The Silence (1963)

Like Winter Light this is also part of Bergmans faith trilogy, though less overtly Christian in its themes, and to me less resonate. Sisters Esther and Anna are returning home (presumably to Sweden) from a vacation with Anna’s son Johan. While traveling by train Esther becomes sick to the point of coughing up blood, to give her some time to recover they stop in a strange, never identified country, that appears to be on the brink of war. Staying in a grand though almost empty hotel, the sisters revel themselves as a dualistic coupling, Esther the intellectual, almost anaseptic, Anna the earthy, and overtly sensual (in its Yin-Yang the film is almost Buddhist). They have a love/hate relationship with each other, unable to truly communicate, a recurring theme in Bergmans work. Foreignness and separation abound, with young, innocent, curious Johan serving as the films link to the possibility of a hopeful, better future. Well done, but also not something I fully connected with, three out of five.