ummmm . . . .ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .kay

from the back cover: "the silence" . . .depicts a world in which god is silent, a world of despair. united since childhood in a love-hate relationship of lesbian incest, two sisters struggle and part as the younger seeks her freedom in a heterosexual affair. bergman expressed their conflict in visual term, with little dialogue, as he probes deeply into the loneliness, love, and sexual obsessions. his somber view of modern man's condition, wherein human relations are grotesquely egocentric and perversely sexual, is shattering, yet is a plea for hope from man himself.

ummmm . . . .ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .kay . . .

yeah, i think i saw that movie too.

not a bad movie and not at this time necessarily good. i'd have a "n/a" in the review box.

SPOILERS

S P O I L E R S

ingrid thulin is still nice to look at, although lines like "seamen smells nasty to me" and doing a linda blair impersonation minus the pea soup isn't always that attractive.

how does this relate to god? why is this considered to be part of bergman's "religious trilogy?"

what the hell is with the tank?

what the hell is with the midgets?

yeah, i'm a bit lost.

the foreign words ester writes for johan? "you'll understand." what?

the ticking clocks noise comes up four times: the beginning title credits, when johan is drawing, after the "heterosexual affair," and as a distressed esther lies in bed with the waiter cranking his pocket watch.

umm?

okay, the silence which the title speaks to is a prevalent aspect in all of man. it and time are a constant. you can always understand the silence and always tell the time, that is there are not hundreds of languages and dialects to get confused by.

the midgets spoke a different language. the waiter spoke a different language. their intentions and actions were clear, but their words not so much. esther translated all sorts of "fine books" for a living, but has only managed to learn a few words of timuku, where they are temporarily set up. johan asks that she writes down at least those few words which she has grasped.

and esther gasps for air as she feels she is about to suffocate.

the words which ester and anna speak, the bulk of the dialogue, are malicious, hurtful, contemptuous, and suffering. we may not be able to understand the exact situations they are in (lesbian incestuous affair), but we can translate for ourselves the hurt and suffering paralleled with our (man's) own hurt and suffering.

??

or i have no idea . . .anyone? . . .anyone? . . .bueller?