Winter Light (Swedish: Nattvardsgästerna) is a 1962 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Bergman regulars Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. Its original Swedish title translates as "The Communicants." The film follows Tomas Ericsson (Björnstrand), pastor of a small rural Swedish church, as he questions the existence of God and his faith is replaced with doubt, apathy and anger.
Bergman cited Winter L...
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Winter Light (Swedish: Nattvardsgästerna) is a 1962 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Bergman regulars Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. Its original Swedish title translates as "The Communicants." The film follows Tomas Ericsson (Björnstrand), pastor of a small rural Swedish church, as he questions the existence of God and his faith is replaced with doubt, apathy and anger.
Bergman cited Winter Light as his favorite among his films. It is sometimes considered the second in his 'Trilogy of Faith', the first film being Through a Glass Darkly and the third The Silence.
The film opens with the final moments of Tomas's noon service. In attendance are only a handful of people, including fisherman Jonas Persson and his wife Karin (von Sydow and Gunnel Lindblom), and Tomas's ex-mistress, the atheistic Märta (Ingrid Thulin). After the service, Tomas, though coming down with a cold, prepares for his 3 o'clock service in another town.
Before he...
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