CRIES & WHISPERS (DVD/1.66/1972/CRITERION COLLECTION) DVD

Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers stars Liv Ullman and Ingrid Thulin as the sisters of dying cancer patient Harriet Andersson. Both sisters have already had brushes with death: Ullman has had an affair which prompted her husband's suicide, while Thulin has long wanted to do away with herself, at one point mutilating her own vagina out of self-hatred. As for Andersson, she has been in pain so long that she feels as though she's in the midst of death-in-life. With her two sisters wrapped up in their own problems, Harriet turns to her housekeeper Kari Sylwan for comfort; Sylwan has herself suffered the death of a child, and has developed a philosophical attitude towards impending doom. One of the most influential moments of the film -- when two of the sisters share the innermost thoughts that they'd kept from one another for so many years -- is filmed without benefit of dialogue, with the music of Chopin (enhanced by cinematographer Sven Nykvist's carefully selected camera angles) "speaking" for the ladies. While Cries and Whispers only won the Oscar for cinematography, the film did very well for itself in international awards contests. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Harriet Andersson as Agnes Kari Sylwan as Anna Ingrid Thulin as Karin Liv Ullmann as Maria Erland Josephson as David, the doctor Henning Moritzen as Joakin, Maria's Husband

Crew Marik Vos-Lundh - Costume Designer Ingmar Bergman - Director Siv Lundgren - Editor Borje Lundh - Makeup Cecilia Drott - Makeup Marik Vos-Lundh - Production Designer Sven Nykvist - Cinematographer Ingmar Bergman - Producer Lars-Owe Carlberg - Producer Ingmar Bergman - Screenwriter Johann Sebastian Bach - Featured Music Fryderyc Chopin - Featured Music

Cries and Whispers
Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers (Viskningar Och Rop) finds the director exploring many of the same themes as his landmark Persona (1966). A study of three sisters and the "tissue of lies" between them, the film once again measures the tremors caused by long-buried secrets, dreams, and resentments. Not one gesture rings false, particularly in the distant-but-sympathetic performance of Bergman's longtime collaborator (and companion) Liv Ullmann, cast against type as the acidic Maria. Though obviously influenced by Chekhov and Tolstoy, Bergman makes the material his own, disrupting the script's Gothic facade with shocking, distinctly modern feelings and incidents: despite the Freudian and Jungian interpretations that can be made of individual scenes, Cries never substitutes abstract theory for character development. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist keeps the proceedings from becoming an inert chamber play; his expressionistic use of color -- punctuated by the fades to red between sequences -- is unlike anything previously seen in Bergman's work. Cries and Whispers became one of the only foreign-language films ever nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture, and Bergman received his first nomination as Best Director, cementing (if tardily) his status as the leading foreign art-movie director. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
 

Ingmar Bergman: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Director (nominated) Ingmar Bergman: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Ingmar Bergman: National Board of Review, Best Director (winner) Ingmar Bergman: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Director (winner) Ingmar Bergman: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Screenplay (winner) Liv Ullmann: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actress (winner) Marik Vos-Lundh: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Costume Design (nominated) Sven Nykvist: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Cinematography (winner)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Picture (nominated) Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film - Foreign Language (nominated) National Board of Review, Best Foreign Film (winner) New York Film Critics Circle, Best Picture (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: 1: PCM mono 5.1: 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers, 2 surround channels for rear speakers, & 1 low-frequency effects (LFE) channel to carry deep bass effects Additional Features: DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1: Vistavision MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 91 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 0. Chapters 1. Time [:09] 2. "I am in pain" [2:52] 3. Maria/ Karin/ Anna [6:48] 4. Mother [2:40] 5. The doctor's visit [3:36] 6. Maria's face [5:03] 7. Joakim's retaliation [6:32] 8. Caring for Agnes [3:57] 9. "I'm much better now" [6:45] 10. God's call [8:48] 11. "A tissue of lies" [4:21] 12. Undressing [4:48] 13. Friends [5:16] 14. Hate and forgiveness [5:29] 15. Crying endlessly [1:47] 16. Agnes calls [5:18] 17. Departure [3:39] 18. Perfection [6:27] 0. Index 1. Introductions [2:26] 2. Demon director [6:08] 3. Artistic directors [1:38] 4. Fathers [4:46] 5. Guilt [6:36] 6. Women [4:47] 7. Love and forgiveness [2:46] 8. Ugly youth [4:31] 9. Vindication [2:59] 10. Chaos and solitude [2:55] 11. Aging [4:44] 12. Death [4:55] 13. Laughter and curiosity [2:56]