Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

Synopsis: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY won Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for the second year in a row. (It was preceded by THE VIRGIN SPRING, which won in 1960.) The... THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY won Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for the second year in a row. (It was preceded by THE VIRGIN SPRING, which won in 1960.) The picture represents Bergman's first experiment with what he referred to as the chamber play, featuring only four characters whose configuration resembles that of a string quartet. Karin (Harriet Andersson), a young woman recently released from a mental institution, is on holiday on a secluded island with her father, David (Gunnar Björnstrand), a writer; her husband, Martin (Max von Sydow); and her younger brother, Minus (Lars Passgård). The presence of her family, who are caught up in their own problems and unable to offer her the love and emotional support she requires, proves detrimental to Karin's mental condition instead of bringing about her recovery. Soon she is undergoing an emotional crisis, culminating in the memorable hallucinogenic episode in which she envisions God as a spider. This was the first film of Bergman's trilogy of faith--which also includes WINTER LIGHT and THE SILENCE--though this is a concept discredited later on by Bergman himself, who ultimately saw few thematic links among the three movies. [More]

Starring: Harriet Andersson, Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Lars Passgard

Starring: Harriet Andersson, Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Lars Passgard

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Director: Ingmar Bergman

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