Misplaced Pages

#988011

79-550: The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets . A dance called zarabanda is first mentioned in 1539 in Central America in the poem Vida y tiempo de Maricastaña , written in Panama by Fernando de Guzmán Mejía. In 1596 , Alonso López, "el Pinciano", traces its origins even to the cult of Dionysus . The dance seems to have been especially popular in

158-482: A percussion instrument ( idiophone ), used in Spanish , Calé , Moorish , Ottoman , Italian , Mexican , Sephardic , Portuguese , Brazilian and Swiss music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar instrument called the crotalum . The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string. They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or

237-441: A period piece in which costumes are prominent. According to Gervais, Bergman had shed his previous austerity in favour of greater aesthetics. Wilson noted the film's red rooms occupied by women in white, and the "azure, Edenic images of the start are gradually engulfed in crimson". Producer Bruce A. Block described its colour variety as minimal, with an emphasis on "extremely saturated red". According to Richard Armstrong,

316-455: A "magnificent, moving, and very mysterious new film". He included the film in his list of the 10 Best Films of 1972 . Roger Ebert gave Cries and Whispers four stars (out of four) in his initial review: "We slip lower in our seats, feeling claustrophobia and sexual disquiet, realizing that we have been surrounded by the vision of a film maker who has absolute mastery of his art". and named it "the best film of 1973". Variety staff praised

395-490: A complete screenplay. Ullmann described receiving a 50-page "personal letter" from Bergman describing the story which began, "Dear Friends: We're now going to make a film together. It is a sort of a vision that I have and I will try to describe it". Andersson did not receive a backstory about Agnes; Agnes' sisters were married with children, but Andersson was uncertain whether Agnes had ever married or became ill at an early age and lived with her mother. Bergman and Ullmann had

474-699: A concert soloist. In the late Ottoman Empire , köçeks not only danced but played percussion instruments, especially a type of castanet known as the çarpare , which in later times were replaced by metal cymbals called zills . Castanets are commonly used in several Spanish folk music and dances, such as the Jota , a music/dance probably originated in Aragón, and the Fandango . It spread, partly with these genres, throughout Central Spain/Castile, and Southern parts of Spain. Castanets are also used by singers and dancers in

553-678: A hand and touched her shoulder. I had heard about the chill of death, but the girl's skin was not cold but hot. I moved my hand to her breast, which was small and slack with an erect black nipple. There was dark down on her abdomen. She was breathing. Since Bergman's films were difficult to market, foreign capital was unavailable to finance the film. He decided to shoot Cries and Whispers in Swedish rather than English (as his previous film, The Touch , had been) and finance it through his production company, Cinematograph. Although he used 750,000 SEK of his savings and borrowed 200,000 SEK, he also asked

632-411: A lack of substance, and Time Out ' s review called the film a " red herring " compared to Bergman's purer psychological dramas . On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , Cries and Whispers has an approval rating of 91% based on 34 reviews, with an average score of 8.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Visually stunning and achingly performed, Ingmar Bergman's chamber piece

711-418: A literal reading of Agnes rising from the dead, relating it to the sisters' guilt. According to Sitney, the statue in the prologue may be Apollo or Orpheus . If the artistic, doomed Agnes matches Orpheus as well as Bergman, Agnes' mother may correspond to Eurydice (representing "the green world"). P. Adams Sitney concluded that Cries and Whispers tells of an "Orphic transformation of terror into art, of

790-401: A mansion at the end of the 19th century, is about three sisters and a servant who struggle with the terminal cancer of one of the sisters (Andersson). The servant (Sylwan) is close to her, while the other two sisters (Ullmann and Thulin) confront their emotional distance from each other. Inspired by Bergman's mother, Karin Åkerblom, and his vision of four women in a red room, Cries and Whispers

