Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers” features the exploration of selfish, miserable characters which Bergman has managed to capture amazingly well in film. Disturbing and not an easy film to watch, it still remains one of Bergman’s most powerful films featuring magnificent performances by Harriet Anderson, Liv Ullman and Ingrid Thurin. Recommended!
Image courtesy of © 2015 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Cries and Whispers – The Criterion Collection #101
YEAR OF FILM: 1972
DURATION: 91 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:66:1 aspect ratio, Color, Swedish Monaural LPCM 1.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Janus Films/THE CRITERION COLLECTION
RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2015
Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Produced by Ingmar Bergman, Lars-Owe Carlberg
Cinematography by Sven Nykvist
Edited by Siv Lundgren
Production Design by Marik Vos-Lundh
Costume Design by Marik Vos-Lundh
Starring:
Harriet Anderson as Agnes
Kari Sylwan as Anna
Ingrid Thulin as Karin
Liv Ullman as Maria
Anders Ek as Isak, the Priest
Erland Josephson as David, the doctor
Henning Moritzen as Joakim, Maria’s Husband
George Arlin as Fredrik, Karin’s Husband
This existential wail of a drama from Ingmar Bergman concerns two sisters, Karin (Ingrid Thulin) and Maria (Liv Ullmann), keeping vigil for a third, Agnes (Harriet Andersson), who is dying of cancer and can find solace only in the arms of a beatific servant (Kari Sylwan). An intensely felt film that is one of Bergman’s most striking formal experiments, Cries and Whispers (which won an Oscar for the extraordinary color photography of Sven Nykvist) is a powerful depiction of human behavior in the face of death, positioned on the borders between reality and nightmare, tranquillity and terror.
Written during a difficult time in the life of Ingmar Bergman (“The Seventh Seal”, “Fanny and Alexander”, “Persona”), “Cries and Whispers” became one of Bergman’s box office success.
Receiving critical acclaim and also nominations for five Academy Awards including a nomination for “Best Picture”, the film was seen a a return to traditional Bergman themes and also a collaboration with cinematographer Sven Nykvist, who won an “Academy award for Best Cinematography” award.
Having been released by the Criterion Collection as its 101st release, “Cries and Whispers” will receive a new 2K digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack.
The film is set during the 19th century and Agnes (portrayed by Harriet Anderson) is dying of cancer. Living in a mansion with red carpets, red decoir and white statuary, her sisters Maria (portrayed by Liv Ullman) and Karin (portrayed by Ingrid Thulin) come to stay with her during her last moments.
But these sisters are not close and the more they stay with Agnes, the more they begin to feel distant but also find self-discovery as they need to deal with the concept of death. While her sisters are there to stay with her, they don’t do much to help her and depend on her maid Anna (portrayed by Kari Sylwan), who lost a daughter and is deeply committed in taking care of Agnes.
But the longer Maria and Karin stay with Agnes, the more they start to think about the disappointment in their lives, flashbacks and memories that show how much pain and suffering these sisters have also faced in their lives.
VIDEO:
“Cries and Whispers – The Criterion Collection #101” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:66:1 aspect ratio). The one thing that this film will captivate viewers its the cinematography, costume design and eventually the way the pain captures suffering in detail thanks to the cinematography of Sven Nykvist which focuses on the colors of crimson red, white and black.
One of the biggest differences from this Blu-ray release compared to the older Criterion Collection DVD is Criterion’s dedication to get away from the DNR that made the DVD version look a bit blurry. There is a good amount of grain throughout the film and boasts much better detail.
According to the Criterion Collection, “This new high-definition digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 35 mm original camera negative at Chimney in Stockholm. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices and warps were manually removed using MTI’s DRS, while Digital Vision’s Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise management, flicker and jitter”.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for audio, “Cries and Whispers – The Criterion Collection #101” is presented in Swedish LPCM 1.0 monaural and English Dolby Digital 1.0 (via an English Dolby Digital 1.0 dubbed soundtrack). Dialogue is clear with no signs of hiss or popping.
According to the Criterion Collection, “The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 17.5 mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube’s integrated workstation, and iZotope RX4.”
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Cries and Whispers – The Criterion Collection #101″ comes with the following special features:
- Introduction by Ingmar Bergman – (7:09) Reporter Marie Nyrerod interviewed director Ingmar Bergman for SVT Svensk Television in the summer of 2003, on the island of Faro, where he had lived since 1967.
