Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 108)

[@poetcomic1]

Sven Nykvist his cameraman and Bergman spent an entire day in the first church of the movie from early morning to twilight taking hundreds of still pictures to capture the changing light. The light is a 'character' in every single seen of the film.

[@kedarrout1523]

Winter Light is unarguably a masterpiece....It masterfully grapples with crisis of faith.... life, its purpose and meaning, tension between our body and the demands/prescription of religion....Following the footsteps of Nietzsche and Camus, it confronts the fundamental existential questions....

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@zzzaaayyynnn]

looking forward to rewatching this ... Bergman is one of my favorite directors ... his cold Swedish Lutherism in this movie drives me into a dark place that I, as a Christian, actually need at times ... being that I struggle to embrace doubt, which is necessary for faith ...

[@clumsydad7158]

whatever we may believe, we all face many passages in our lives where it's hard to face the day

[@vaibhavgupta6633]

Bergman himself cited winter light as his favorite movie among all of his movies, no one can capture existential crisis in a more beautiful way than Bergman

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

I’ve felt great catharsis watching Bergman’s films, specifically Winter Light and The Seventh Seal. I think that these questions Bergman brings up need to be wrestled with, at least in my life. I’ve definitely been though long patches of stark doubt, and watching it always brings me back down to earth - people have been struggling with these same issues forever, and will go on struggling with them until the end of time, should that ever come. Brilliant analysis. Thank you for your work

[@LearningaboutMovies]

you're welcome. great comment.

[@chrisw451]

I watched Winter Light for the first time a few days ago. I've been watching all of Bergman's films and this one was by far the bleakest so far for me. That said, I did like it and I absolutely appreciate it. In many ways I've been having a dark night of the soul and while this wasn't exactly a cathartic watch, it did cause me to feel a bit worse (I stopped it at one point and came back to it a day later) and then a few more days later felt much better. Soooo...tough love maybe? I imagine everyone will have a different experience depending on where their head and heart is at the time. Thanks for the review.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@AugustusRex-nk8ze]

I just love the Nordic serenity of this little master piece. Twenty years later he made Fanny and Alexander, wich so to speak is the opposite: a long, sparkling, epic movie full of color and life. But together with The Seventh Seal, these two gems are my Bergman favourites, and I've seen them many times.

[@charlie__a]

The moments before he died, Christ was seized by doubt. Surely that must have been his greatest hardship? God's silence.

[@clumsydad7158]

a powerful thought

[@nomiddlenamenmn427]

Interesting. Silence is an answer.

[@charlie__a]

@@nomiddlenamenmn427 cruel.

[@Verticaldiscourse]

Thank you for your video. This is, I think, my favorite Bergman movie. I agree, it is bleak, but it should not be seen as a complete attack on Christianity. It only exposes the hollowness of dogmatic, organised and ritualised faith. Perhaps it's relevant to cite Bergman himself: '“I was given the end of Winter Light and the codification of a rule I have always followed and was to follow from then on: Irrespective of everything, you will hold your Communion. It is important to the churchgoer, but even more important to you.” It's not just Tomas who decides to keep holding his Communion, but also Marta, in her redeeming love for Tomas (in fact, the cough syrup and the cough tablets are symbols of the Eucharist). Christianity is not attacked, but transfigured.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

you're welcome. good comment.

[@clumsydad7158]

i think the redeeming message is that whatever we believe, we are all challenged at one time or another to continue and to get out of bed and face the day. it's a human confrontation and we need each other's help

[@martinhumble]

Björnstrand is one of my absolute Swedish actors. Also, so very humble and politically towards solidarity. Bergman is an Amazing director - även though I tried to not think that as so many claimed the same and I don't like to be glued onto a canon. The photo - Nyqvist - the acting - the themes and the timeless productions are one of a kind.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@ColetivoLunar]

This sounds like your most personal review I’ve seen so far. Thanks for the video, I’m still trying to digest what I just watched.