869-514: A novice in Bergman's films, had what would have been Farrow's role. Few of Bergman's previous films were shot in colour. Red was particularly sensitive, and cinematographer Sven Nykvist made many photography tests to capture balanced combinations of reds, whites and skin colours. To the disappointment of Swedish Film Institute members, Bergman refused to shoot in their new, expensive studios and filmed on location at Taxinge-Näsby Castle . Since

SECTION 10

#1732776495989

948-540: A poetically-rendered psychological study. Critic O. Foss wrote a less-positive review in Fant , calling it "a rhapsody of petrified Bergman themes". The Swedish cultural magazine Ord och Bild considered the film as Bergman’s personal view on women and argued that the film was both static and ahistorical. The film was generally praised in the United States. In The New York Times , Vincent Canby called it

1027-401: A previous romantic relationship, and their daughter Linn Ullmann appears as both Maria's daughter and Anna's daughter in the picture. Another of Bergman's daughters, Lena , also appears as young Maria. The director initially said that he hoped Mia Farrow would be in the film: "Let's see if that works out. It probably will; why shouldn't it?" However, Farrow was never cast. Kari Sylwan ,

1106-422: A recurring dream of four women in white clothing in a red room, whispering to each other. He said that this symbolised his childhood view of the soul as a faceless person who was black on the outside, representing shame, and red on the inside. The persistence of the vision indicated to Bergman that it could be a film, he said, and he planned a "portrait of my mother ... the great beloved of my childhood". Karin has

1185-405: A result of her degree of isolation and restraint. The scene where Anna cradles Agnes suggests that touch and sensation are soothing, despite the "opaque" question of their relationship, which may be comparable to sisterhood. The magic lantern show the sisters enjoy is " Hansel and Gretel ", which reveals Agnes' feelings of abandonment and her mother's favouring of Maria; according to Rueschmann,

1264-403: A ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. They are traditionally made of hardwood (chestnut; Spanish : castaño ), although fibreglass has become increasingly popular. In practice, a player usually uses two pairs of castanets. One pair is held in each hand, with the string hooked over the thumb and the castanets resting on the palm with the fingers bent over to support

1343-619: Is a visceral rumination on death and sisterhood." Cries and Whispers won three categories at the 9th Guldbagge Awards in Sweden, including Best Film . At Cannes, it won the Technical Grand Prize . It was the fourth foreign-language film ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , in addition to four other nominations at the 46th Academy Awards ; Sven Nykvist won for Best Cinematography . The film

1422-402: Is dismissed without warmth or sympathy, and the men deny her monetary rewards despite years of service. Maria also rejects "sentimental appeals" from Karin. Film scholar Marc Gervais wrote that Cries and Whispers has no definitive solution of whether suffering and death have any meaning, citing the pastor who expresses his own doubts and fears when he eulogises Agnes. Gervais likened this to

1501-398: Is holding in her arms the pain and loneliness and sin of the world caught up in the innocent Divine Sufferer". In 1972, Variety 's staff defined "Bergman's lean style" as including a "use of lingering close-ups, fades to red and a soundtrack echoing with the ticking of clocks, the rustle of dresses and the hushed cries of the lost". Critic Richard Brody called Cries and Whispers

1580-563: Is magnified by Karin's cutting of her vulva. Her laugh is reminiscent of the wicked witch in "Hansel and Gretel", as she reacts to the damage her sexuality has done. Törnqvist, seeing that Anna prays for her dead daughter while eating an apple, wrote: "The eating of the apple links Anna, whose dead daughter was undoubtedly an illegitimate child, with the Eve of the Fall, with Original Sin ". According to editor Raphael Shargel, Anna seems oblivious to

1659-634: Is the name by which they are known in flamenco. In parts of southeastern Spain (like Murcia ), castanets are called " postizas ", and are played somewhat different (hooked over other fingers). Castanets were used to evoke a Spanish atmosphere in Georges Bizet 's opera , Carmen . They are also found in the "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Richard Strauss ' opera Salome and in Richard Wagner 's Tannhäuser . An unusual variation on

