Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Ingmar Bergman, 1918-2007

• Aditya G

  
  Sometimes words aren't necessary to convey meaning or emotion. Quiet is as effective as any spoken language or detailed text. Master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's "The Silence (Tystnaden)" which shocked the audience at the time of its release goes way ahead of its… More
  Sometimes words aren't necessary to convey meaning or emotion. Quiet is as effective as any spoken language or detailed text. Master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's "The Silence (Tystnaden)" which shocked the audience at the time of its release goes way ahead of its time and proves just that. Writing about the plot isn't going to serve any purpose here. There isn't a conventional "plot" to speak of. "The Silence" mostly explores the three principal characters and their emotional chemistry. Right from the first frame, in a train compartment we are introduced to sisters Anna (Gunnel Lindblom) and Ester (Ingrid Thulin). They are accompanied by Anna's son Johan (Jörgen Lindström), a boy of about 10. Instantly we gain knowledge that something isn't right between the sisters. We also know that Ester seems to be seriously ill with some kind of terminal illness, and Anna perhaps considers her a burden. [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bDU2lkBaUkw/Tsuj-8F7isI/AAAAAAAACGc/SjHhmroyg-8/s512/vlcsnap-2011-11-22-18h52m46s34.jpg[/img] They halt at some huge but sparsely occupied hotel in "Timoka". The country also seems to be on the brink of war. The language spoken there is unknown to the sisters and the locals themselves hardly communicate and if they do, in some incomprehensible language. The rest of the film follows the three characters as they spend their time in this hotel, their interactions with the locals despite the unfamiliarity with the language at the same time, partially revealing some hidden truths about their desires, feelings, and some baffling ambiguities in their mutual relationships..... [img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cH73QnQWbm0/Tsuj-jULymI/AAAAAAAACGg/XCTWRaYFy6k/s512/vlcsnap-2011-11-22-18h44m50s140.jpg[/img] Ingmar Bergman does an astounding job of conveying a plethora of emotions through powerful images capable of creating a tremendous impact on the viewer. As mentioned earlier, the dialog is sparse, perhaps a couple of conversations between the sisters and Johan. What fills this canvas is the eerie and unsettling mood, the outstanding sound effects, including a particularly haunting "clock ticking" sound that appears periodically. Add to that Sven Nykvist's flawless cinematography, with the bleak images, the ghostly shadows and partially lit halls of a near empty hotel, sometimes giving it a feel of a horror film. And then there are the characters and their interactions. Their spoken words are very few, but their expressions speak volumes about the kind of feeling they harbor about one another. Ingrid Thulin's Ester very convincingly puts it across that she resents Anna going out and having a jolly time, including indulging in sexual encounters while she has to be confined to the indoors. But what is the real cause behind her resentment? Is she jealous of Anna's voluptuous good looks or is she attracted to them?! And what about Johan? What kind of feelings does he really have for his mother and aunt? [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u9yxodVXPeI/Tsuj9rdwNvI/AAAAAAAACGM/-MAVr38tD10/s512/vlcsnap-2011-11-22-18h38m38s2.jpg[/img] A lot is said but still plenty is left unsaid. This is where the beauty of Bergman's narration lies. And he couldn't have handled it better. It is like partially opening the curtains of a window so you can just see part of the scenery that lies on the other side. The other half is left to imagination and interpretation. It is a frustrating as well as rewarding experience all at the same time. Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom go all out with their bravura performances. Thulin is a clear winner here as she gives a nuanced performance of an ailing writer who seeks refuge in alcohol self-medication. Her subtle display of controlled rage of being at the receiving end of nothing but spite from her younger sister along with a couple other acts of alarming intensity, all amount to one of the finest female performances I've ever seen. Lindblom looks gorgeous with her bewitching good looks. But she isn't far behind with her acting either. Check out Anna's display of searing animosity for her more intelligent elder sister. Or await that hysterical outburst towards the end. It is a breathtaking performance worth a standing ovation. The boy Jorgen Lindstrom does a superb job too, as the innocent little tyke, neglected by his mother, who keeps wandering around the empty hotel. His scenes with the Spanish performing dwarfs and the kindly old porter at the hotel are especially noteworthy. [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1Ymt8zmOOcU/Tsuj89snzVI/AAAAAAAACGI/u2EQgouR15I/s512/vlcsnap-2011-11-22-18h37m07s111.jpg[/img] (The signature shot of 'overlapping faces', made more famous by Bergman's "Persona" later.) With the shocking imagery and some brief but daring scenes of lurid eroticism (for the time), this could very well be Bergman's boldest film. There was considerable controversy regarding the film's content in Sweden and other countries at the time, leading to some heavy censorship. "Tystnaden (The Silence)" is an intensely devastating and mesmerizing character study from the Swedish master and deserves to be ranked amongst his finest; the controversies surrounding the film notwithstanding. Score: 10/10.

