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Cries and Whispers

Play trailer Poster for Cries and Whispers R 1972 1h 35m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 37 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
As Agnes (Harriet Andersson) slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so deeply immersed in their own psychic pains that they can't offer her the support she needs. Maria (Liv Ullmann) is wracked with guilt at her husband's suicide, caused by his discovery of her extramarital affair. The self-loathing, suicidal Karin (Ingrid Thulin) seems to regard her sister with revulsion. Only Anna (Kari Sylwan), the deeply religious maid who lost her young child, seems able to offer Agnes solace and empathy.
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Cries and Whispers

Cries and Whispers

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Critics Consensus

Visually stunning and achingly performed, Ingmar Bergman's chamber piece is a visceral rumination on death and sisterhood.

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Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker 09/29/2023
There’s a dullness at the heart of the movie, and the allegorical scheme leads to scenes that recall the conventions of silent films and the clichés of second-rate movie acting. Go to Full Review
Kevin Maher The Times (UK) 04/01/2022
4/5
Bergman is simultaneously at his most brilliant and most brutal in this unforgiving 90-minute psychodrama... Go to Full Review
Peter Bradshaw Guardian 03/31/2022
5/5
This film burns, like ice held to the skin. Go to Full Review
Lauren Lee Screen Slate Aug 25
Rather than disrupting the bitterness spread across the film, these idyllic sequences feel laden with the same paranoia that plagues the other sisters. After all, a diary is the language one addresses to oneself. Go to Full Review
Daniel Barnes Dare Daniel Oct 29
4.5/5
Working in off-brand ivory-white and blood-red, Bergman delivers a blistering chamber drama that lives on a knife's edge of chilling contradictions. Go to Full Review
Julian Singleton Cinapse 07/12/2025
For an endless rumination on human suffering and fleeting connection, Cries and Whispers is a sumptuous, sensuous film. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Junior S @RT39899143 4d Perhaps for the first time in movie history, here is one that could absolutely not have been shot in B&W without altering its fundamental nature. From the first moments we see the scarlet red, it conjures images of love,desire, hate, sex, blood, and death. The chambered environment becomes its own character in the movie, and moves the characters to feel and act accordingly; it lives with and in the characters, forming and accenting them. Outstanding, masterful work from Bergman. See more thiago S @Thiagostone Jun 11 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Luca D @JoeCamel7 12/12/2024 A very haunting and disturbing depiction of death, and all of the drama and uncomfortable feelings that follow. The cinematography is great though the 1970s face zoom ins were pretty cheesy. The set and costume design is amazing. The acting is perfect. I like how this Bergman film is less about religion and more about reality. Would watch again definitely. See more Leaburn O @RT35452347 10/16/2024 Sorry but that was just dull, with a few noteworthy scenes interspersed in the boredom. Generally I find Bergman hard to watch but a few of his pictures are bearable. This isn’t one of them and I don’t understand why it is so revered by film critics. Watched on SKY Cinema. See more CodyZamboni @CodyZamboni 09/03/2023 Movie starts off and ends strong, with an amazing use of the color red throughout. But my empathy for the characters went downhill as the movie progressed, as the characters started acting more wacky, See more Thomas V @TomVee 01/04/2023 This film is tough going, but in the best way. There's so much to unpack here, but the cinematography and use of color is brilliant. This is harsh subject matter, but well worth it. See more Read all reviews
Cries and Whispers

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Movie Info

Synopsis As Agnes (Harriet Andersson) slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so deeply immersed in their own psychic pains that they can't offer her the support she needs. Maria (Liv Ullmann) is wracked with guilt at her husband's suicide, caused by his discovery of her extramarital affair. The self-loathing, suicidal Karin (Ingrid Thulin) seems to regard her sister with revulsion. Only Anna (Kari Sylwan), the deeply religious maid who lost her young child, seems able to offer Agnes solace and empathy.
Director
Ingmar Bergman
Producer
Lars-Owe Carlberg, Ingmar Bergman
Screenwriter
Ingmar Bergman
Distributor
New World Pictures, Criterion Collection
Production Co
Cinematograph AB, Svenska Filminstitutet
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Swedish
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 21, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Runtime
1h 35m
Sound Mix
Mono
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