[@Crosland_Hill]

In his last conversation with Marta, Tomas seems to hint that he is planning to leave the parish, and perhaps his vocation - he says "I have to escape from this junkyard of idiotic trivialities", and Marta in turn tells him "You won't survive on your own". But it ends with Tomas celebrating Mass. Is Bergman hinting that Tomas has decided to stay after all? Has he reached the conclusion that it's better to remain a pastor and serve the community in the best way he can, even without faith? I'm curious to learn your thoughts on this.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I think yes and no. The pastor stays on, but does he mean what he says? We are left with that question. I tend towards seeing his final words as a public, scripted performance. It's part of the public image of 'pastor." Yet we have seen his private self throughout the movie. Does that public figure match the private self? Again, we're left with that question in the very end. And so Bergman has us doubting while doubting that doubt! It's the double-move of so many of his movies, which seriously question faith and yet can be viewed as affiriming it, as least as meaningful for others. (Seventh Seal is similar in this way.)

[@gabrielweber2093]

For me the real turning point was Algot's speach, the conversation the pastor was trying to deviate since the beginning. You see, the pastor sees trouble in Persson, and thinks that he can help in one way or another, the need for him to come back from the church was some sort of trial for him, one that he fail. The real conversation that the pastor needed was with Algot, maybe Persson life would turn out differently if the pastor didn't kick out Albot after the first service. I agree that the final lines are said in a scripted form, but the symbolism here lies principally in Algot's reaction about service in the last conversation. In the end, the feeling that left in me was that the pastor would give another chance to his vocation, but his point of view was changed forever. The movie is a great irony, in some sense, because the answer that the pastor was looking for in years was being neglected by himself, and it was with the last person that he would have thought.

[@SeriouslyAwesome]

@@LearningaboutMovies it also asks the question of who lost the faith first since it sounds like services were quite large and lively before his wife's death. He seemingly led Perrson to final despair (like Judas facilitated Christ's passion) like he's already dispassionately led the town.

[@clumsydad7158]

@@gabrielweber2093 great observation about the discussion with Algot and the timing of that, and how it may have affected events. just watched it once, will def watch again sometime !

[@clumsydad7158]

@@gabrielweber2093 and yes, the irony (sad irony) that when talking to Persson he was basically giving therapy to himself instead ... problematic

[@niceplayground]

I never thought about how they struggle individually and not share burdens as a community as a swede I can say that's pretty normal

[@1haunt]

This movie really suffocated me with its atmosphere, completely despairing on all accounts. That one absolutely poisonous monologue from Tomas as well just numbed me. When Sydow's character's fate is revealed it hardly impacted me at that point, it felt like it was par for the course (though I have seen First Reformed and knew it was coming).

[@clumsydad7158]

this is another one that kind of sneaks up on you,,, is a bit sleepy then hits you with a few minutes of intense dialogue, then goes back into another quiet few minutes, to absorb it. in the line of a diary of a country priest, mass appeal, first reformed, and i'm sure many other fine movies of doubting, spiritually challenged clergy. i'll def need another viewing with this. it's a pretty intense mix of doubt and loss and anger and isolation. it could easily be a play/theatre performance as it has about 5 or 6 characters. in any case, it's about the simple (or not so simple) courage to go on and face each day.

[@awl7788]

As a Christian myself, I was worried when getting into Bergman that I wouldn’t enjoy his movies if they were outright dismissive of God. I have found that this has not the case at all. I found the scene at the end with the sexton extremely powerful. If only he hadn’t been dismissed from the pastor before the Perssons came in, maybe he could have saved Sydow’s character. I expected complete despair at the end, complete hopelessness… It’s as if Bergman is telling himself that he just doesn’t understand and that must be how Christ felt on the cross. I’m reminded of seeing through a glass darkly- we can’t see the full picture.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you. fyi if you didn't know, I have a playlist of videos on Bergman movies on the channel.