SECTION 20

#1732776495989

1738-681: The Simple Symphony ), Herbert Howells (in Six Pieces for Organ: Saraband for the Morning of Easter ), and Carlos Chávez in the ballet La hija de Cólquide . The sarabande inspired the title of Ingmar Bergman 's last film Saraband (2003). The film uses the sarabande from Bach's Fifth Cello Suite , which Bergman also used in Cries and Whispers (1971). Castanets Castanets , also known as clackers or palillos , are

1817-588: The 1973 Cannes Film Festival . Following two unsuccessful films by Bergman, Cries and Whispers was a critical and commercial success. It received five Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture (rare for a foreign-language film). Cinematographer Sven Nykvist won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography , and Cries and Whispers won the Guldbagge Award for Best Film and other honours. The film inspired stage adaptations by Ivo van Hove and Andrei Șerban and influenced later cinema. It

1896-668: The 46th Academy Awards , distributors hurried to premiere Cries and Whispers in Los Angeles County (several months before its Swedish release). It premiered in New York City on 21 December 1972. The film premiered at the Spegeln theatre in Stockholm on 5 March 1973. Cries and Whispers was later shown out of competition at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival , where Bergman received a strong positive reaction from

1975-589: The British Film Institute 's 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of the greatest films ever made. Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars in his 2014 Movie Guide , praising its visuals but cautioning viewers about the large amount of dialogue. Reviewing the Blu-ray in 2015, SF Gate critic Mick LaSalle called Cries and Whispers a "masterpiece" in which the colour red had an important effect. Los Angeles Times critic Andy Klein placed

2054-530: The Brothers Grimm story of sibling unity contrasts the sisters' estrangement. Cinema historian P. Adams Sitney wrote that Hansel and Gretel's parents abandoned them in the forest (symbolism), and Agnes' cancer is the equivalent of the witch in the Brothers Grimm tale. Karin's cutting of her vulva means that her husband will not have sex with her, and the red wine symbolises blood from

2133-721: The Swedish Film Institute for help with the film's 1.5-million SEK budget. This attracted some criticism, since Bergman was not an up-and-coming director in the greatest need of subsidy. To save money, the main actresses and Nykvist returned their salaries as loans and were nominal co-producers. In his book, Images , Bergman wrote: "Today I feel that in Persona —and later in Cries and Whispers —I had gone as far as I could go. And that in these two instances when working in total freedom, I touched wordless secrets that only

2212-589: The flamenco genre, especially in some subgenres of it (Siguiriya, and Fandango-influenced ones), and in other dances in Andalusia/South Spain, such as the Sevillanas folk dance and escuela bolera , a balletic dance form. The name (Spanish: castañuelas ) is derived from the diminutive form of castaña , the Spanish word for chestnut , which they resemble. In Andalusia they are usually referred to as palillos (little sticks) instead, and this

2291-440: The "natural associations one makes with this color, especially in a story like this, are of sin and blood". Zendry Svärdkrona's 2003 Aftonbladet review called it a masterpiece with wonderful aesthetics but unpleasant subject matter, citing Nykvist and Andersson. Emanuel Levy praised the film's cinematography and the performances of the female leads, calling the result a masterpiece in 2008. Cries and Whispers ranked 154th in

2370-455: The 13th and 25th variations from Bach's Goldberg Variations ; and the final movements of both the St. John and St. Matthew Passions . The anonymous harmonic sequence known as La Folia appears in pieces of various types, mainly dances, by dozens of composers from the time of Mudarra (1546) and Corelli through to the present day, custom perhaps influenced by its Spanish origin. The theme of

2449-486: The 16th and 17th centuries, initially in Spain and in the Spanish colonies . The Jesuit priest Juan de Mariana thought it indecent, describing it in his Tratato contra los juegos públicos (Treatise Against Public Amusements, 1609) as "a dance and song so loose in its words and so ugly in its motions that it is enough to excite bad emotions in even very decent people". A character in an entremés by Cervantes alluded to