- Harriet Anderson – (20:00) An interview with Harriet Anderson who talks about working on “Cries and Whispers” and her working relationship with Ingmar Bergman.
- On-Set Footage – (34:00) Silent color footage shot during the production of “Cries and Whispers”. Featuring audio commentary by film historian Peter Cowie.
- Ingmar Bergman: Reflections on Life, Death, And Love with Erland Josephson – (52:19) A rare television interview with the director, Ingmar Bergman appears with his frequent star Erland Josephson for a candid, highly charged discussion. Interview was conducted by journalist Malou von Sivers for TV4 International Sweden in 1999.
- On Solace – (12:49) A 2014 video esay, filmmaker ::jogonada explores director Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers”.
- Trailer – (1:54) The original theatrical trailer for “Cries and Whispers”.
EXTRAS:
“Cries and Whispers – The Criterion Collection #101” comes with a six-page insert with the essay “Love and Death” by Emma Wilson.
As of the first Ingmar Bergman films that I have watched, I will not forget the performance by Harriet Anderson, who had a commanding performance as the character of Agnes, a woman dying of cancer ad you can hear the gasp in her voice, the pain that she exhibits and everything is detailed with efficacy, thanks to the solid writing and directorial effort by director Ingmar Bergman.
Teaming up with cinematographer Sven Nykvist, wonderful costume and set design, the film is primarily about three sisters in the final moments with their sister. But the film proves to be a wonderful connection between the present and past.
Maria is a wife who struggles with self-mutilation and doing all she can to keep her husband away from her. She has failed in building relationships because of her fears and only letting her sister Karin inside.
Karin, on the other hand is more social, outgoing but lives within her facade of being young and attractive. Trying to use her young, beautiful looks to attract others, disturb others but also is unable to stay in her failed message. She often remembers the love she shared with a handsome doctor but now the lack of anything, thanks to her ineffectual husband.
In some ways, both these sisters seem snooty and spoiled and have gotten their way and while I don’t care for dark and sad films, you can’t help but see how these women have emotional baggage and have tried to live through their own personal failures
As I have wrote about Harriet Anderson’s commanding performance, Liv Ullman does a wonderful job of playing a woman who is afraid of emotional connections. A woman who seems so cold and stoic, until you see her one true weakness in addition to seeing how far she would let herself go for a touch of happiness. And how far she would go to push her husband away by self-mutilating herself, so she would remain bloody and drive him away. But how much she revels in the pain she puts herself through but yet enjoys it in a sadist type of way.
Ingrid Thulin has done a wonderful job playing Karin, a woman who has no doubt attracted many men and possibly women with her beauty, but when she starts to think about failed romance, her unhappiness in her marriage, we see how she is able to hurt others through her false affection.
While the film revolves around three sisters, the film also features Anna the maid (portrayed by Kari Sylwan), who seems to be the most sane person in the film, wanting to do all that she can to ensure Agnes has someone taking care of her, something that her own sisters are unable to do.
The film was no doubt a shocking, intense film for its time. Bergman, who is known for focusing on the female psyche, has created a film about miserable people. People who have been too caught up with wealth and vanity, and deep inside, they live miserable, selfish lives.
Married but yet not allowed any affection, and as for the dying Agnes, she may not get the love and genuine support from her two sisters, but had one woman, a maid, who is willing to do all that was necessary to make her feel peace and comfort during her final days.
As for the Blu-ray release of “Cries and Whispers”, this 2K restoration features much better detail, much better feature of grain thanks to Criterion’s stepback from DNR. Detail is much more evident, colors are more pronounced and the film looks much better in HD. As for the film, it’s a dialogue-driven film with your occasional music but I heard no hiss, pops or anything negative during my viewing of the film. As for the special features, you get new interviews, especially with Harriet Anderson who discusses her work with Bergman. Also, a new video essay by filmmaker :: kogonada and also, many more special features just for this Blu-ray release.
Overall, Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers” features the exploration of selfish, miserable characters which Bergman has managed to capture amazingly well in film. Disturbing and not an easy film to watch, it still remains one of Bergman’s most powerful films featuring magnificent performances by Harriet Anderson, Liv Ullman and Ingrid Thurin. Recommended!
