quinta-feira, 17 de abril de 2014

The Silence - Tystnaden (1963)


Bergman's The Silence comes together as probably the most perfect visual poetry I have ever seen. It is a psychological drama about two sisters and the child of the youngest that are returning to their home country, by train, but are forced to stop in an unknown country, where an unknown language (created by Bergman) is spoken, due to the oldest sister being sick, sometime around the II World War. Almost no dialogue and no music make The Silence a true visceral experience. There are some ground-breaking sexual scenes that feel wild and primitive, almost uncomfortable, but always true to our human nature. Isolation and the familiar obligations are, like in a lot of Bergman's work, the central point, as seen superficially. However, The Silence is so much deeper. This is a dream like world: an unknown world with unknown social habits, where the ability to accept change and interact with it resides within each one of us. Ester, the older, represents that inability, shaped by an internal crisis that does not let her almost leave her room. Anna, the youngest, wants to discover this world, but does not know how, representing the corruptness of youth. Johann, the son, is the innocent figure. The innocent figure who wanders through the hotel, discovering its inhabitants with no pre-conceived models. And watching that, through the silence that gives the movie its title, is astonishing. Words can hardly describe this movie in this short way. Spirituality, redemption, hope and rebirth: it is all here in this near-perfect movie (can that exist?). The Silence is personally my best Bergman movie.



Trailer follows:


Sem comentários: