Although, as one of Bergman’s masterpieces, the film "Screams and Whispers" is well-known, if you want to evaluate it in one sentence, the first sentence I think of is-this movie is really Not so good-looking.
To explain this sentence, we must first clearly state the word "good-looking". When simply saying "good-looking", it generally expresses appreciation and praise, but if there is a "no" before it, it means "difficult to understand". The film "Shouting and Whispering" just corresponds to these two meanings.
In the general sense, the "good-looking" recognized by the audience is its first meaning, and when it comes to movies, it is attractive. In this way, the fascinating plot, the cleverly conceived structure, and the pleasing protagonist are undoubtedly the goals pursued by a film. But obviously, "Screaming and Whispers" did not pay attention to these elements. The film revolves around four women in a secluded manor from beginning to end. Their pain is framed only by memories, and there is not much plot to speak of. , Even the original beautifully toned picture is greatly compromised by the close-ups of the characters’ facial expressions. If this is the standard, it does not meet the "good-looking" standard.
Therefore, if you watch a movie just to entertain your mind and body, this movie is obviously inappropriate. To understand it, you naturally have to jump out of the general aesthetic standards, starting from why it is "not good-looking" (that is, it is not easy to understand). And this is not good-looking, the first thing that bears the brunt is the dizzying red in the picture.
As Bergman himself said: "All my films can be summarized in black and white films, but apart from "Scream and Whisper", this is my only color film." In this film, red is almost Dominate every scene that takes place in this mansion, from the wallpaper to the carpet, from the curtains to the wine, all present a dark blood red color, even if the people in the play are caught in memory, they have to go through that red. This is not an expressionist work. The reason why the director daubed the blood red so boldly was not out of pure picture effects. In the context of this movie, red is a special metaphor.
In terms of color, red is a symbol of enthusiasm, unrestrainedness, and vitality, but in this film, the red walls did not add much lively atmosphere to the film. On the contrary, in the red world they constructed Here is full of suffocating depression and unspeakable pain. This contrast is due to two words-claustrophobia. Just imagine, if the red paint is not the inner wall of the house, but the outer wall, what it would be like. The open red gives people hope, while the red claustrophobic in the house makes people think of a claustrophobic inner world, a soul that has been imprisoned for many years.
This is the metaphor of red set by Bergman.
Only by realizing this can one walk into the film, into the house, into the red inner world, into the depths of the souls of Agnes, Maria, Karin, and Anna, into their pain and suffering. Lonely. In the film, red itself is first of all claustrophobic, and its existence is a kind of isolation. The director's use of red effectively creates an independent space and isolates the people who enter. Against the incomparably pure red background, all the mundane noise is gone, even the bells that appeared at that time are just another manifestation of "Birdsong Mountain is more secluded".
Quiet, a quiet, only in such a quiet, it is suitable to examine the heart and think about some metaphysical issues, such as death, such as the separation between people...
Heidegger once used this word to describe the birth of a person: being thrown away. It means that people are thrown into the world. Therefore, the sense of loneliness that has no place to rely on always exists deep in their hearts, prompting people to seek the love of others. Although the gap is always there, loneliness cannot be redeemed, but living, With the struggle to get rid of loneliness, there is the hope of no longer being alone. And death, because the struggle is no longer necessary and hope is no longer possible, and the meaning of loneliness is obliterated and becomes nothingness. In the film, Agnes feels the pain of her mother trying to get close but not being able to get close, Karin cannot bear the pain of being touched by others, and Maria’s desire for the doctor is all due to the unspeakable sense of loneliness in her heart, and the distance between the three of them is also Just because each other can't walk into each other's heart and share each other's loneliness. Because although people seek the love of others in order to get rid of loneliness, loneliness is exclusive in nature. Therefore, even though Karin and Maria had a brief emotional exchange after Agnes's death, they finally couldn't get close, and could only choose to continue to protect themselves with a diaphragm.
And the period in which Agnes came back from the dead is even more meaningful. On the road from loneliness to nothingness, Agnes's soul was not reconciled. So she returned to find her sisters, but what she got was not their sincere embrace, but unstoppable fear and disgust. In the face of death, we saw the truth in their hearts and the lonely nature that people could not get rid of.
Of course, finally the maid Anna came in and let Agnes lean against her warm chest, soothing the unwilling soul of the deceased. However, the picture was full of imagery. Anna's posture in her arms was almost a meter. A reprint of the sculpture "The Pieta" by Cherangelo. Under the director's careful arrangement, Anna has undoubtedly become a symbol of the Virgin Mary full of love and compassion, and has completed the redemption of the dead in a religious sense.
However, for the living, they are about to escape from the enclosed red world, escape the dialogue with their own claustrophobic heart, escape the inextricable loneliness, however, even if they are thrown into the noisy and lively world, they are just self-deception to escape. Because the claustrophobic red is still there, once you walk in, you can't get out again.
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