • Swedish
    • Also known as
      • Zimsko svetlo
    • Filming locations
      • Svensk Filmindustri, Filmstaden, Råsunda, Stockholms län, Sweden(SF), Råsunda, Stockholms län, Sweden(studio)
    • Production company
      • Svensk Filmindustri (SF)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $7,095
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 21 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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