Based on a story by Gun Grut, Kvinnors vantan (Secrets of Women or Waiting Women) is the story of a group of sisters-in-law who each tell each other stories about their husbands as they’re all set to return home during a summer holiday. Written for the screen and directed by Ingmar Bergman, the film is a reflective look into a group of women who all talk about their relationships as well as reveal about some of the drawbacks of marriage. Starring Anita Bjork, Eva Dahlbeck, Maj-Britt Nilsson, Birger Malmsten, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Karl-Arne Holmsten, Jarl Kulle, Aino Taube, and Hakan Westergren. Kvinnors vantan is a witty yet engaging film from Ingmar Bergman.
Four sisters-in-law are at their family summer home waiting for their respective husbands to arrive as three of them talk about their marriage in some revealing stories about certain aspects of their lives. It’s a film whose simple premise that is sort of told in a reflective narrative as these women are waiting for their husbands to arrive as they’re with the kids and others as they tell their stories to a young woman who is interested as she also has a lover she’s waiting for. Ingmar Bergman’s screenplay follows a simple structure where three of the five women in the living room tell their respective stories on their marriages.
The first story from Rakel (Anita Bjork) has her recalling an affair with a friend in Kaj (Jarl Kulle) while she is married to Eugen (Karl-Arne Holmsten) as it relates to his reaction about the affair. The second story from Marta (Maj-Britt Nilsson) is about how she met Eugen’s younger brother Martin (Birger Malmsten) that lead to a pregnancy while recalling the time she was about to give birth to their child without him present. The third and final story from Karin (Eva Dahlbeck) is about her marriage Fredrik (Gunnar Bjornstrand) on a night where they get stuck in an elevator that has them revealing so much to each other. It is told to Marta’s younger sister Maj (Gerd Andersson) who is hoping to run away with her lover Henrik (Bjorn Bjelfvenstam).
Bergman’s direction definitely has some elements of style in some of the compositions that he creates yet he maintains that air of intimacy into the direction as it is focused on a group of women telling stories to one another. Shot mainly in parts of Stockholm and Paris as well as the Swedish countryside where the main bulk of the story takes place. There are a few wide shots in some of the locations as well as this lavish scene at the Parisian night club that Marta goes to where she meets Martin that include shots of topless women. Much of Bergman’s direction emphasizes on close-ups and medium shots with the few wide shots used for stylistic reasons as the intimacy play into how characters are shot inside a room or inside an apartment.
There are also these moments where Bergman would have the camera linger on for a few minutes knowing when not to cut as it adds to the conversations and dramatic moments in the film with Karin’s story about being in an elevator with Fredrik being the funniest segment of them all. The rest of the film is dramatic with Rakel being the most serious of the three yet Bergman does keep an air of intrigue into the drama as well as raise questions into why the fourth sister-in-law in Annette (Aino Taube) hasn’t told her story. Overall, Bergman crafts an engrossing yet compelling film about a group of women waiting for their husbands to arrive at the summer home.
Cinematographer Gunnar Fischer does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography with the usage of shadows and light for the scenes inside the elevator, the Parisian nightclub, and in some exterior scenes as it is one of the film’s highlights. Editor Oscar Rosander does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward with a few stylish bits in rhythmic cuts for the humor and drama as well as some stylish superimposed dissolves for a montage scene in Marta’s story. Production designer Nils Svenwall does fantastic work with the look of the Parisian nightclub interiors as well as the look of the homes of the characters including the room where the women talk about their marriages.
Costume designer Barbro Sorman does terrific work with the dresses and clothes that the women wear that each play into their personalities. The sound work of Sven Hansen is superb for its natural approach to the sound as well as some of the raucous atmosphere of the clubs and the sound effects in the elevator. The film’s music by Erik Nordgren is wonderful for its orchestral score that include some woodwind-based pieces as well as some lush strings to play into the drama as well as bombastic music for the Parisian club scene.
The film’s incredible cast feature some notable small roles from Aino Taube as the fourth wife Annette who doesn’t have much to say, Hakan Westergren as Annette’s husband Paul who is eldest brother of the family, Bjorn Bjelfvenstam as Annette and Paul’s son Henrik who is also Maj’s lover, Gerd Andersson as Marta’s younger sister Maj who listens to the stories of her sister and her other sisters-in-law, and Jarl Kulle in a terrific performance as Rakel’s lover Kaj who is also a friend of her husband as he would play into some of the emotional waters of their marriage. Karl-Arne Holmsten is superb as Rakel’s husband Eugen as a man who is fragile as he would have a hard time coping with the flaws of his marriage to Rakel. Birger Malmsten is fantastic as Martin Lobelius as an artist who would meet and fall for Marta only to get her pregnant as he wouldn’t know about the existence of her child as well as cope with his own issues in being part of a revered family.