• Robert C

  
  Last in the "Silent God" trilogy and certainly the most surreal. A very bleak and slightly claustrophobic look at two sisters traveling home after a holiday with a small boy who we eventually learn is the son / nephew of the two. Things come to a head when they stop… More
  Last in the "Silent God" trilogy and certainly the most surreal. A very bleak and slightly claustrophobic look at two sisters traveling home after a holiday with a small boy who we eventually learn is the son / nephew of the two. Things come to a head when they stop to stay in a hotel for a few days, to allow for the "elder" sister to recover from her "illness" before continuing on with their journey home. Luckily for us, the hotel the have chosen is filled with a very "Lynchian" group of characters. The sisters realtionship is strained to say the least and as the film progresses we learn the the elders alcoholism is the least of her issues, while the younger seems a bit of a nymphomaniac. All of which is complicated significantly by an underlying hint of incest. And the relationship of the boy between the two, both of whom (in a sense) act as a mother figure to him. As with all Bergman films, you will either be sucked in immediately to the world he has created and enjoy being a "fly on the wall" or you will find it rather slow, bleak and unintriguing. His films aren't for everyone, but I tend to really enjoy them.

• Cassandra M

  
  Do not be put off by some reactions to this movie. It is not easy to watch, as it is light on plot and deliberately obscure in places. But if you can go with the flow of the film, you will be rewarded with some top class acting, incisive argument and lots to think about afterwards. It… More
  Do not be put off by some reactions to this movie. It is not easy to watch, as it is light on plot and deliberately obscure in places. But if you can go with the flow of the film, you will be rewarded with some top class acting, incisive argument and lots to think about afterwards. It reminds me a little of a Pinter play - if you like those you should also like this film. The film also has one or two monumental pieces of cinematography - not least the scenes with the small boy in the large lobby of the hotel - far more effective in this film than in the "tribute use" by Kubrick in the Shining many years later. The shots of tanks rolling through the unnamed Southern European town will stick in my mind for a long time. Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom were two of Bergman's best women and he works with them to terrific effect in this movie. This is one of the great movies - highly recommended.

• Ken S

  
  Bergman at his most Bergman-esqe. This Swedish art film set on the brink of WW3 examines the silence of god and lesbian incest. A heavy stylistic influence on Kubrick's the Shining, the images are both hypnotic, stunning and frightening at the same time. Gorgeously shot nudity… More
  Bergman at his most Bergman-esqe. This Swedish art film set on the brink of WW3 examines the silence of god and lesbian incest. A heavy stylistic influence on Kubrick's the Shining, the images are both hypnotic, stunning and frightening at the same time. Gorgeously shot nudity by Sven Nykvist to boot

• Dillon L

  
  Not as emotionally enticing or as thematically poigant. Good acting in here though with some interesting questions raised, and I suppose somewhat innovative in its sexual images.

• Eric B

  
  "The Silence" is a difficult film to watch -- particularly the first half, which is light on dialogue and heavy on incidental behavior which doesn't create much plot momentum. But stick with it -- the story eventually turns more gripping. The Flixster summary reveals… More
  "The Silence" is a difficult film to watch -- particularly the first half, which is light on dialogue and heavy on incidental behavior which doesn't create much plot momentum. But stick with it -- the story eventually turns more gripping. The Flixster summary reveals most of the story, except for mentioning Ester's unspoken incestuous attraction toward her curvy, sensual sister (who's glistening with feral sweat throughout much of the film). So, let me just add that Ingrid Thulin's performance as Ester is marvelous, and that Sven Nykvist's photography is typically exquisite. And don't forget the delightful vaudeville dwarfs! The soundtrack is also quite interesting - sparse but significant use of score, and various quirky sound effects (for instance, a recurrent ticking watch, which presumably underscores Ester's dwindling lifespan). There's also a brief masturbation scene -- surprising to see in 1963 -- and this unlikely confession: "Semen smells nasty to me. I've a very keen sense of smell, and I stank like a rotten fish when I was fertilized." Wow. Maybe the words lost something in the translation! I've seen others compare the scenes with the boy quietly wandering around the hotel to similar footage in "The Shining." This wouldn't have occurred to me but, hey, now that I think about it...sure, it's quite possible Stanley Kubrick was influenced by this imagery.

• Chris B

  
  A great closing piece to the Faith Trilogy, The Silence tells a sad and realistic story if two sisters and their differences both mentally and physically and the chaos that occurs while staying at a hotel for the older of the two to "recover". The film is as touching and… More
  A great closing piece to the Faith Trilogy, The Silence tells a sad and realistic story if two sisters and their differences both mentally and physically and the chaos that occurs while staying at a hotel for the older of the two to "recover". The film is as touching and emotional even though there is little compassion between the two sisters. Another hard to stomach film that is still worth your time if you find the patience for it. Highly Recommended, like the whole trilogy!

• Mike T

  
  I don't proclaim to be a cinephile. I know I'm incapable of appreciating this film on the same level as a lot of more well-educated filmgoers. That being said, I found it to be totally hypnotizing. Ingmar Bergman's direction lends the film a heavy, enigmatic atmosphere… More
  I don't proclaim to be a cinephile. I know I'm incapable of appreciating this film on the same level as a lot of more well-educated filmgoers. That being said, I found it to be totally hypnotizing. Ingmar Bergman's direction lends the film a heavy, enigmatic atmosphere that is fascinating to be a part of. The actors are brilliant, playing mostly without dialogue and with physical suggestion rather than performance cliches. This is a beautifully made piece of work.

