Review of Winter Light (1963) by Luke P — 08 Jan 2009

I found Winter Light very alarming, particularly during the dialogue between the pastor and the schoolteacher. I find dispassionate admittances of disgust to be disturbing and difficult to watch, and it was striking to see him turn around moments later and ask the woman to join him on his drive after such an attack. I felt very little sympathy for the pastor character (at least until the end), and thought it was irresponsible for him to admit so candidly his loss of faith to a man struggling with suicidal thoughts. In retrospect I think the film is extremely effective, but it is also pretty harrowing, and it doesnâ??t let up.

I noticed in Winter Light a technique Bergman also utilized in The Seventh Seal. In the latter film, a man stricken with the plague interrupts Antonius Blockâ??s party and cries for mercy. After struggling in pain for a few moments, he falls down dead and a light subtly endows the scene as if the clouds were pulled back. In Winter Light, Bergman uses the same technique after the pastor admits to Persson that his hope and faith in God had died with his wife. To me this is one of the pivotal moments in the film. Light is often used as symbol for realization or clarity, and winter often connotes death or hardship. Winter light, like the kind which leaks into the office after the Pastor finishes speaking, is a glaring and painful lightâ??a light of despairing realization. The Pastor tries to call it freedom, but soon sees that it provides little solace to those around him, and does not bring his damaged spirit back to life. His brutal declarations to Lundberg reveal that he has little left to bestow on others except sadness and isolation.