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That was an excellent one.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Karin (Harriet Andersson) has recently been released from an asylum having undergone electroconvulsive therapy. She returns to her isolated family home and rejoins her father, writer David (Gunnar Björnstrand), teenage brother Minus (Lars Passgård) and husband Martin (Max von Sydow), with whom she has an awkward sexual relationship. In fact, she seems more flirtatious with Minus, who is confused by his feelings for her. Unable to sleep one night, she finds and reads David's notes about her 'incurable' condition, and his desire to record her 'disintegration.'This is a Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman in bitingly bleak black and white. The only cast are the four characters, and the only setting is their remote island home, which Bergman manages to make both idyllic and claustrophobic at the same time. Karin's decline is slow, and she is lucid enough to be tortured by it.Also tortured of course, are those around her. There is an impotence about Karin's family, as quite clearly they do not know how to handle the prospect of her instability - but in the case of David, has his detachment contributed to Karin's inability to relate to her own husband? Or has she always been unreachable? We never know, despite the very talky nature of the production (and the English subtitles). The fact that Karin's condition seems to be the reason Minus and his father finally grow close is scant reason for celebration.People are flawed.A very intense, open-ended study in human behaviour.

Many of the films of director Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Fanny and Alexander) appear in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and this Swedish film was another one I had heard the title of a few times. Basically on a small remote island for a vacation, schizophrenic Karin (BAFTA nominated Harriet Andersson) has recently been released from an asylum, her husband Martin (Max Von Sydow) believes that her condition is almost incurable, her brother Minus (Lars Passgård) feels neglected by his father because of his work getting more attention, and her novelist father David (Gunnar Björnstrand) is suffering "writer's block" and he is upset on any attack on his character. At night Karin refuses any erotic approach by Martin, with her psychological problems she thinks she hears strange noises and faints listening to weird voices, her father at night allows her to sleep in his room, but when David leaves the room with Minus she looks through her father's diary that her disease is incurable, and it seems he is callously hungry for all her deterioration details, perhaps to use for inspiration for a new novel. David and Martin go fishing the following morning and have a real conversation about Karin, the husband accuses the father being more interested in his art than his daughter, and the father agrees with most of his comments, he admits also that he attempted suicide by driving over a cliff, but he found loving his daughter, Minus and his son-in-law was what could keep him going and give him hope. Karin meanwhile opens up to Minus about the voices she believes she is hearing, sure that is God that will appear, he meanwhile is sexually frustrated and it is implied that she teases him, and perhaps while on the beach running into a shipwreck even sexually seduces her own brother, she later confesses these actions to her husband and father, she says that the voices told her to do them. A helicopter that will take Karin to the hospital is on it's way, because she has struggled long enough to remain in one of the two realities she has, she disappears in panic for a little while, but returns sedated, and she points out a spider that she claims is God visiting, Karin and Martin leave on the helicopter together, and Minus and David finally find the ability to bond as father and son, discussing the concept of love, their first real conversation. The performance of Anderssen does give an extraordinary performance as the woman slowly descending into madness, the supporting actors are very good too, including the always great Von Sydow, as they spend the time filled with curiosity and helplessness, the story is simple enough to follow, and really cemented the reputation for Bergman making films full of perhaps more doom and gloom than hope, but as with many of his films this is very gripping, an interesting drama. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and it was nominated for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen for Ingmar Bergman, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source. Very good!

No doubt Bergman finest work from my point of view till date. "We draw a magic circle and shut out everything that doesn't agree with our secret games. Each time life breaks the circle, the games turn gray and ridiculous. Then we draw a new circle and build a new defense. "how his creativity come from.ONLY GOD KNOWS IF EXIST Or HE IS . Fredrik: Father, I'm scared. When I was hugging Karin in the boat, reality was revealed. Do you know what I mean? David: I do. Fredrik: Reality was revealed, and I collapsed. It's like a dream. Anything can happen. Anything. David: I know. Fredrik: I can't live in this new world. David: Yes, you can. But you must have a support. Fredrik: What kind of support? You mean a God? Give me a proof of his existence. You can't. David: I can. But you gotta pay attention to what I say. Fredrik: Yes. I need to listen. David: I can only tell you a thought of my own hopes. It is to know that love exists for real in the human world. Fredrik: A sort of special love, I suppose? David: All kinds of it. The bigger and the smaller, the most absurd one and the most sublime one. All kinds of love. Fredrik: What about the desire for love? David: Desire and denying. Trust and distrust. Fredrik: Then love is the proof? David: I don't know if love is the proof of God's existence or if it's God itself. Fredrik: To you, love and God are the same thing. David: That thought makes me feel less empty; Makes my desperation less worse. Fredrik: Go on, dad. David: All of a sudden, emptiness turns into abundance, and desperation turns into life. It's like a temporary death's sentence strike. Fredrik: Dad... if it's like how you say it is, then God is all over Karin. We love her so much. David: Yes. Fredrik: Can't that help her? David: I think so.

Bergman always does this--asks tons of questions about life and God but never even attempts to answer them. What's his point? None really. His photographic style of cinematography is interesting, and his very sparse use of music as well. He tends to use rooms to great advantage by leaving them sparsely furnished with wooden floors so that the sound is very lively in them. Every movement is heard, and this almost negates the need for musical enhancement in his films. Bergman has great style, and his questions about the world are substantive, but if a man has no answers and goes through life with no opinions, he best stay out of filmmaking.