Two estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a ho... Read allTwo estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.Two estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations total
- Woman in Variety Hall
- (uncredited)
- The Paperboy
- (uncredited)
- Man in Variety Hall
- (uncredited)
- Impressario
- (uncredited)
- The Bar Owner
- (uncredited)
- The Doorkeeper
- (uncredited)
- Anna
- (uncredited)
- The Cashier
- (uncredited)
- The Old Man
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
"Tystnaden" is a film about lack of connection and communication that in certain moments seems to be a silent movie. There are very few, but sharp and ambiguous, dialogs between the two sisters and it is not clear whether they had an incestuous relationship in the past and the weird way that Anna treats her son, sleeping naked in the bed with him or asking him to soap her back (at least, for non-Swedish viewer). The performances are awesome as usual in a Bergman's film, with wonderful black-and-white cinematography, use of shadows and camera work. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "O Silêncio" ("The Silence")
The film also has one or two monumental pieces of cinematography - not least the scenes with the small boy in the large lobby of the hotel - far more effective in this film than in the "tribute use" by Kubrick in the Shining many years later. The shots of tanks rolling through the unnamed Southern European town will stick in my mind for a long time.
Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom were two of Bergman's best women and he works with them to terrific effect in this movie.
This is one of the great movies - highly recommended.
It's a study in contrasts. It's about the strife sewn into the lining of family intimacy, contrasted with the perfection of strangers engaged in the base behaviors. Complexity vs. Simplicity. The common ground shared by youthful innocence and ignorance vs. the confusion imposed by years of living. Short people seeking acceptance vs. normal folk who are so completely unacceptable to each other. It's about a dying woman whose life's work is translating one language to another so others can understand it vs. two people who speak the same language who cannot understand each other (further) vs. two other people who speak different languages who have a better understanding than those sharing a common lexicon. And on and on.
Watching this film, it occurred to me how deeply Bergman's work influenced the likes of Kubrick and Hitchcock and Aldrich and Leigh so many more. 2001 Space Odyssey, Psycho, so many of the great films have seeds here. The screen was Bergman's canvas; the camera his brush. Neither the script nor the imagery alone created the work. His work has a soul from the combination of all of it.
Watch Bergman's life's work and save yourself a bundle on film school. You'll be in the master's care.
Often referred to as the third in a trilogy, it is more profoundly the third in a sequence of three world class pieces of cinema, as the emotions and frustrations of Ester (Ingrid Thulin) carry the viewer over a threshold of uncertainty, inconclusiveness, bewilderment and confusion - with Gunnel Lindblom as Anna playing her part to perfection too - but don't ask me why, because the gaps reach to the sky.
Did you know
- TriviaThe language in the movie is Gun Grut Bergman's creation. She was a translator and linguist in Slavic languages. The name of the city, which is indicated first in the train's speaker, and then by Anna, as Timoka, is a real word however. Bergman found it in a book in Estonian on the bookshelf of his wife Käbi Laretei. When he asked what it meant, she replied "belonging to the hangman".
- Quotes
Ester: I didn't want to accept my wretched role. But now it's too damn lonely. We try out attitudes and find them all worthless. The forces are all too strong. I mean the forces... the horrible forces. You need to watch your step among all the ghosts and memories.
Ester: All this talk... There's no need to discuss loneliness. It's a waste of time.
- Alternate versionsThe original UK cinema release featured the pre-edited US print which was then cut by a further 35 secs by the BBFC to shorten some shots of Ester stroking Anna's hair and to replace subtitled references to erections and semen. The 1999 Tartan video is the complete version.
- ConnectionsEdited into Journal d un père (2023)
- SoundtracksGoldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Variatio 25
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
- How long is The Silence?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $14,199
- Runtime
- 1h 36m(96 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1