Sarabande - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-406: The 18th century wrote suites of dance music in binary form that typically included a sarabande as the third of four movements. It was often paired with and followed by a jig or gigue . Bach sometimes gave the sarabande a privileged place in his music, where it is often the heart of his suites for cello or keyboard. And outside the context of dance suites, striking examples include the theme and

2607-557: The Eastmancolor film added "a livid, slightly oneiric quality". Two rooms in the first scene (one where Maria is sleeping and the other being Agnes' room) are joined by the same colours, including "blood red" carpets and drapes and white pillows and nightdresses. Wilson observed that the film has fade-ins and fade-outs in saturated reds. Sitney analysed Cries and Whispers ' colour scheme, writing that there are moves from red with white to red with black to orange and ochre (in

2686-416: The adultery. David tells her that she has become more indifferent. Agnes remembers their mother, who neglected and teased her and favoured Maria, with greater understanding and recalls sharing a moment of sorrow with her. While Agnes' sisters remain emotionally distant, Anna comforts the suffering Agnes by baring her breasts and holding her at night. Agnes dies after a long period of suffering, and at her wake

2765-454: The apparent absence of God, but scholar Julian C. Rice quoted Bergman as saying that he had moved beyond that theme. Rice wrote that Cries and Whispers , following The Silence (1963) and Persona (1966), was based more on psychology and individuation . Academic Eva Rueschmann said that psychoanalysis was an obvious tool with which to study the film, given the subconscious links between its characters. Professor Egil Törnqvist examined

2844-527: The attributes he gave them: Karin's repression and Maria's sexuality. Academic Laura Hubner agreed with CineAction essayist Varda Burstyn's view that Cries and Whispers depicts the suppression of women, but it does not endorse the suppression and the film opposes patriarchy. Rueschmann traced the emotional estrangement to the women's mother, who reacts to the era's gender roles with "boredom, anger and frustration". According to Rueschmann, her daughters assume (or reject) her position and harm themselves in

2923-783: The audience. At the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in February 2011 (with Andersson in attendance), Cries and Whispers was screened in the Retrospective section. In 2015, The Criterion Collection released a 2K restoration on Blu-ray in Region ;A . Before the film's release, estimations of Bergman were lowered by The Rite (1969) and The Touch (1971). In Sweden, Svenska Dagbladet critic Åke Janzon and Dagens Nyheter critic Hanserik Hjerten assessed Cries and Whispers as

3002-407: The baroque era: for example, the music of French baroque composer Jean-Marie Leclair (born 1697): Sonata for 2 violins in D major Op.12 no.3; and Buxtehude 's Trio Sonata in E minor Op.1/7 BuxWV 258, an extraordinary work with this sarabande style, most likely influencing later baroque composers such as Handel and Bach , who also have notable works using the same theme. Baroque musicians of

3081-595: The cinema can discover". In an essay included with the DVD, critic Peter Cowie quoted the director: "All of my films can be thought of in terms of black and white, except Cries and Whispers ". When Bergman wrote the screenplay, he intended from the start to cast Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Thulin . He explained his choice of Harriet Andersson for Agnes: "I would very much like to have Harriet, too, since she belongs to this breed of enigmatic women". Andersson had not worked with Bergman for years, and he sent her notes rather than

3160-869: The communion inherent in childhood that has later been lost". Critic Marco Lanzagorta wrote, "Undeniably, Cries and Whispers is a film about the world of women, and is very open in terms of the gender and sexual politics that it portrays". The story fits Bergman's motif of "warring women", seen earlier in The Silence and Persona and later in Autumn Sonata (1978). The film inspired essays about Bergman's view of women. Patricia Erens wrote, "Bergman's women in such films as Persona and Cries and Whispers are not simply objects of abuse, but creatures through whom Bergman can express his own subjective fears, his many frustrations and failures at preserving autonomy of self and control of reality". Feminists critiqued

