Review of Cries and Whispers (1972) by Jared P — 12 Nov 2008

This is a movie that is about nothing but pain. The performances, cinematography, and art direction are fully committed to showing that pain. And it works.

Ingmar Bergman is a director I have a love-hate relationship with. I love the clarity and power of his stories, but I hate the darkness that so often crops up in his films. In this film, that darkness overtakes the story completely. The only glimmer of hope is the maid, Anna.

I have watched women die of cancer (not by choice), and I think that this movie does the best job of showing that manner of death out of any film I've seen where it happens. By itself, the slow decay of Agnes would make a terrifying and mournful film, but when her evil sisters are added to the mix (or rather, her sisters who lash out at each other to cover their own wounds), the story becomes nearly unbearable to see.

Much has been made of the cinematography by Sven Nykvist, who won an Academy Award. I don't quibble with that, but I believe that the costume design and art direction do just as much. By limiting the colors to just red, black, and white â?? except for the brief burst of green and gold at the end - the movie becomes even more visually powerful. The visuals enhance the performances and vis versa; the actresses by themselves would overwhelm a movie of lesser beauty, and a movie with lesser actresses would become an exercise in visual excess.

Cries and Whispers is as nearly perfect as a film can be. I wouldn't recommend watching it very often, though, because it's exceedingly bleak.