Film critics often refer to three of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's films (Såsom i en Spegel, Nattvardsgästerna, and Tystnaden [1]) as his 'Faith Trilogy'. This is a rather egregious misnomer since the three movies represent Bergman's disaffection from Christianity and eventually from morality. All three films are bleak and are almost spiteful of their treatment of the concept of Deity. If disrespect of Deity bothers you, then you probably shouldn't even read my review since I'll be describing the attitudes conveyed in Bergman's films.
The first film, Såsom i en Spegel (1961), takes place on the tiny island of Fårö, in the Baltic Sea, over the course of 24 hours. The focal character, Karin, is a young woman who suffers from schizophrenia. One of the manifestations of her schizophrenia is that she believes that God is a spider who lives behind the wallpaper of the attic of her parents' house and that it comes out and tries to penetrate her. The film concludes that the Christian view of God is no less ridiculous than Karin's schizophrenic hallucinations—psychological delusions that are most likely modeled after our relationships with our biological parents.
The second film, Nattvardsgästerna (1962), is about a Lutheran pastor, Tomas, who has lost his faith in God. Rather than abandon the clergy, he continues to go through the motions. Tomas has lost his faith in God because of the cruelty of man and believes that if there is no God, then cruelty, pain, and suffering need no explanation. His dissatisfaction with life eventually leads him to start infecting others with his pessimism and hopelessness. This leads one of his parishioners to commit suicide, which Tomas reacts to rather blandly. The film denigrates the suffering of Jesus Christ as meaningless and deplores God's apparent uninvolvement in the world.
The third film, Tystnaden (1963), is about two sisters who stay in a hotel in central Europe, presumably at the end of World War II or during an insurrection. It had nudity in it, so I stopped watching it. I read the plot synopsis at Wikipedia.[2] The older sister, Ester, is terminally ill. She is also a stickler and controlling. The other sister, Anna, is compulsive and rebellious. Anna's son stays with them, but Anna is generally negligent of him. The title of the film alludes to the idea that God is silent. Rather than attack explicit religious themes, however, this film simply targets morality in general. It concludes that forcing morality on others only leads to isolation and hypocrisy.
My verdict: I didn't think any of these films were worthwhile (especially the third, since it had nudity). Bergman's message is one of moral and existential nihilism.[3] So overwhelmed with despair is he, that he doesn't even bother to offer a meaningful hope as an alternative to the hope offered by belief in God. This is, I think, the worst variety of atheistic fiction. If you're going to tear down the Temple, you should raise it up again in three days.
Notes:
[1] Translated as Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence.
[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Silence (1963 film)#Synopsis. See also http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/297-the-silence.
[3] Moral nihilism is the belief that there is no true morality and that any moral rule is contrived. Existential nihilism is the belief that life has no meaning, purpose, or value. One has to wonder, though, why such a defeatist message is worth propounding.
The first film, Såsom i en Spegel (1961), takes place on the tiny island of Fårö, in the Baltic Sea, over the course of 24 hours. The focal character, Karin, is a young woman who suffers from schizophrenia. One of the manifestations of her schizophrenia is that she believes that God is a spider who lives behind the wallpaper of the attic of her parents' house and that it comes out and tries to penetrate her. The film concludes that the Christian view of God is no less ridiculous than Karin's schizophrenic hallucinations—psychological delusions that are most likely modeled after our relationships with our biological parents.
The second film, Nattvardsgästerna (1962), is about a Lutheran pastor, Tomas, who has lost his faith in God. Rather than abandon the clergy, he continues to go through the motions. Tomas has lost his faith in God because of the cruelty of man and believes that if there is no God, then cruelty, pain, and suffering need no explanation. His dissatisfaction with life eventually leads him to start infecting others with his pessimism and hopelessness. This leads one of his parishioners to commit suicide, which Tomas reacts to rather blandly. The film denigrates the suffering of Jesus Christ as meaningless and deplores God's apparent uninvolvement in the world.
The third film, Tystnaden (1963), is about two sisters who stay in a hotel in central Europe, presumably at the end of World War II or during an insurrection. It had nudity in it, so I stopped watching it. I read the plot synopsis at Wikipedia.[2] The older sister, Ester, is terminally ill. She is also a stickler and controlling. The other sister, Anna, is compulsive and rebellious. Anna's son stays with them, but Anna is generally negligent of him. The title of the film alludes to the idea that God is silent. Rather than attack explicit religious themes, however, this film simply targets morality in general. It concludes that forcing morality on others only leads to isolation and hypocrisy.
My verdict: I didn't think any of these films were worthwhile (especially the third, since it had nudity). Bergman's message is one of moral and existential nihilism.[3] So overwhelmed with despair is he, that he doesn't even bother to offer a meaningful hope as an alternative to the hope offered by belief in God. This is, I think, the worst variety of atheistic fiction. If you're going to tear down the Temple, you should raise it up again in three days.
Notes:
[1] Translated as Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence.
[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Silence (1963 film)#Synopsis. See also http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/297-the-silence.
[3] Moral nihilism is the belief that there is no true morality and that any moral rule is contrived. Existential nihilism is the belief that life has no meaning, purpose, or value. One has to wonder, though, why such a defeatist message is worth propounding.
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