edwards drive-in

watched the first film of bergman's trilogy of faith last night--"through a glass darkly". it won a best foreign film academy award and it has an amazing performance by a woman named harriet andersson that is completely over the top, as is much of the movie. remember the really dramatic black and white perfume ads way back when? now I know where they come from.

there was a very foppish british critic who gives a ten minute commentary on the dvd extras and he claims that bergman is at the height of his powers starting with this film. he also talks about the water and the setting and that it's a chamber piece and a lot of things that critics talk about. like I said, it's over the top, but I think it's worth watching, if only for the character named minus who is obviously closeted and basically threatens to bounce out of the frame in almost every scene.

sample dialogue from the character who plays the father-- "one draws a magic circle around oneself to keep everything out that doesn't fit one's secret games. each time life breaks through the circle the games become puny and ridiculous. so one draws a new circle and builds new defenses."

which makes me think of something else, swedish has such a unique sound. I found myself through-out the entire movie trying to pick out words and compare them to the subtitles as they went by.