3239-546: The dance's notoriety by saying that hell was its "birthplace and breeding place" (in Spanish: origen y principio ). It was banned in Spain in 1583 but was nevertheless still performed and frequently cited in literature of the period (for instance, by Lope de Vega ). It spread to Italy in the 17th century, and to France, where it became a slow court dance. The sarabande was used throughout much of classical music, especially in

Sarabande - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-490: The direction for "a hypnotic impact". In New York , Judith Crist called it "a work of genius— certainly the most complex, the most perceptive and the most humane of Bergman's works to date". François Truffaut made a theatrical comparison, saying that the film "begins like Chekhov 's Three Sisters and ends like The Cherry Orchard and in between it's more like Strindberg ". Empire critic David Parkinson gave Cries and Whispers five stars in 2000, writing that

3397-448: The end of a straight piece of wood. They are useful for producing a sustained roll, especially loud rolls, on the instrument. Cries and Whispers Cries and Whispers ( Swedish : Viskningar och rop , lit.   'Whispers and Cries') is a 1972 Swedish period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson , Kari Sylwan , Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann . The film, set in

3476-455: The end of the film (which he considered ironic, since Twelfth Night is associated with revelation). The magic-lantern show takes place on Twelfth Night. Sitney, Rueschmann, and Irving Singer described the scene where Anna cradles Agnes as reminiscent of Pietà , with Lanzagorta specifying Michelangelo 's Pietà . According to academic Arthur Gibson, the Pietà rite becomes redemption: "Anna

3555-484: The film "solidly in the existential/emotional angst mode of [Bergman's] best work", called it a triumphant comeback from The Touch , and joked about the resurrection scene: "Yes, technically this is a zombie film ". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film five stars out of five writing "This film burns, like ice held to the skin." Don Druker wrote a negative review in the Chicago Reader , criticising

3634-759: The film fit a subset of "character study" at which Bergman was adept. Reviewing the DVD in The New Yorker , Richard Brody said that despite its period setting, the emotional drama resonated with modern audiences. Ebert added it to his " Great Movies " list in 2002, writing that to watch the film "is to touch the extremes of human feeling. It is so personal, so penetrating of privacy, we almost want to look away". That year, James Berardinelli praised Andersson's performance as "so powerful that we feel like intruders watching it. She screams, whimpers, begs, and cries. She craves death and fears it". Berardinelli considered Bergman's use of crimson effective in creating mood ;

3713-464: The film's title. The young Maria whispers to her mother, and Karin and Maria whisper to each other as they bond. According to Törnqvist, "The cries relate to the opposite emotions: anguish, impotence, loneliness". Professor Emma Wilson described the family's predicament, with Karin feeling endangered by touch and Maria seeking an "erotic" touch. However, Maria is repelled by Agnes' decay and her dead body. Rueschmann explained Karin's repulsion to touch as

3792-585: The film. In Film Quarterly , Joan Mellen acknowledged that Bergman used his female characters as mouthpieces and his women signify "the dilemma of alienated, suffering human beings". In Bergman's films, women and men fail to find answers to their dilemmas; according to Mellen, the men are unanswered or cannot care for anyone but themselves. However, she wrote that Bergman's women fail because of their biology and an inability to move past their sexuality: "Bergman insists that because of their physiology, women are trapped in dry and empty lives within which they wither as

3871-446: The final, autumnal outdoor scene). Blood, seen when Maria's husband injures himself and Karin cuts her vulva, echoes an earlier view of the mother character holding a red book against her dress. Sitney associates this with menstruation and castration . Wilson described other uses of imagery: statues filling a garden, decorations, sunlight on a clock and a view of Maria revealing the "texture" of her hair. Images follow one another in

3950-473: The five-minute prologue with no spoken words. The close-ups of Maria in the initial scene are childlike. Agnes is seen with an open mouth and moist eyes, depicting her pain. Her memories of her mother are idealised, with the "flourishing greenery of the Edenic garden". Surveying the visuals and Bergman's depiction of social isolation and mourning, critics Christopher Heathcote and Jai Marshall found parallels in

