Tystnaden (1963)

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)

Release Date:

3 February 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

"The Silence" is about the emotional distance between two sisters. The younger one is still attractive enough to pick up a lover in a strange city...

Plot Keywords:

Smoking | Child Neglect | Sex In Public | Dwarves | Porter

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Ingrid Thulin	...	Ester
Gunnel Lindblom	...	Anna
Birger Malmsten	...	The Bartender
Håkan Jahnberg	...	The Waiter
Jörgen Lindström	...	Johan

Also Known As:

The Silence (USA)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish | English | German | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (AGA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1964) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1965) | West Germany:18 (f) (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1963) | West Germany:16 (f) (re-rating) | France:-12 | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2004) | Argentina:16 | Norway:16 (cut) | Norway:18 (1970) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Svensk Filmindustri, Filmstaden, Råsunda, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

The controversy the film acquired for being sexually explicit resulted in a much larger audience than most Bergman pictures. When Bergman realized this, he commented that it had attracted the most unwanted viewers of any of his pictures.

Quotes:

Ester: No, I don't want to die like this. I don't want to suffocate. Oh, that was horrible. Now I'm frightened. That scared me. That mustn't happen again.
Ester: Where's the doctor? Must I die all alone?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sentido, El (2003)

Soundtrack:

THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS

Amazing, but not entertaining

I am neither an expert on Bergman, nor on film, so I refer you to the many thoughtful reviews others have written; but reconsider the comments that "nothing happens in this film." Yes, it does seem much longer than 95 minutes, but only because it is so dense, because so much happens. Each look, each word carries emotions and meanings that require interpretation and re-interpretation. This is not a fun movie. We watch a woman die--slowly--and her relationship with her sister fester. Whatever the women try to say, they seem not to be able to say what they mean, or not to be able to mean anything. The son/nephew meanwhile wanders the halls of their hotel alone, somehow beyond or below any communication. There is indeed little action, aside from the sexual forays that serve to exacerbate rather than relieve the tension.

This is a desolate film, and no redemption from the loneliness of death and individuality may be possible other than the consciousness of the beauty of that desolation. But it is beautiful.