SeptemBergman: Winter Light
If you would have told me a month ago that The Seventh Seal, one of my favorite films of all time, would be replaced as my favorite Bergman film, I wouldn't have believed you. But here I am, writing about Winter Light, my new favorite film by Ingmar Bergman.
The sound of a church bell fills the air with as much resonance as the crippling doubt of questioning one's faith. The way the sound reverberates in the air is reminiscent of the debilitating blow of a thought that one can't release from their mind. When that thought is doubting the faith you vowed to protect and project, it becomes devastating. This conundrum is exactly what Ingmar Bergman presents in his 1963 film Winter Light. The film stars Gunnar Björnstrand as Tomas Ericsson, the small town priest in the throes of a crisis of faith, and Ingrid Thulin as a school teacher willing to substitute her love in exchange for God's in Tomas' life. In a deeply moving and powerful film, Winter Light is just one of the prime examples in Bergman's oeuvre that cement him as the filmmaking giant he is.
On a cold day, in the heart of winter, Pastor Thomas Ericsson finds himself preaching to a nearly empty church. One of the members of the congregation, sure to always be in attendance, is schoolteacher Märta Lundberg. Märta is in love with Tomas, but the death of his wife two years prior has left him unable to love another person and has left him in a bitter state towards God, as well. Also among the attendees are Karin Persson (Gunnel Lindblom) and Jonas Persson (Max von Sydow). Karin seeks out Tomas to counsel her husband who has recently been consumed by an existential crisis after learning that China has atomic bomb capabilities. Desperate to ease her husband's anxiety, Karin begs Tomas to renew Jonas' faith in God and talk him away from the suicide he has been contemplating. Unfortunately for all involved, the only lens Tomas can see through is his own doubt and fractured relationship with religion. Jonas, sensing this lack of faith, leaves Tomas with more anxiety than he came to him with. The weight of doubt brings Tomas, who is expected to be the leader of the church, to a point where he is discussing the future of his theological pursuits with those charged with maintaining the church.
Winter Light was a film I wasn't ready for. Ingmar Bergman has over a dozen classics tied to his name, but this wasn't one that I had personally heard of in that group. Obviously, it sticks out as a part of Bergman's religious trilogy, the films in which he deals mostly with man's relationship to God. The barren dismal landscape of the winter outdoors is echoed inside the church as the bodies lining the pews are topped with desperate faces, bored and lacking interest in the church service. Bergman's blocking is fantastic, often photographing his distraught priest standing in doorways, much as he's standing at a precipice regarding faith in his own life. For believers, God is a welcome sight, the actualization of an idea that fills one with hope and purpose, no matter how.
There is much symbolism in Christianity regarding hands. The hands of man are to do the work of Christ, as often alluded to, especially in regards to Joseph (the husband of Mary, Mother of Jesus) and his profession as a carpenter. Likewise, in Winter Light, hands are the focus of Bergman's camera throughout the entire film. It is Märta's hands that are attacked by a rash that disgusts Tomas so much, he avoids her. Tomas's hands shake and falter as he goes about this day, much like his faith has been shaken so much that he is hopeful no one will attend church services at his dwindling congregation so he doesn't have to perform mass. Everytime Tomas's hands are interacting with God, he is unable to perform his task. Thomas's hands visibly shake when he is attempting to counsel Jonas. His hands also shake so badly he is unable to put the letter Märta sent to him back in the envelope after reading its heartbreaking content. The intentional focus on hands is carried on as we see the hands of Märta as she dries the tears of regret falling from Tomas's eyes. Bringing such focused religious symbolism to a film that questions the limits of faith shows not only the incredible directorial prowess of Ingmar Bergman but also reveals a tenderness of his toward a subject he questions.Winter Light is a methodically beautiful look at one of the biggest questions in life by perhaps the perfect person to use his camera to search for the answers.