Gunnar Bjornstrand is excellent as Karin’s husband Fredrik as a man who always like to look at his best as he deals with his own shortcomings and neglect towards Karin once they get trapped in an elevator. Maj-Britt Nilsson is brilliant as Marta as a young woman married to Martin as she deals with how they met and how their relationship took a drastic turn due to their affair and what she had to deal with by herself. Eva Dahlbeck is amazing as Karin as Fredrik’s wife who reveals about secrets she has been keeping from her husband while trying to find ways to relate to him again despite the flaws in their marriage. Finally, there’s Anita Bjork in a radiant performance as Rakel as a woman in an affair with a longtime friend as she deals with its complications as well as the emotional chaos it would bring into her marriage.
Kvinnors vantan is a remarkable film from Ingmar Bergman. Featuring a great cast, a captivating script, gorgeous visuals, and themes of love, marriage, temptation, and desire. It’s a film that follow three stories of relationships told by three sisters-in-law as they wait for their husbands to arrive at the family summer home. In the end, Kvinnors vantan is a marvelous film from Ingmar Bergman.
Ingmar Bergman Films: (Crisis) - (It Rains on Our Love) - (A Ship to India) - (Music of Darkness) - (Port of Call) - (Prison) - (Thirst (1949 film)) - (To Joy) - (This Can’t Happen Here) - (Summer Interlude) - Summer with Monika - Sawdust and Tinsel - A Lesson in Love - Dreams (1955 film) - Smiles of a Summer Night - The Seventh Seal - (Mr. Sleeman is Coming) – Wild Strawberries - (The Venetian) - (Brink of Life) - (Rabies) - The Magician (1958 film) - The Virgin Spring - The Devil's Eye - Through a Glass Darkly - Winter Light - The Silence (1963 film) - All These Women - Persona - (Stimulantia-Daniel) – Hour of the Wolf - (Shame (1968 film)) - (The Rite) - The Passion of Anna - (The Touch) – Cries & Whispers - Scenes from a Marriage - (The Magic Flute) - (Face to Face) - (The Serpent’s Egg) – Autumn Sonata - From the Life of the Marionettes - Fanny & Alexander - (After the Rehearsal) - (The Blessed Ones) - (In the Presence of a Clown) - (The Image Makers) – Saraband
© thevoid99 2019
Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, Tystnaden (The Silence) is the story of two different sisters who travel together with the young son of one of the sisters as they deal with their own tense relationship as their country is on the brink of war. The third and final part of Bergman’s trilogy on faith, the film is an exploration about two different women who challenge each other with their ideas on life as well as daring questions on faith and sexuality. Starring Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, Birger Malmsteen, Hakan Jahnberg, and Jorgen Lindstrom. Tystnaden is a chilling yet enthralling film from Ingmar Bergman.
Set in a fictional European country where war is about to emerge, the film explores a day in the life of two sisters who are traveling on a train with the young son of one of the women as they would spend most of the day in a hotel at an unnamed town. It’s a film that explores not just this troubled relationship between these two very different sisters but also in the young boy who finds himself caught in the middle. For the eldest Ester (Ingrid Thulin), she is this intellectual translator who has fallen ill as she spends part of the day bed-ridden while medicating herself with vodka and cigarettes. For her younger sister Anna (Gunnel Lindblom), she is a woman who uses her sensuality to get by as she takes her young son Johan (Jorgen Lindstrom) on the trip where they would live with relatives in this state of war. Ester and Anna are two women in very different paths as Anna is young enough to meet with people and have her way in a sexual way while Ester is often alone where she usually spends her time working and dealing with her illness.
Ingmar Bergman’s screenplay doesn’t go into any kind of conventional ideas of storytelling nor does it play into any traditional plot schematics. Instead, he strips everything down to the barest essentials as he wants to focus on this growing estrangement between two sisters as Anna is reluctant to care for Ester as she would often go into spasms and other aspects of her illness. While Johan would explore parts of the hotel where he would encounter a group of performing midgets and a very kind night porter (Hakan Jahnberg), he is reluctant to watch over his aunt yet eventually manages to be a source of comfort for her. Anna would go into her own journey where she would meet a bartender (Birger Malmsteen) whom she would later sleep with. During her journey, she would deal with a world that she is entranced by but is also a bit repulsed as it serves as a reflection of sorts of who she is. Though the theme of faith is only told minimally, it does become very prevalent in its third act as it relates to Ester’s struggles with her illness.
