The Magic Lantern of Ingmar Bergman: Winter Light
April 16, 2025
Presented by The Swedish Club and Greg Olson Productions
The Magic Lantern of Ingmar Bergman
A village pastor's (Gunnar Bjornstrand) personal soul-searching dilutes his ability to console his community. A woman (Ingrid Thulin) who adores him and a man afraid of nuclear annihilation (Max von Sydow) remain troubled. Bergman believed that human beings are innately holy on this earth, and the pastor must seek that level. There are revelations to be seen.
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
Tickets
Select showtime for pricing and tickets.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Bergman’s summary term for Through a Glass Darkly was “conquered certainty”; for Winter Light it is “certainty penetrated.” Tomas (Gunnar Bjornstrand), pastor of a small rural church, is plagued with spiritual doubt. If God is Love and we are in His image, how can He permit his children to kill each other? Why do bad things happen to good people? Tomas’ troubled soul-searching dilutes his ability to authentically console his community. He listens to a despondent fisherman’s (Max von Sydow) fears of nuclear annihilation, but feels powerless to help. Tomas idealizes the memory of his dead wife, but holds himself back from schoolteacher Marta (Ingrid Thulin), who adores him. Bergman, son of a Lutheran minister, wrestled with his own faith and concluded that, irrespective of supernatural possibilities, flesh and blood human beings are innately holy on this earth. Volumes are written about the gold standard acting and characterizations in Bergman’s work, but the man also invests his images with resonant meaning. Tomas and Marta slump against the wall of his church, approximating the classic pieta position of Mary holding the dead Christ. Throughout the Bible, and in the multitude of spiritual traditions, light symbolizes the divine force. Above the embracing Tomas and Marta is a tall vertical window. The skies in Winter Light are uniformly gray, but for just a moment a ray of light pierces the room. The man and woman don’t see it, but we do. This film taught Bergman a rule: “Irrespective of anything that happens in your life, you hold your communion.”
—Greg Olson
- Director: Ingmar Bergman
- Principal Cast: Gunnar Bjornstrand, Ingrid Thulin, Max von Sydow, Gunnel Lindblom, Allan Edwell, Olof Thunberg, Elsa Ebbesen
- Year: 1963
- Running Time: 81 min.
- Screenplay: Ingmar Bergman
- Cinematographers: Sven Nykvist
- Editors: Ulla Ryghe
- International Sales: Svensk Filmindustri