Cries and Whispers (1972)

recommended

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

If you're sick of the current trend of having movies use a mostly teal color palette with orange for the explosions, then this is the movie for you. Ingmar Bergman and his cinematographer, Sven Nykvist, use a palette of red, red, red, red, and red as a backdrop for their story of three sisters in circa-1900 Sweden. Agnes (Harriet Andersson) is dying of cancer, and her two sisters Karin (Ingrid Thulin) and Maria (Liv Ullmann) come to comfort her in her final days. Not that they're much comfort, since the whole family is dysfunctional for reasons that are never clearly delineated. And they all have bizarre sexual hangups.I'm sure I'll be in the minority, but I found that when it comes to dysfunctional families, this movie pales in comparison to Bergman's later Autumn Sonata. There, the characters are real people and it's easy to identify with them. Here, they seem like little more than ciphers standing in for basic human emotions. It doesn't help that the film is grindingly tedious when it isn't being gratuitously creepy (in the creepy old uncle way, not in the horror movie way). What was the point of the "dream" sequence toward the end, anyways? 5/10 for the story, 9/10 for the cinematography, which won Nykvist an Oscar - it's not just the overwhelming use of red that makes the cinematography interesting. Since I think story is worth more than cinematography, at least to me, I give it a six, mainly because it is Bergman and I want to cut him some slack.

One of Bergman's best films along with The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander and Persona. Whether it is the most accessible of Bergman's films I am not sure(of his masterpieces I'd say Wild Strawberries and of his films overall probably The Magic Flute), but it perhaps his most emotionally complex film. Bergman's films on the most part have superb direction and thought-provoking screenplays and Cries and Whispers is no exception on both counts, in fact it is one of the finer cases of being so. It is incredibly well made, with luscious cinematography by Sven Nykvist, an unforgettable manor house setting and a red colour scheme that proves just mesmerising. The music is also hauntingly beautiful. Harriet Andersson wrenches the gut as Agnes, while Liv Ullman and Ingrid Thulin are equally as effective. As is Kari Sylwan, whose grief as the peasant maid provides some of the most moving moments of Cries and Whispers. What really distinguishes Cries and Whispers aside from the production values, Bergman's direction and Andersson's performance is the story, which focuses on the failure of love and agony of loss. The family drama is intense, the agony of loss aspect is just harrowing and the use of memories and fantasies help to make the failure of love parts deeply moving. Overall, a masterpiece that is emotionally complex, superbly directed, beautifully acted and made and is moving, intelligent and harrowing in equal bouts. May not be for all tastes, but my advice generally is don't miss it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Cries and whispers showed us siblings that don't get along are brought together by the death of their sister Agnes. Bergman used the color red brilliantly throughout the film. I believe that the color red not only symbolizes inferiority of the human soul but also the pain each individual character carried. This film also in a way related to the passion of Christ by Agnes' death leading to redemption to her sisters, and by her maid Anna sort of representing May the mother of Christ. Maria (Agnes' most beautiful sister)wanted more attention from her husband but since she received a little bit of attention she searched for it through the doctor. her other sister wanted to receive less sexual attention from her husband so she made herself bleed to see if he would still want to touch her still.

"CRIES AND WHISPERD" Bergman this dark relationshipthat sisters have during the visit of Agnes that is dyingof cancer. Her maid Anna who is the only one who cares about Agnes and the only one who Agnes feels confident with. Demonstrates how a person prefer to get attach to the a person who show some kind of care, in this case the maidrather than the true blood. in the other hand great cinematography and colors to show this drama, specially in the red room where most of the moviedevelops.