[@awl7788]

@@LearningaboutMovies I’ve been watching them as I go along with the Bergman’s Cinema boxset from criterion

[@guccimanlips]

Not my favorite Bergman of the 3 I've seen but still really well written and thought-provoking. I'd really love to hear your thoughts on a film I just watched called Ashes and Diamonds! It's on the Criterion channel and shares with Winter Light a theme of doubt (in a completely different context of course).

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you!

[@connordaniels4478]

I'm busy watching all the movies In this series besides the ones I've watched too much I currently just finished Raging bull thanks again for helping all us cinephiles

[@LearningaboutMovies]

You're welcome. Much appreciated.

[@chopin65]

I enjoyed this review. You deserve a lot more subscribers.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you. The current group of subs and commenter is excellent enough, and if there are more of those in the world, I hope they find their way here.

[@prashunpcchakraborty70]

One of my top Bergman films, the crisis of faith theme is dealt so eloquently here that all the Bergman films I watched after this felt a bit lacking (The Virgin Spring didn't do much for me for instance because Winter Light has dealt with this theme better) I honestly think movie ends on a very positive note. The pastor feel alienated from God and has a crisis of faith but when his hunched assistant says the Bible is focusing only on physical pain of Jesus but what about his mental agony abandoned by all of his disciples he had known for years and in the last moment Christ himself shouted oh God why have you forsaken me? He believed everything he ever preached was a lie, what hardship Christ must have felt at that moment. We can see the Pastor eyes widen as if he finally got it, he had found a sense of commonness and felt more connected to his religion than he did at the start of the film and thus he proceeds to his duty with a renewed gung ho.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@jontaylor5482]

I’d agree with all of that except for the deadness of the delivery in that last line… and the shot of Marta I kneeling in the light, as though she is the one who understands, not him… also is there some hubris in Tomas at the end. Is he now seeing himself as Christ-like because of his suffering?

[@royalmitchell4905]

Will you do a video on The Silence? It's my favorite movie of the trilogy

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes, I might try eventually. made 12 or more Bergman videos this year, with a few to be released.

[@walterweimer1333]

it's about a love story

[@gunnarkarlsson3615]

The film's original title is "Nattvardsgästerna" (The communion guests). The communion is probably the strongest repeated expression of parish members' affinity with each other and Christ. What the film conveys is that this deeply meaningful community is being lost. In the face of a brutal reality, the Christian faith loses its unifying and meaning-making ability. In the film, we see how communication between people and communication to God is disappearing - "the communion" no longer conveys meaning and context.

[@jontaylor5482]

That’s interesting - thanks. I see the loss of community in the Pastor’s total insularity. He doesn’t seem to care too much about his ‘flock’ instead seeing everything as it affects him, an entirely selfish perspective. We see it best in the scene with Persson - he even offers a rather pathetic apology for talking about himself as Persson leaves. It’s as though he sees the events of the film as no more than trials for him to endure - meanwhile life is going on around him. This is a fascinating movie…

[@tomislavcehajic9642]

For me one of best Bergman movie but Silence i love little more do review of Silence and trilogy is over

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes thank you, I need to rewatch it. It's a tough movie to grasp, very challenging

[@tomislavcehajic9642]

@@LearningaboutMovies yes this masterpices is hard to do review of such movie, this movie is not for ordinery peoples, i think this is Bergman with Chries and whisepers most dark movie in everithing, if you dont want review Silence i understand you

[@judahslion5611]

Would you possibly review some John Wayne films like The Angel and The Badman or McClintock?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes. Somewhere on the channel is Stagecoach and The searchers. Also need to get to Quiet Man.

[@judahslion5611]

@@LearningaboutMovies Thanks!

[@embryoroom]

First Reformed is second rate.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

ouch.

[@davidmayhew8083]

Ha! I think it's just a breathe away from a SNL comedy skit. Bergman didn't have to film comedies. Just stuff like this!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

The question would be: when is other people's suffering a joke?