The Amazon review vault - Through A Glass Darkly
The story of this film revolves around 4 people - Karin, who suffers from schizophrenia, Martin, Karin's husband, a doctor who watches helplessly as she slips deeper into the illness, David, Karin's father, an author who watches with a creeping sense of detachment to which he is horrified of and Minus, a young 17 year old boy with his life ahead of him yet he feels neglected.
When we first see the four arrive, Karin in particular, seems fresh and bubbly, you would hardly notice anything at all. But as the film progresses you see her moods begin to darken as she progressively moves from happy to sad to creepy within quick succession. The crucial point in the film is when Karin notices that her father has been keeping a diary of her mental disintegration for his own private use as he may " use her " as an idea for a novel he is thinking of writing in future.
Feeling as though she can't trust her father, and within time, her feelings for her husband slowly dwindle. The only person she can trust is poor Minus, her brother. Minus doesn't know what to do or even know how to handle Karin's visions and the voices that she hears. She is convinced that God is on the other side of the wall and that he will appear soon. This genuinely unsettles Minus and, under instructions leaves, but not without Karin yelling for the way he tiptoes out. He goes out the door for a few minutes and when he comes back to open the door, she is there in front of him and her mood has changed as if the bizarre happenings of two minutes ago had never happened.
What is done very well is that what Karin says she sees, the audience can not see at all but you hear slight whispers faintly during one scene which makes this film all the more believeable. Also point of note is the house they live in, which looks very rundown, very shabby......perhaps it was not such a good idea to come to the house as it gives hints as to what might have happened in the past especially for someone whose mental state is in such a fragile state of affairs.
I won't give too much more away, as I may have spoiled the movie for you but in the notes that Bergman wrote himself, he says that he is uneasy watching this film and that there were a lot of mistakes made and that the film was not "real" but played "by a trickster." He makes the point that the film took on a musical quality and that the person who acted in Karin was the only one who hit the notes right. He does state though that the whole acting team played well but it was the fault of him and his crew that let it down in some ways. While I think he's being too harsh on himself, I can emphathize/sympathize with the way he feels, especially given the background he gives on the making of this film which I will leave you to read over. I think it was an extract of his autobiography or something, must check that out.
Overall, I think the film is a powerful movie, one that tries to show the intensity of emotions, even in a state of detachment and also a sort of frailty not only in mental capacity in how it can dissolve but also of human understanding, love, relationships and of religion. It may not be the most uplifting movie you'll ever see but it is a movie nonetheless that in some way, may outline harsh lessons in life.
When we first see the four arrive, Karin in particular, seems fresh and bubbly, you would hardly notice anything at all. But as the film progresses you see her moods begin to darken as she progressively moves from happy to sad to creepy within quick succession. The crucial point in the film is when Karin notices that her father has been keeping a diary of her mental disintegration for his own private use as he may " use her " as an idea for a novel he is thinking of writing in future.
Feeling as though she can't trust her father, and within time, her feelings for her husband slowly dwindle. The only person she can trust is poor Minus, her brother. Minus doesn't know what to do or even know how to handle Karin's visions and the voices that she hears. She is convinced that God is on the other side of the wall and that he will appear soon. This genuinely unsettles Minus and, under instructions leaves, but not without Karin yelling for the way he tiptoes out. He goes out the door for a few minutes and when he comes back to open the door, she is there in front of him and her mood has changed as if the bizarre happenings of two minutes ago had never happened.
What is done very well is that what Karin says she sees, the audience can not see at all but you hear slight whispers faintly during one scene which makes this film all the more believeable. Also point of note is the house they live in, which looks very rundown, very shabby......perhaps it was not such a good idea to come to the house as it gives hints as to what might have happened in the past especially for someone whose mental state is in such a fragile state of affairs.
I won't give too much more away, as I may have spoiled the movie for you but in the notes that Bergman wrote himself, he says that he is uneasy watching this film and that there were a lot of mistakes made and that the film was not "real" but played "by a trickster." He makes the point that the film took on a musical quality and that the person who acted in Karin was the only one who hit the notes right. He does state though that the whole acting team played well but it was the fault of him and his crew that let it down in some ways. While I think he's being too harsh on himself, I can emphathize/sympathize with the way he feels, especially given the background he gives on the making of this film which I will leave you to read over. I think it was an extract of his autobiography or something, must check that out.
Overall, I think the film is a powerful movie, one that tries to show the intensity of emotions, even in a state of detachment and also a sort of frailty not only in mental capacity in how it can dissolve but also of human understanding, love, relationships and of religion. It may not be the most uplifting movie you'll ever see but it is a movie nonetheless that in some way, may outline harsh lessons in life.
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