4029-760: The fourth-movement Sarabande of Handel 's Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437) for harpsichord, one of these many pieces, appears prominently in the film Barry Lyndon . The sarabande was revived in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the German composer Louis Spohr (in his Salonstücke , Op. 135 of 1847), Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (in his Holberg Suite of 1884), French composers such as Debussy and Satie , and in England, in different styles, Vaughan Williams (in Job: A Masque for Dancing ), Benjamin Britten (in

SECTION 50

#1732776495989

4108-535: The indigenous population (Iberians and others) of Hispania , already around 200 BC. It soon obtained an important role in folk music in various parts of Spain. In more modern times, the bones and spoons used in Minstrel show and jug band music can also be considered forms of the castanet. During the Baroque period , castanets featured prominently in dances. Composers like Jean-Baptiste Lully scored them for

4187-456: The invitation, says that she still has life and does not love Agnes enough to join her. Maria approaches the undead Agnes but flees in terror when she grabs her, saying that she cannot leave her husband and children. Anna re-enters the room and takes Agnes back to bed, where she cradles the dead Agnes in her arms. The family decides to send Anna away at the end of the month, with Fredrik refusing to award her with any additional severance pay, and

4266-404: The line between life and dream and might involve supernatural activity. Bergman explained the scene: Death is the ultimate loneliness; that is what is so important. Agnes's death has been caught up halfway out into the void. I can't see that there's anything odd about that. Yes, by Christ there is! This situation has never been known, either in reality or at the movies. Törnqvist advised against

4345-471: The lines begin to appear on their faces". Critic Molly Haskell assigned Cries and Whispers to Bergman's later filmography, which differed from his earlier works in their view of women. Women in his early films lived in harmony with each other and had more-complete lives; Bergman used the women in Cries and Whispers and his later films as "projections of his soul", revealing his "sexual vanity". According to Haskell, Bergman attacked his female characters for

4424-404: The loss of the mother into the musical richness of autumnal color". The sisters' Aunt Olga uses the magic lantern to narrate "Hansel and Gretel", and Sitney connected this with "the gift of fairy tales —and thereby the psychic-defense machinery for exteriorising infantile and Oedipal terrors". In the folk tale " Cinderella ", the wicked stepsisters' bleeding feet as a metaphor for menstruation

4503-447: The maid rejects her promised memento. Maria returns to Joakim, and Karin cannot believe Maria's claim that she does not remember their touch. Anna finds Agnes' diary with an account of a visit with Maria, Karin and Anna, with a shared, nostalgic moment on a swing . Agnes wrote that "come what may, this is happiness." According to Bergman, he conceived the story during a lonely, unhappy time on Fårö when he wrote constantly. He described

4582-440: The mansion's interior was dilapidated, the crew was free to paint and decorate as they saw fit. Principal photography took place from 9 September to 30 October 1971. Nykvist used Eastmancolor film, which reduced graininess and would be the most sensitive to colours. The final, outdoor swing scene was shot early in production so the filmmakers could have sunlight before the darker season set in. Ullmann said that every scene

4661-672: The mazurka when Anna recalls her deceased daughter communicates "a sensory moment of reminiscence". Sounds are used in other ways, with Anna's dead daughter apparently audible when Anna is near the cradle following Agnes' death. The prologue's bells and clocks are more audible than the natural sounds preceding them; Agnes' struggle to breathe soon joins the clocks' ticking, with editor Ken Dancyger finding "the continuity of time and life". Every major film-distribution company rejected Cries and Whispers , even when Bergman asked for an advance of only $ 75,000. Its U.S. rights were bought by Roger Corman of New World Pictures (who favored having

