Ingmar Bergman explained the use of the color red in this film: "'Cries and Whispers' is an exploration of the soul, and ever since childhood, I have imagined the soul to be a damp membrane in varying shades of red."
Ingmar Bergman, who produced the film with his own money, could not find an American distributor, as they felt it was far from commercial. Roger Corman, who had just left American-International Pictures to set up his own New World releasing company, was in the market for a prestige picture to give his new operation some class.
The mansion where the film was shot, Taxinge-Nasby, had not been inhabited for years, and the repainting of the walls with glossy red paint, and the half run-down condition of the place, meant that it had to be extensively renovated by the new caretakers.
Distributed in the US by Roger Corman's New World Films which, that same year, also released their more traditional fare in the shape of Night Call Nurses (1972), The Dirt Gang (1972), and Boxcar Bertha (1972). Apparently, Ingmar Bergman was highly amused by this.