This time, I will talk about Ingmar Bergman’s film ‘The
Silence’. This 1963 film is often grouped as a trilogy with 2 other films from
Bergman, ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ and ‘Winter Light’. I have written an article
about ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ before.
Bergman has stated that the three films of his shared a
common theme on spirituality, and he felt that the ‘silence’ in the title
represented ‘God’s silence’, which, of course, is a belief many people share in
a secular world. While Bergman has often been critical of the orthodox and
ritualistic aspect of religion, he did maintain that a spiritual quest for
inner truth and faith was important for humanity.
The surface plot concerned a pair of sisters, Ester and
Anna, and accompanied by Johan, Anna’s son. It was evident that the pair did
not get along, and of stark contrast in terms of character – Anna was the more
sensual and active on, while Ester was the more intellectual and distant one.
Things got worse because Ester was also suffering from illness, and the trio
found themselves in an alien place – a fictional central European country
(Bergman went as far to invent the country’s language to make it sound
alienating), when it served as a mid point for their train journey to home. It
was also clear that the country was going to have war pretty soon. Internal
turmoil coupled with external threat, that represented the ‘perfect storm’
situation for a film. What would be the outcome for the trio in such an
untimely scenario? Of course, as in any Bergman’s film, like ‘Persona’, what I
have just described was only the apparent storyline. If one looks at the story
differently, he/she may find a completely different meaning.
Bergman has been heavily influenced by the chamber plays of
August Strindberg and he has contributed by extending this idea into his films,
most notably in the spiritual trilogy and ‘Persona’. Bergman followed music
laws, rather than dramatic ones, in these films, and as a result he established
a cinematic rhythm, very unique and different from the norm – the prevalence of
narrative films around the world.
Chamber plays give an intimate sense of feelings for the
audience. There are a number of characteristics for this type of style, which
is also common in theater. Chamber plays tend to show a sparseness of
characters and settings. The number of characters is minimal, and so is the
setting. That is done so that the actors can focus on their intimate aspects
rather than, say, the detailed set. The actors give naturalistic acting, most
notably, they can turn their back on audience, to give a ‘realistic’ rather
than a mannerist acting style, and that prevents the audience impression that
the play is being ‘staged’.
Many critics and filmmakers do believe that the meaning of
‘The Silence’ is not as obvious as the plot may appear, and certainly such an
interpretation has also been made to ‘Persona’ and some of Bergman’s other
films. A common interpretation about the film is that Ester and Anna actually
represented 2 conflicting dimensions of humanity, as illustrated by their
respective character. Thus, the film portrayed an eternal struggle between
spiritual realm (Ester) and physical realm (Anna), for which this struggle is
something we are all aware of throughout our lives.
I would like to divert your focus onto the child. Johan was
portrayed positively in the film. He represented a hope for humanity – with his
inquisitiveness, sense of wonder around his world – even if it was devoid of
objective meanings and haunted by the fact that ‘God is silent’. He was the
embodiment of potential, both in an aesthetic and developmental manner.
The great thing about Bergman’s approach was that, while he
showed the positive attributes of Johan when he interacted with his world,
Bergman did not insulate him from the hidden darkness inherent in humanity.
When Johan interacted with the kind-hearted waiter in a non-verbal manner –
because they did not show each other’s language - the waiter did not forget to
demonstrate him the ‘sausage’ show. When he interacted with the apparently
funny all-male dwarf troop, one of them went as far to put Johan in a dress and
kissed him. Johan might not be intellectually ready to understand the
implications behind these scenarios, yet no one could make him immune to the
nasty things of the adult world, just because he was a child. Johan had to experience
the tanks, the aircrafts, the embodiments of war in Bergman’s bleak landscape,
no matter how mysterious that might first seem to his nascent mind.
Nevertheless, a very powerful act by Johan was that when
Ester believed that she was beyond all points of revival, she covered herself
with a sheet on the bed to serve as a gesture of her ‘death’. Johan, walking
by, proceeded to lift up her sheet and exposed her again. Though it was just a
simple gesture, it took a very spiritual dimension, as if Bergman was offering
a sort of hope in a rather hopeless situation portrayed in the film. The child
might show innocence, yet he did possess an inherent sense of compassion when
facing the demons of degradation.
I can also think of a further meaning of the film’s title.
Because Bergman has portrayed a world that had a lot of ambiguities and
uncertainties, and the silence of God meant that there were no ways to strive
an impartial viewpoint in all of these. A silence of the inaccessible truth. After
all, contradictions have to co-exist in our world – that is the aspect that
makes us human.
Film Analysis
