Cries & Whispers

A woman lays dying of cancer in a remote country estate (Harriet Andersson) and receives no comfort from her emotionally cold, self-serving sisters (Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Thulin), and gains her only comfort from saintly and mistreated servant (Kari Sylwan). Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers astonishingly and in a quietly moving manner finds hope and affirmation in a harsh, castigating, and utterly bleak story. The film is brilliantly shot in profuse reds and whites and expertly acted by a band of Bergman familiars. *** 1/2 out of ****