Through a Glass Darkly

Literal translation: As in a Mirror” Another gloomy one from Ingmar Bergman. It stars Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow and Lars Passgård, all of them members of Bergman’s so-called stock company. Andersson is Karin, who is going down the dark road of incurable schizophrenia. Van Sydow is her husband, Passgård is her brother (and there is an undercurrent of incest), and Björnstrand is her father. She hears voices and thinks God is talking to her. You won’t be surprised to learn that at the end Karin is taken away in a helicopter to be hospitalized, and she is unlikely to ever get out.

To tell the truth, I don’t really know what to say about this one. As always, I admire Bergman’s work, but I often can’t really connect with him. This is one of those times. If you ever feel that you are too happy, you might want to watch this. It is certain to bring you down.