In the film, the three sisters get together because their sister is seriously ill, but the atmosphere is very complicated. There is a scene where the maid Anna helps the second sister Karin to change. The black dress is taken off, the first white petticoat, the second white petticoat, a short top, a corset, a white underwear skirt, and stockings. Then put on the pyjama dress, and the pyjama coat. The maid went out with a big bag of clothes. Their lives seem to be the process of changing clothes, delicate, complicated, silent and depressing.
Depressed films often come from Europe, because Americans' carefree personality makes them better at making lively Hollywood films. Americans' straightforwardness lies in the fact that they do not have a heavy history and do not have too many rules to follow. Their cumbersome decorations in the film are only part of the history. Because of history, everything is more inclined to follow than to do whatever you want. Resistance is often sneaky, self-mutilating, self-defeating. For example, the second sister Karin and the younger sister Maria. They are willing to drown in this repression.
The eldest sister Annie in the film is someone who doesn't want to be depressed. Annie is active in her heart, but in reality she still dare not show it, except for the pain and smile that she can't hide. She wrote in her diary how happy she was to have her sisters with her, but when the sisters entered the house, she lay back on the bed and said nothing. But to Anna, she is not afraid to show her feelings. She told Anna that you were too far away, so Anna went to hug her and fell asleep. To the sisters, only after her death did she show her affection, she wanted them to hold her hand, get close to her, and kiss her, but she was rejected by the sisters. Or Anna, like a mother, warm her with her arms and let her rest in peace.
The repressed affection lies in the fact that there is a relationship between people that cannot be separated. So things like Annie's resentment towards her mother, her sisters' jealousy towards Maria, and Karin's indifference towards her relatives, cannot be completely eliminated. But the shadow of childhood makes these negative emotions stronger than strangers. Deep down, they are all afraid.
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