Ingmar Bergman Centennial: WINTER LIGHT

Director: Ingmar Bergman

1962, Sweden, 80

Screenwriter: Ingmar Bergman

Cast: Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom.

 

(Nattvardsgästerna) “God, why did you desert me?” With Winter Light, Bergman explores the search for redemption in a meaningless existence. Small-town pastor Tomas Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) performs his duties mechanically before a dwindling congregation. When he is asked to assist with a troubled parishioner’s (Max von Sydow) debilitating fear of nuclear annihilation, Tomas is terrified to find that he can provide nothing but his own uncertainty. The beautifully photographed Winter Light is an unsettling look at the human craving for personal validation in a world seemingly abandoned by God.