Såsom i en spegel (1961)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)

Release Date:

16 October 1961 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young woman, Karin, has recently returned to the family island after spending some time in a mental hospital...

Plot Keywords:

God | Incest | Schizophrenia | Existentialism | Religion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Harriet Andersson	...	Karin
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	David
Max von Sydow	...	Martin
Lars Passgård	...	Fredrik (segment "Minus")

Also Known As:

Through a Glass Darkly (USA)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X | UK:15 (video rating) (1993)

Filming Locations:

Fårö, Gotlands län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Martin and David are taking up nets in the boat, Martin puts his pipe in his mouth and then takes the oars and starts to row. In the next shot, the pipe is gone.

Quotes:

[Fredrik rejects Karin's attempt to console him]
Fredrik: Thanks, I can give myself all the pity I want.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Andromeda: Through a Glass, Darkly (#5.11)" (2005)

absolutely touching and penetrating, tragic and sad

this is one of bergman's most serious and devastating, sometimes horribly depressing and (it's only flaw) a little too heavy handed for even the toughest and healthiest viewers. it is fascinating to watch bergman come to terms with the absence of god and man's tragic isolation in an indifferent universe through the art he uses like no one else could or does, the art of film. karin is a mentally disordered young woman, intensely loved by her family and well cared for but nonetheless subject to bouts of extreme madness and delusions of divinity that are so convincing and well performed as to be hard to watch (particularly the scene where she is convinced that a deity disguised as a spider is going to crawl out of a closet). although it ends on a semi hopeful note, the film's atmosphere is largely one of sterility, emotional dryness, impoverishment and despair. karin lives on an isolated island just as we inhabit a vast, incomprehensible universe that is essentially little but a doomed speck of dust in a monstrous cosmos that does not care. i think there can be little debate as to the correct interpretation of this movie, which is the utter void at the center of false human beliefs and illusions of happiness or omnipotence. order is a lie and religious belief is founded on deliberate self deception. a masterpiece of the most passionate artistry and integrity.