The Silence - 1963

The Rules of Society Cease to Exist

What a scorcher of a movie! One of Bergman's best masterpieces. One of the reasons for this films' success is and must be because of the dialogue - there really is the bare minimun of it, hence the title of the film. Reading this you might imagine a film without a regular amount of dialogue to be tedious. In fact it is the opposite. As there is hardly any dialogue we concentrate soley on the sexual tension and emotional downfall of the two sisters who, along with the child of one, find themselves in a foreign hotel after the other sister falls seriously ill on the train. What follows is the sexual awakening for one, and the sexual jealousy of the other. The intensity of the two characters mixed with the calmness and kindness of the hotel owner makes for compelling viewing. There is never a fear of becoming detached from the film because we are always on the journey with the sisters, in the hotel room and on the street. Gunnel Lindblom is beautiful and contrived as Anna, the sister who has no morals when it comes to meaningless sex with strangers, and Ingrid Thullen is the complete opposite - an emotional wreck of an alcoholic who has deep desires for her sister. A beautifully acted and powerful film.

Rating 4.5/5