Blog Directory CineVerse: Through a magnifying glass--lightly

Through a magnifying glass--lightly

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Last week, CineVerse attempted to peel back the layers on Ingmar Bergman's pscyhologically gripping "Through a Glass Darkly." If the movie intrigued you, read on to learn more and appreciate the artistry of the Berg-Man.

WHAT THEMES DOES THIS FILM ATTEMPT TO DELVE INTO?
·       The “silence of God”: how God has supposedly abandoned us and left us to our own devices
·       Does God exist in the post World War II world, especially a Europe that experienced the Holocaust and intense suffering
·       God is love, and love is God, but what if there is no love? In the absence of love, do you look for a God instead, and will you find him? And vice versa: if there is no God, do you look for love instead and will you find it?
o   Bergman explores one family’s lack of love and stability as a metaphor for questioning the existence of God: their instability is parallel with our not knowing for certain whether or not God exists
o   The family re-examines their relationships when they’re thrust together by a horrible event

WHAT IMPRESSED YOU ABOUT THIS MOVIE: WHAT STOOD OUT AS MEMORABLE, HAUNTING, INSPIRING OR OTHERWISE?
·       Masterful lighting by cinematographer Sven Nykvist:
o   each face is often separately and specially lit, and not always illuminated from the same lighting source
o   there is sometimes a dark line placed between the faces that separates them
o   ordinary objects like the wallpaper or a desk appear to have a glowing, luminescent quality
·       While there is not much of a plot to follow, there is intense focus on faces and facial close-ups, forcing us to carefully evaluate each character through their visage, as if we’re peering into the windows of their souls
·       Bergman is ambiguous in what happens to Karin:
o   is she actually hearing voices from God, or is it a mental illness?
o   Does she actually have an incestuous relationship with her brother?
·       There is very little exposition and backstory; we are only given subtle hints as to why characters act they way they do and their motivations and histories
·       There is no single main character: each of the four gets fairly equal screen time and significance
o   This wisely distances the viewr from the protagonists, who are ironically already distanced from each other
o   It also enables us to sympathize with the situation more than any one character
·       The film has two convergent yet disparate storylines that shouldn’t work together, but arguably do: the tale of a woman who believes she sees God, and the tale of a family’s absence of love and communication

OTHER FILMS THAT REMIND YOU OF THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
·       The Exorcist
·       A Streetcar Named Desire
·       Interiors by Woody Allen
·       Ordinary People

OTHER MAJOR FILMS BY BERGMAN
·       The Seventh Seal
·       Wild Strawberries
·       The Virgin Spring
·       Winter Light
·       Persona
·       Hour of the Wolf
·       Cries and Whispers
·       Scenes from a Marriage
·       Fanny and Alexander

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