The Silence (1963) by Ingmar Bergman – (5/10)

Bergman’s movies are famously hit or miss, they are either dull and pointless or works of genius. The perspective has become screwed over time since only the masterpieces have been remembered. Hitchcock is another director who is similar in this aspect, he had arguably a lot more misses then Bergman did.

The Silence is usually considered to be one of his better works and may or may not be part of a trilogy. I did find this one to be rather unimpressive. The whole movie appears to be an allegory but as to what? It seems to serve very little purpose besides creating the notion of an allegory or a parable of sorts. Still many were impressed.

Very little is spoken as two sisters become stranded in a hotel in a country where war is about to break out whose language they do not speak, they seem to be completely opposite of each other and one of them is dying. Also there are midgets. The movie seems to have all the marks of a classic Bergman, parts of it were enjoyable but overall I was disappointed by the whole experience. It was to vague, the separate parts didn’t seem to fit into one another. Bergman seemed to be trying to make a statement of sorts, he had no idea as to about what, he just wanted to make a statement. The acting and Sven Nykvist cinematography were superb as usual. The tank may or may not be a phallic symbol according to some but the whole society is phallic-cantered anyway.