Ingmar Bergman's acclaimed drama, which deals with the fractured relationships between three sisters, is set in a vast turn-of-the-century manor house where unidentified voices are continually whispering and mingle with a dying woman's cries of pain. Karin and Maria (played by Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann, respectively) have come to stay with their sister Agnes (Harriet Andersson), who is suffering from cancer, during the final stretch of her illness. Attending to Agnes is her faithful maid Anna (Kari Sylwan), who, in spite of her apparent social inferiority, is the only one who remains steadfast and dauntless until the very end--the two other women, plagued by guilt, loneliness, and jealousy of one another, are unable to offer assistance or even sympathy in their sister's hour of need. Lauded often for its innovative stylistic elements (such as flashbacks introduced by a fade to red--a color that dominates the picture as a whole--and extreme, expressive close-ups of the actresses' faces), CRIES AND WHISPERS features sumptuous period costume design and stunning photography by longtime Bergman cinematographer Sven Nykvist.
Theatrical release: December 21, 1972.
Filmed on location at Taxinge-Näsby estate, Mariefred, Sweden.
Roger Corman's independent company New World Films bought the distribution rights to CRIES AND WHISPERS after every major American studio approached by Bergman had turned the film down.
Bergman has stated that CRIES AND WHISPERS is the only film of his to which color is essential, the predominant color red being symbolic of the human soul.
On the soundtrack, Chopin's Mazurka in A minor, no. 4, opus 17, is performed by Käbi Laretei; Bach's Sarabande no. 5 in D minor is performed by Pierre Fournier.
Winner of the 1972 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Script and Best Photography.
Winner of the 1972 New York Critics Award for Best Film, Best Script, Best Director, and Best Actress (Liv Ullmann).
Winner of the 1973 National Board of Review Award for Best Direction.
Winner of the 1973 Swedish Guldbagge Award for Best Actress (Harriet Andersson).
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Single Side - Dual Layer - RSDL
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.66
Letterbox - 1.66
Audio:
Mono - Swedish
Additional Release Material:
Production Interviews: Ingmar Bergman - Director, Erland Josephson - Collaborator
Director of Photography
Sven Nykvist: Swedish Director Of Photography/Director
Review 1:
"...[A] morbidly beautiful drama..."
Source: USA Today
p.3D 10/01/1993
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