Bergman’s direction is quite intoxicating in the way he presents this very intimate and minimalist drama where much of it is set in this hotel. The direction has Bergman going for some very stylish yet evocative compositions in the way he would put his actors into a frame or how would have something happen in the background though the story is being told in the foreground. Still, Bergman is about telling the story where he would also find ways to be provocative but not overtly in the way he approaches sexuality. Whereas Anna uses sexuality to get what she wants, Ester is someone who is tempted by it as it would create this schism between the two sisters as it’s one of many things they would clash about. Especially as Anna has managed to use her words and sensuality to power over Ester who uses her intellect to try and reason with Anna. Ester would eventually realizes that it may not work as she tries to connect with her no matter how cold Anna could be.
The direction also has Bergman use some low-angle and slanted angles to play into some of the film’s emotional aspects of the film while some of the sexual content is quite intense as it would play to Anna’s own sense of passion but also the conflict within herself. Things do intensify in the third act as it relates to Ester’s desire to connect with Anna but there’s a lot of things that complicates everything where faith starts to come into play as Ester tries to deal with her illness and the concept of death. Especially as she would reach out to Johan whom she had started to connect with as he begins to question the actions of his own mother. Overall, Bergman crafts a very engaging yet harrowing film about humanity and faith.
Cinematographer Sven Nykvist does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to play into some of the film‘s eerie tone with its entrancing lighting schemes for some of its interiors along with its use of shadows to play into its sense of despair. Editor Ulla Ryghe does excellent work with the editing with its very methodical yet low-key approach to editing as it avoids conventional cutting styles in order to play into the film‘s emotional tone. Production designer P.A. Lundgren does superb work with the film‘s set design from the look of the hotel hallways as well as the room that Ester, Anna, and Johan would stay in. Costume designer Marik Vos-Lundh does nice work with the costumes it showcases the two different world of the sisters from the more sensual look of Anna to the more prim look of Ester.
The makeup work of Borje Lundh is terrific for some of the look that Anna would wear as she goes out. The sound work of Stig Flodin, Bo Leveren, and Tage Sjoborg is amazing for the atmosphere it creates in the hotel rooms and hotel halls as well as some of the moments in the theater including the sex act that Anna would see. The film’s music consists of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Mersey, and Ivan Renliden as it is played on location to play into the world that Ester wants to be in as she is desperate to connect with someone.
The film’s fantastic cast includes notable small roles Birger Malmsteen as a bartender that Anna hooks up with and Hakan Jahnberg as a kind waiter who is the one person that Ester and Johan seem to be comfortable with. Jorgen Lindstrom is incredible as the boy Johan who tries to deal with his mother’s neglect as well as watching over his aunt Ester as he starts to get to know her. Gunnel Lindblom is amazing as Johan’s mother Anna who is reluctant to accompany her sister as well as she is eager to live her life yet finds herself compromised by her identity and age in a world that is changing as she tries to hold on to her youth. Finally, there’s Ingrid Thulin in a phenomenal performance as Ester as this woman of great intelligence tries to deal with her illness and the growing estrangement she has with Anna as well as the flaws of humanity in her search for answers about God and if he ever listens.
Tystnaden is an outstanding film from Ingmar Bergman. Filled with great performances from its cast as well as Sven Nykvist’s entrancing photography and captivating themes on faith and humanity. The film isn’t just one of Bergman’s quintessential films but also a fitting end to his trilogy of faith in the way it explores people trying to find answers at their most desperate. In the end, Tystnaden is a rich yet spectacular film from Ingmar Bergman.
Ingmar Bergman Films: (Crisis) - (It Rains on Our Love) - (A Ship to India) - (Music of Darkness) - (Port of Call) - (Prison) - (Thirst (1949 film)) - (To Joy) - (This Can’t Happen Here) - (Summer Interlude) - Secrets of Women - Summer with Monika - Sawdust and Tinsel - A Lesson in Love - Dreams (1955 film) - Smiles of a Summer Night - The Seventh Seal - (Mr. Sleeman is Coming) - Wild Strawberries - (The Venetian) - (Brink of Life) - (Rabies) - The Magician - The Virgin Spring - The Devil’s Eye - Through a Glass Darkly - Winter Light - All These Women - Persona - (Simulantia-Daniel) - Hour of the Wolf - (Shame (1968 film)) - (The Rite) - The Passion of Anna - (The Touch) - Cries & Whispers - Scenes From a Marriage - (The Magic Flute) - (Face to Face) - (The Serpent’s Egg) - Autumn Sonata - From the Life of the Marionettes - Fanny & Alexander - (After the Rehearsal) - (Karin’s Face) - (The Blessed Ones) - (In the Presence of a Clown) - (The Image Makers) - Saraband
© thevoid99 2014