4740-509: The music of dances which included Spaniards ( Ballet des Nations ), Egyptians ( Persée , Phaëton ), Ethiopians ( Persée , Phaëton ), and Korybantes ( Atys ). In addition, they are often scored for dances involving less pleasant characters such as demons ( Alceste ) and nightmares ( Atys ). Their association with African dances is even stated in the ballet Flore (1669) by Lully, "... les Africains inventeurs des danses de Castagnettes entrent d'un air plus gai ..." A rare occasion where

4819-540: The normally accompanying instrument is given concertant solo status is Leonardo Balada 's Concertino for Castanets and Orchestra Three Anecdotes (1977). The Conciertino für Kastagnetten und Orchester by the German composer Helmut M. Timpelan, in cooperation with the castanet virtuoso, José de Udaeta, is another solo work for the instrument. See also the Toccata Festiva for castanets by Allan Stephenson. Sonia Amelio has also performed her castanet arrangements as

SECTION 60

#1732776495989

4898-400: The other side. Each pair will make a sound of a slightly different pitch . The slightly lower one usually marks the beat with joined fingers, whereas the slightly higher one is used for variations with all four fingers, including producing rattle-like sounds. The origins of the instrument are not confirmed. The practice of clicking hand-held sticks together to accompany dancing is ancient, and

4977-542: The paintings of Edvard Munch . Johann Sebastian Bach 's sarabande from Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor , performed by Pierre Fournier , is used in the film. Noting its use when the two sisters touch affectionately, critic Robin Wood wrote that it fit Bergman's use of Bach to signify "a possible transcendent wholeness". The score also contains Frédéric Chopin 's Mazurka in A minor, Op.17/4 , performed by Käbi Laretei . According to musicologist Alexis Luko, Bergman's use of

5056-436: The priest says that her faith was stronger than his own. Maria tells Karin that it is unusual for them to avoid touching each other or having a deep conversation. She tries to touch Karin, who recoils at the gesture. Karin recalls an earlier occasion at the mansion, where, struggling with self-harm , she mutilated her genitals with a piece of broken glass to repel her husband Fredrik. Karin later dines with Maria, saying that Anna

5135-401: The process. Agnes' confinement to bed may reflect gender roles and expectations for women about sex, childbirth and death. Author Birgitta Steene disputed what she called Mellen's Marxist feminist analysis, cross-referencing Bergman's realistic and metaphorical films to say that they are not the product of a sexist outlook. Rueschmann quoted Bergman as saying his "ceaseless fascination with

5214-492: The protagonist of Bergman's earlier Winter Light , Bergman's own conflicted feelings and his relationship to his father, Erik , a minister of the Church of Sweden . According to Gervais, the ending presents Bergman's solution: a touch, on certain occasions, can make life worthwhile. Törnqvist compared the ending to that of Bergman's 1957 Wild Strawberries ; it "points to the past, to a paradisaic existence in this life, to

5293-465: The sacrilege of snacking immediately after worship and that her choice of food is the forbidden fruit . Törnqvist wrote that Agnes' prolonged pain and death resemble the Passion of Jesus , and Wilson compared the position of Agnes' arms and legs to Jesus' body after his Passion. Gado also saw parallels to the crucifixion of Jesus and flashbacks to Good Friday and a mention of Twelfth Night at

5372-484: The same name as Bergman's mother, but all four female protagonists are intended to represent aspects of her personality. A childhood memory of the Sophiahemmet mortuary also influenced the director: The young girl who had just been treated lay on a wooden table in the middle of the floor. I pulled back the sheet and exposed her. She was quite naked apart from a plaster that ran from throat to pudenda . I lifted

5451-484: The standard castanets can be found in Darius Milhaud 's Les Choëphores , which calls for castanets made of metal. Other uses include Rimsky-Korsakov 's Capriccio espagnol , Ravel 's Rapsodie espagnole , Francis Poulenc 's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor and Karl Jenkins 's Tangollen . One can also see Spanish influence in the music of Naples through the presence of castanets, as it

