On 27 September, a few days before shooting is due to start, Björnstrand goes for a medical check-up. Dan Harper is an America writer, traveller, blogger and cinephile who lives in the Philippines. As so often in Bergman, the starting point for Winter Light was a piece of music. He got out of the pew and limped into the sacristy, leaning heavily on his stick. Björnstrand is so upset by the news that he decides to get a second opinion, and is examined by the heart specialist Clarence Craaford. The classical authors did that all the time.”. Almost all of Bergman's films are shot during the summer, for a number of reasons. The relevant verse in the Bible was obviously of major relevance to the film: it is quoted as a motto in the hand-written screenplay: With gratitude I leave my [unreadable], this grey nothing, shrunken, behind me with indifference. And it is about two monologues in which the pastor and the teacher describe their real feelings, and deeply wound each other. About another man, the fisherman Jonas (Max Von Sydow), obsessed by evil in the world, who calls God's bluff, so to speak, by killing himself.

A short and agitated conversation followed. Father shifted uneasily in his seat and muttered to himself and me. [23] The film employs no score aside from the organ music. We’ve got something close to an answer, but The Lighthouse warns that answers can be dangerous. During the shooting of Winter Light, the crew give the film the apt nickname 'Snotty John and the Lip Balm'. [36], Suite No. A long silence ensued in heaven and on earth. Winter Light was the second part of what became known as a trilogy of “chamber films”, along with Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and The Silence (1963). Make-up artist Gullan Westfeldt has also noted that only on one occasion during all the takes when Märta Lundberg cries, did she need to use glycerine; her tears were entirely her own. He is appointed artistic adviser to AB Svensk Filmindustri (a position previously held by Bergman's mentor and idol, Victor Sjöström). He encounters the altar of the church. They speculate on the sequel: 'The Further Tribulations of Snotty John and the Lip Balm'. Like the fire Prometheus nabbed from the gods, the light at the top of the tower represents everything, all knowledge, and in looking into it Thomas understood everything, all at once. About Marta, a schoolteacher (Ingrid Thulin) who cares for the pastor, loves him, worries about him, and is thanked by coldness and hostility. In the vestry, Algot questions Tomas about the Passion. Jonas leaves, and soon word comes that he drove to a nearby river and shot himself with his rifle. If they are bored at the beginning, they won't listen to the rest.' Bergman would later comment on this as follows: Märta is something of the stuff saints are made of, i.e., hysterical, power-greedy, but also possessed of an inner vision.

[3] Bergman cited Winter Light as his favorite among his films. Highlights from Ebert Symposium on Future of Movie Industry, Ebert Symposium 2020: Part 2 Streaming Today, October 22nd, 2020, Everlasting Arms: The Sustained Power of The Night of the Hunter.

Furthermore, the stars of the film - Gunnar Björnstrand and Ingrid Thulin, two of Sweden's most stylish actors of all time – will be made to appear repugnant. Spoilers for the Robert Pattinson film's ending, its strange symbolism and more. Bergman: 'Ingrid is like the beaver at Skansen [Stockholm outdoor museum and zoo]. 2 in D minor for Cello, BWV 1008, "Nattvardsgästerna (1962) – Filming locations", "Screen: 'Winter Light' by Bergman: Tale of Country Pastor Challenges Religion", "A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman: the Criterion Collection", "Criterion Announces Massive 39-Film Ingmar Bergman Blu-ray Collection", "Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light) (1962)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winter_Light&oldid=981657398, Articles containing Swedish-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 October 2020, at 17:30. In it, Bergman reconsidered Through a Glass Darkly's argument that God is love, and repeated the prior film's reference to God as a monstrous spider. "I really hope he returns," Tomas says more than once.