• Ivan D

  
  Not fortunate enough to have a copy of Bergman's "Winter Light", I immediately jumped into this aptly-titled film of his that's also the final film in his "Silence of God" trilogy. If "Through a Glass Darkly" is a religiously probing yet… More
  Not fortunate enough to have a copy of Bergman's "Winter Light", I immediately jumped into this aptly-titled film of his that's also the final film in his "Silence of God" trilogy. If "Through a Glass Darkly" is a religiously probing yet spiritually reassuring film, "The Silence", in a way, is its brooding half-brother. Expecting something reflectively eloquent, "The Silence" has instead caught me off-guard with its coldness. With minimal dialogue and the recurring sound of a ticking clock, this film may just be Ingmar Bergman's most emotionally distant and alienating film. With a plot that's very elliptical in nature and with characters that seem to act in vague, incomprehensible ways, it's a film that's quite difficult to grasp and be emotionally involved in. Yet strangely, its dark sexual spell, devastating performances (specifically by Ingrid Thulin) and Bergman's maestro-like handling of the profound landscapes of the human face makes "The Silence" a masterful mood piece that's definitely hard not to admire. The story, forged in simplicity, is about two sisters, Anna (Gunnel Lindblom) and Ester (Ingrid Thulin), and their complex relationship that teeters between affection and downright contempt. In the middle is Anna's son Johan (Jörgen Lindström), whose naivety makes him the perfect observer in the film. Compared to "Through a Glass Darkly", "The Silence's" spiritual and religious allusions are more inconspicuous, which makes it even harder to absorb and analyze on the basis of the trilogy's theme that is God's silence. With Bergman being a filmmaker that's more artistically inclined in capturing his actors' performances on silent, relatively empty locations, "The Silence" is a genuine challenge for him and cinematographer Sven Nykvist because they are compelled to shoot numerous scenes in busy street corners. But as expected, the film still came out to be visually stunning. Setting-wise, "The Silence" is primarily split into three locations: the hotel room where the three characters are currently staying at, the finely-carpeted hotel corridors and the streets. Tricky as it may seem to be, Bergman was able to convey the personalities of Anna, Ester and Johan by placing them in specific locations that reflect them as characters. Anna, the confused younger sister, is placed mainly on the busy streets to highlight her passively carefree attitude. Ester, the ill, emotionally tormented older sister, is perennially situated within the hotel room to emphasize her physical and emotional limitations. Johan, on the other hand, is constantly placed on the corridors to underline the fact that he is in the 'middle' of it all. Notice how he was never shown roaming the streets along with her mother. Look at how every time Anna is inside the hotel room with Ester and Johan, tension ensues. Despite of their familial ties, Bergman may have been suggesting that God seems to have given the three of them their respective planes of existence (the hotel room, the corridors and the streets) so that balance can be observed. But by integrating the concept of 'God is love' that's also present in "Through a Glass Darkly", Bergman complicates things again. In one key scene, he has suggestively shown that Ester is 'romantically' invested to her sister Anna. Clearly, her love for her younger sister transcends sibling affection. This therefore distorts things even more and again, the question of whether or not god and love being one and the same is truly a positive thing enters the scene. If God is love and love is what Ester is feeling towards Anna, then why is the former still under pain and suffering? If God embodies love, then why is it that the relationship between Ester and Anna angst-ridden, ambiguous and confused? Where is the guiding light? Amid all of these questions, Bergman's thematic God merely looks at the ultimate unraveling in deep silence. Perhaps Ester's love is invalid and wrong. Well, if that is the case, then God, as far as "The Silence" is concerned, is not really love in every sense of the word. The film seems to suggest that, to be more exact, it should not be 'God is love' but 'God is love...with some exceptions'. Arguably, Bergman is at his most emotionally nihilistic in this film. He took the concept of 'God is love' and smashed it right in front of us like some useless ornamental vase. "The Silence" is that shard in the shattered mess that cuts so deep it leaves quite a beautiful scar.

• Dimitris S

  
  The heat exhausts even the brave.Spiritual breakdown however unleashes frigid consequences underneath the surface.Silence will come as a noisy inflammation.Thulin is groundbreaking and Lindblom revealing!!!

• Tom S

  
  Probably the best use of dwarves in cinema history.

• Anthony V

  
  Disturbing, dark and erotic. If you've only seen it once, you haven't really seen it. A film to ponder and study. My favorite in the trilogy, because although Winter Light and Through The Glass Darkly are still blacken, irreverent bullets to the soul, The Silence hit me… More
  Disturbing, dark and erotic. If you've only seen it once, you haven't really seen it. A film to ponder and study. My favorite in the trilogy, because although Winter Light and Through The Glass Darkly are still blacken, irreverent bullets to the soul, The Silence hit me at just the right moment in my life.

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