a review of 沉默

Ingmar Bergman didn't make films, he made timeless reflections. The Silence reflects tormented, lonely souls and broken family relationships. From the first to the last scene the hand of the master is apparent in every aspect: the sensual lighting, the beautiful women, the dialogues, the timing, the compositions, and the brilliant camera work by Sven Nykvist, turning you into a silent spectator. Also, there's a remarkable bit of nudity and erotic content for a film from 1963. Another testimony of Bergman being far ahead of his time. Last but not least, there were a number of scenes that immediately made it clear that some of the great directors are / were admirers of Bergman. There was the scene where the approaching tank was visualized by vibrations in a glass of water. Spielberg clearly paid a tribute to this scene in his original Jurassic Park. Then there are the surreal scenes with the dwarfs, which have undoubtedly formed an inspiration for David Lynch. And the atmospheric scenes with the boy walking through the isolated hotel hallways while the camera tracks him just must have inspired Kubrick when he made The Shining. It's a known fact that Kubrick was a big fan of Ingmar Bergman.