Every Sunday evening in February at 9:00 PM, we screen a classic film. In February, the selected title is Through a Glass Darkly (1961).
A tender family goes on vacation to the Swedish island of Fårö. Their bond is put to the test when their schizophrenic daughter Karin (Harriet Andersson) discovers that her father is using her condition as material for a novel. Despite their devotion and faith, Karin’s father (Gunnar Björnstrand), her husband (Max von Sydow), and her younger brother (Lars Passgård) are unable to prevent her gradual descent into a disturbing psychological crisis. Through a Glass Darkly(1961) is the first film in Bergman’s trilogy about faith and its loss, and it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
“A god descends into a human being and settles in her. At first he is only an inner voice, a certain knowledge, or a commandment. Threatening or pleading. Repulsive yet stimulating. Then he reveals himself to her more and more, and the human being gets to test the strength of the god, learns to love him, sacrifices for him, and finds herself forced into the utmost devotion and then into complete emptiness.”
— Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007)