Review of Winter Light (1963) by Carlos P — 06 Jan 2014

Be patient with this one! It's only 81 minutes and the first 12 minutes is simply a minister saying mass. He performs the mass very rigidly and there are only a few people in the congregation, and that's important because that sets the tone.

The minister is not feeling well due to a cold and he learns one of the parishioners who attended the mass needs to see him afterwards. The parishioner is very depressed and is paranoid about the future.

Unfortunately for him , when he does he does meet with the minister the priest does not do a good job listening to him because we learn the minister is very depressed himself but never publicly shows it.

The minister became a minister because his parents expected him to become one. We learn the minister is doubtful of God's love and/or purposes and unfortunately confuses the parishioner in his time of need, which leads to tragic results.

We learn the priest is in heavy emotional pain because his beloved wife had passed away 4 years earlier and that he is cold-hearted and even resentful of the woman who now loves him and is trying to save him.

The ending is absolutely spellbinding. His assistant is describing the pain of Christ right before the crucifixion in the last hours of his life, by saying the true pain of Jesus was not physical, but emotional, mental ,and psychic pain by describing how exactly the disciples disappointed and frustrated Jesus by not understanding Jesus at all, and how that must of felt devastating to Jesus.

And everything he says describes the priest's inner torments exactly. This is the film Bergman was born to make. This is his masterpiece when all his profound themes gelled together perfectly.