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while bergman later rejected the idea of his trilogy, this is definitely the successor of through a glass darkly, down to the image of the revolting spider god. tagd ended with the idea that faith/god can be found in love, that is in relationships with other people. in winter light, the priest loved his wife, used their love to protect himself from the uncertainty, from the assault of the horrors of the world against the walls of his faith, from the spider god, and then she died. unlike the woman struggling into madness, the pastor drowns in ritual and repetition; the winter of the soul; god is silent. an unbeliever found meaning in her love for him, but she is aware it cannot reach him - and not only that he is closed off to it, she can't properly express it either. would it even matter? the pastor is a callous wreck, dead inside, and having a family is not enough to save jonas the fisherman. (the names: tomas, marta and jonas. and karin, the wife - i didn't get that one.)
when two people are in the frame, magic happens. beautifully composed. we mostly see the fisherman in profile, and even when the camera makes him face us, he averts his eyes. marta has her answer, and as she speaks her letter, she not only faces the camera, but she doesn't even blink. we are the ones to interrupt eye contact. it makes her certainty uncanny, somehow unnatural.
as the movie unfolds, the beauty of that scene is stripped away by the ugliness of reality, much like the pastor claimed his faith had died. but this is not the large picture of some grand evil god allows, like the horrors of war, it is the cruelty perpetuated by broken, self-centered men. it is not just the pastor's faith that has failed; his is no longer a personal drama. his handling of the fisherman's situation is a failure on both human and professional level, possibly the chilliest moment of a very cold movie. he is "free at last"? in the light of his final statements to jonas (the world being understandable in the absence of god, suffering needing to explanation), his treatment of marta, and his continuing to seamlessly play his role as a pastor, this freedom is as arid and horrid as the alternative.
4. in the tremendous bleakness of the movie, there is almost too much emotion in performances. my reaction was closer to the fisherman's: i wanted to turn my eyes away.
notes:
* aside from the pastor, the ritual is routine for the 2 others shown to participate. in the first church, the singer/organist is just doing a boring job, checking his watch; in the second church, the helper is too focused on the rote of it, timing the steps he performs - and only now reading the bible, if i got that right. in fact,
* the jesus scene was amazing. not that it ended up as such a parallel to tomas' state of mind, but that it came from a man who still believed, and did so after enduring physical pain due to a disease. hence,
* on a personal level, loss of faith is not inevitable, just like it wasn't for tomas while his wife lived; faith is possible as long as one is not looking. but as a society? the churches are emptying. the young have less contact with the church even in the same family.
* a few times the dialogue is inaudible due to distance, the wind, or a passing train. the final instance covers up the pastor's backstory, but only after we hear that it was his parents' dream for him to be a clergyman. i thought it an unnecessary addition, instantly opening an out (it was never his calling) - and possibly an autobiographical element, which doesn't make it any better. i was tempted to deduce a half star for that, but 7 just seemed too low. this might change at a rewatch. something tells me this is a case where the flaws will be more prominent at a second, less rapt viewing.
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