Winter Light

1963 drama

Rating: 18/20

Plot: An agnostic priest deals with various members of his small congregation.

What better way to spend a week than watching Bergman's "silence of God" trilogy? I didn't watch them in order, choosing to watch this second, the most straightforward and literal of the three, first. While there's an existential depth to what happens to our priestly protagonist and his handful of parishioners as well as a few parallels to last year's cheery First Reformed, I do believe there's some humor, too, at least enough to fill a communion cup or two. Take the early scenes that show the pastor doing his thing. I feared that the movie would be pretty stuffy, but then there are some cracks in what is essentially a filmed church service, mostly from shots of his spiritless flock. The organist is yawning and checking his watch, a kid is licking the top of a pew, and even Jesus up on that cross with his missing fingers looks like he's ready to hit the tomb so that he can be out of there.

Once individual crises are introduced--belonging to both our main character and members of his congregation--bleak drama settles in. And, at least to me, this is less about the silence of God than it is about the dynamics between these people, their relationships, and what happens when people bring their needs to an individual who has nothing whatsoever to provide them. They're starving humans coming to Reverend Ericsson when he's got half a spoiled fish and a moldy piece of bread to feed them, and the guy is completely out of miracles.

Good cast! Ingrid Thulin, as former-and-possible-future lover Marta with two dots over the a, has a few knock-out moments, including an extended scene featuring the contents of a letter. Gunnar Bjornstrand has a stoic apathy, possibly one mirroring Bergman's idea of God. Max von Sydow is also in this because the guy made a career out of being in great things. I loved that organist (Olof Thunberg), and the most faithful member of the church depicted in this story--this particular church's Quasimodo. Their clashing perspectives on God and spirituality likely match Bergman's at various stages in his life.

Sven Nykvist is likely the most valuable player here as the cinematographer. The way he and Bergman take advantage of the architecture and limited spaces to mirror the relationships with these characters and the use of light is so perfect.