Through a Glass Darkly

Through a Glass Darkly

Directed by Ingmar Bergman • 1961 • Sweden
Starring Harriet Andersson, Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand

While vacationing on a remote island retreat, a family finds its fragile ties tested when daughter Karin (an astonishing Harriet Andersson) discovers her father (Gunnar Björnstrand) has been using her schizophrenia for his own literary ends. As she drifts in and out of lucidity, Karin’s father, her husband (Max von Sydow), and her younger brother (Lars Passgård) are unable to prevent her descent into the abyss of mental illness. Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, the first work in Ingmar Bergman’s trilogy on faith and the loss of it, presents an unflinching vision of a family’s near disintegration and a tortured psyche further taunted by the intangibility of God’s presence.

Through a Glass Darkly
  • Through a Glass Darkly

    Directed by Ingmar Bergman • 1961 • Sweden
    Starring Harriet Andersson, Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand

    While vacationing on a remote island retreat, a family finds its fragile ties tested when daughter Karin (an astonishing Harriet Andersson) discovers her father (Gunnar Björnstrand) has been ...

Extras

  • Ingmar Bergman on THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

    The following introduction was recorded by director Ingmar Bergman in 2003.

  • THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY: Exploring the Film

    In this discussion, recorded in 2003, Ingmar Bergman biographer peter Cowie offers additional context for the film trilogy of which THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY is a part, as well as for the film specifically—its inception, key players, and themes.

  • Jhumpa Lahiri on THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

  • Harriet Andersson on THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

    As a special guest at the 2012 Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä, Finland, actor Harriet Andersson was interviewed by Ingmar Bergman biographer Foster Hirsch. A brief excerpt from their conversation is presented here, accompanied by behind-the-scenes footage from THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY.

  • Sven Nykvist on Ingmar Bergman

    The following excerpted audio interview with longtime Ingmar Bergman cinematographer Sven Nykvist is illustrated with clips from several of the films they made together. It was originally recorded on February 7, 1981, during a Harold Lloyd Master Seminar at the American Film Institute in Los Ange...

  • Gunnar Björnstrand on THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

    The following fifteen-minute audio interview with actor Gunnar Björnstrand was conducted by film critic Gideon Bachmann and recorded at the Berlin Film Festival in 1962.