Episode 199 – Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light

This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light.

“God, why hast thou forsaken me?” With Winter Light, Ingmar Bergman explores the search for redemption in a meaningless existence. Small-town pastor Tomas Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) performs his duties mechanically before a dwindling congregation, including his stubbornly devoted lover, Märta (Ingrid Thulin). When he is asked to assuage a troubled parishioner’s (Max von Sydow) debilitating fear of nuclear annihilation, Tomas is terrified to find that he can provide nothing but his own doubt. The beautifully photographed Winter Light is an unsettling look at the human craving for personal validation in a world seemingly abandoned by God.

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Episode Links

• Winter Light – The Criterion Collection
• Winter Light (1963) – IMDb
• Winter Light – Wikipedia
• Winter Light (1962) – #210 | Criterion Reflections
• Ingmar Bergman: Winter Light – The Mookse and the Gripes
• Winter Light – Ingmar Bergman Online Resource
• Winter Light | The Current | The Criterion Collection

Episode Credits

• Scott Nye (Twitter / Battleship Pretension)
• David Blakeslee (Twitter / Criterion Reflections)
• Trevor Berrett (Twitter / The Mookse and the Gripes)
• Arik Devens (Twitter)