Review of Cries and Whispers (1972) by Mitch P — 18 Jan 2008

Even in a filmography as rich and deep as Ingmar Bergman's, "Cries and Whispers" stands out as a singular masterpiece. This movie is one of Bergman's finest, both as pure cinema, and as an intellectual piece that is characteristically insightful and graciously non-didactic.

As pure cinema, "Cries and Whispers" is breathtakingly unforgettable. Sven Nykvist, Bergman's great collaborator and one of the finest cinematographers in the history of film, did his best work on this picture. The color palate -- stark black and white figures juxtaposed against an unrelenting crimson interior -- is so instantly memorable and so immediately emotional. Like "Persona" before it, and "Scenes from a Marriage" that would follow it, "Cries and Whispers" finds Bergman intensely focused on the mystery of the human face. The unrelenting closeups -- the pained intimacy of the human face -- works because Bergman has four great actresses at his disposal, including three of his most beloved muses, Liv Ullmann, Ingrid Thulin, and Harriet Andersson. Andersson is the best among equals in this film. She has to carry long stretches of the film with her agony and death pains; that she has one of the most beautiful faces in the history of movies makes her triumph in evoking these emotions effectively all the more praiseworthy.

The screenplay is perhaps Bergman's best. He said that in this film and in "Persona," he went as far as he could using a motion picture as an artform. The shifts that "Cries and Whispers" makes between dream and reality, between past and present, and between text and subtext are masterful. Bergman isn't so much manipulating his audience as he is conveying the very real mysteries of life and death and of guilt and forgiveness.

The final flashback scene of this film is my favorite single moment in all of Bergman's work. So simple yet so profound, and beautiful beyond all understanding, Bergman truly does penetrate the depths of the human soul.