Well this is one helluva film.

There's so much going on here that I don't think I could do justice to it in a mini-review, but, suffice to say, I'm very glad that Bergman decided to grow up and do away with his dialogue-heavy obsession with God.

It really feels like Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad (and, by extension, Kubrick's The Shining) with its massive, spooky hotel and eclectic, bizarre cast of characters, but, like those two films, there's much more going on underneath the surface. The title refers to "God's Silence", a problem Bergman has wrestled with throughout his career, and here, finally, God is absent. Only once is his name even mentioned; his characters seem to have ceased caring whether he exists or not. Thank him for that.

In place of the solemn, wordy monologues Bergman had previously used, then, we get much more aesthetic and interesting moments. Buoyed by some beautiful cinematography and a sheer lack of meaningful dialogue, scenes like meeting the dwarves, or the tank rolling into town, are given higher symbolic and mythic significance. The mere fact that the town is located in no recognizable country attests to this. It's not tuned into or tied down to reality as in Winter Light or Through a Glass Darkly; it's highly dreamlike and fantastical. As a result, it's easily my favourite Bergman film to date.

I can't wait to watch Persona now.

too bad this is a 60 dollar box.

I can't say I'm surprised, but you really missed something. At the very least, there were chicks masturbating and having sex and cavorting topless! How can you sleep through that?

You really must be gay.

bergman with god is amazing, but bergman without god is even amazinger. second best after persona.