Two estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a ho... Read allTwo estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.Two estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations
- Woman in Variety Hall
- (uncredited)
- The Paperboy
- (uncredited)
- Man in Variety Hall
- (uncredited)
- Impressario
- (uncredited)
- The Bar Owner
- (uncredited)
- The Doorkeeper
- (uncredited)
- Anna
- (uncredited)
- The Cashier
- (uncredited)
- The Old Man
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe controversy the movie acquired for being sexually explicit resulted in a much larger audience than most Ingmar Bergman films. When Bergman realized this, he commented that it had attracted the most unwanted viewers of any of his pictures.
- Quotes
Ester: I didn't want to accept my wretched role. But now it's too damn lonely. We try out attitudes and find them all worthless. The forces are all too strong. I mean the forces... the horrible forces. You need to watch your step among all the ghosts and memories.
Ester: All this talk... There's no need to discuss loneliness. It's a waste of time.
- Alternate versionsThe original UK cinema release featured the pre-edited US print which was then cut by a further 35 secs by the BBFC to shorten some shots of Ester stroking Anna's hair and to replace subtitled references to erections and semen. The 1999 Tartan video is the complete version.
- ConnectionsEdited into Origins of the 21st Century (2000)
- SoundtracksGoldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Variatio 25
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Bergman's women shine in this film, too, although they must have been exhausted afterwards. Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom star as the two sisters, whose apparent incestuous relationship has destroyed them both, Esther (Thulin) physically (she is dying) and Anna (Lindblom) mentally. They arrive, with Anna's son Johan, in a foreign city at war, which creates an uncozy atmosphere around Sven Nykvist's exterior shots. The tanks roll down the city streets, becoming a metaphor of the war of emotions between Anna and Esther. Thulin makes a very physically demanding performance, like Harriet Andersson in "Cries and Whispers" she is dying (of cancer?), and her pain is showing. Anna clearly wants to hurt her sister, who is the oldest and smartest of them, by saying cruel things and playing with Esther's apparent sexual love for her.
Sigmund Freud would have loved this film, and Anna seems to want to break free from her sister by having casual sex with a man she meets at a bar. She then tells her sister about it, and Esther's reactions to this is extremely ambiguous, like most of the film is. Anna's wish to become free of her sister is deeply rooted in childhood experiences, and it leads Anna to say things like "I wish she was dead" to the man who does not understand a word she is saying. All these things make "Tystnaden" the disturbing film it is. The only release is when Johan explores the corridors of the hotel alone, meeting a bunch of short men who perform at a circus-like variete Anna visits to escape from the sight of Esther. But Johan meets a kind (or is he a paedophiliac?) old man who works at the hotel, and it is he who has to care for Esther as she draws her last breaths, Anna tearing Johan away from her sister's arm in a very cruel manner. The long periods of silence in the film perhaps makes the title, or perhaps it means that the silence about the sisters' past is never broken to us, the spectators. A lot is left up to us to interpret, typically of Bergman's cinema.
All in all, a very ambivalent, Freudian and disturbing film from one of the masters of the cinema.
- braugen
- Apr 2, 2003
- How long is The Silence?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Das Schweigen
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $14,199
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1