5530-465: The studio branch out into arthouse distribution such as with Amarcord ) for $ 150,000. Corman spent an additional $ 80,000 on marketing to go with booking the film on the drive-in circuit. According to the producer, the film made a profit of $ 1 million and was Bergman's biggest success in the U.S. Author Tino Balio reported a U.S. gross of $ 1.2 million from 803 theatres, and called it Bergman's best-performing film since The Silence . To qualify for

5609-427: The three ways in which they are held. When held in the hand, they are bounced against the fingers and palm of the hand; on sticks, bouncing between fingers and the player's thigh is one accepted method. For a machine castanet, a less satisfactory roll is obtained by the rapid alternation of the two castanets with the fingers. Handle castanets were developed for use in orchestral music. A pair of castanets are fitted onto

5688-457: The whole race of women is one of [his] mainsprings. Obviously such an obsession implies ambivalence; it has something compulsive about it". However, he doubted that there was much difference between men and women: "I think that if I had made Cries and Whispers with four men in the leading roles, the story would have been largely the same". Although Agnes' apparent resurrection may reflect Anna's fear (or desire), Emma Wilson wrote that it blurred

5767-448: The womb. Törnqvist wrote that Karin's transfer of blood from her vulva to her mouth means that she will neither have sex nor speak, and preventing communication reinforces loneliness. Sitney wrote that the family is most united when reading Charles Dickens ' The Pickwick Papers , which describes "male solidarity and chicanery, threatened by female plots for marriage". According to Frank Gado, detachment returns after Agnes' funeral. Anna

5846-659: Was commemorated on Swedish postage stamps referring to a scene in which Andersson and Sylwan replicate the Pietà . In a large 19th-century mansion with red walls and carpets, Agnes is dying of uterine cancer . Her sisters, Maria and Karin, arrive at their childhood home and take turns with the maid, Anna, watching over Agnes. Anna, more religious than the sisters, prays after she lost her young daughter. When Agnes's doctor David visits, he sees his former lover Maria. Maria remembers their affair and her failed marriage with her husband Joakim, who stabbed himself non-fatally in response to

5925-422: Was devoted to Agnes and probably deserves a memento. She says she resents Anna's seeming familiarity with her and Maria, speaks of her own suicidal tendencies , and confesses her hatred of Maria and her flirtatiousness and shallow smiles. The sisters reconcile after the argument, touching each other. In a dream sequence, Agnes briefly returns to life and asks Karin and then Maria to approach her. Karin, repelled by

6004-425: Was filmed at Taxinge-Näsby Castle in 1971. Its themes include faith, the female psyche and the search for meaning in suffering, and academics have found Biblical allusions. Unlike previous Bergman films, it uses saturated colour, crimson in particular. After its premiere in the United States, distributed by Roger Corman and New World Pictures , the film was released in Sweden and screened out of competition at

6083-753: Was practiced by both the Greeks and the Egyptians . Most sources relate its historical origins and spread to the Phoenicians travelling and trading throughout the Mediterranean around 3000 years ago, with strong trade relations with what is now Spain. Origins further back in Ancient Egypt (which knew castanet-like instruments made of wood, ivory, and metal) are deemed probable. According to sources, Ancient Romans encountered this instrument among

6162-417: Was registered by Athanasius Kircher on his Tarantella Napoletana ( tono hypodorico ). When used in an orchestral or jug band setting, castanets are sometimes attached to a handle, or mounted to a base to form a pair of machine castanets . This makes them easier to play, but also alters the sound, particularly for the machine castanets. It is possible to produce a roll on a pair of castanets in any of

6241-491: Was shot in natural light, using large windows for indoor scenes. Andersson described the on-set mood as light, an antidote to the film's heavy subject matter. She said that although she usually read the screenplay and went to bed early during a production, the filmmakers kept her awake late to enhance her tired, ill appearance. The actress modeled her death scene on the death of her father, and Bergman directed her deep, violent inhalations. Previous Bergman films had focused on

#988011