3 By Bergman

The Dark Night Of The Soul Never Looked So Good

People ask me, "Ingmar Bergman. He's a laugh riot, isn't he?"

Perhaps not. Though he did crank out a comedy or two (Smiles of a Summer's Night, I'm looking at you...), Bergman's known for his ponderous, thought-provoking examinations of spiritual crisis: man's loss of meaning and faith in the modern world. Existentialism 101 in other words...

Not your cup of (strong, black) tea if you were weaned on Armaggedon, perhaps. But then there are those of us who'd rather give ourselves up to the full six hours of Scenes From A Marriage than be punched repeatedly in the face by Willis, Aflac and company...

So if you like your spiritual crises protracted and unresolved, check out Ingmar Bergman: A Film Trilogy. Comprised of Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light and The Silence, these films tells us stringent, painful things about ourselves.

I'll never forget the scene in Winter Light, where Max Von Sydow's simple peasant comes to his pastor (played by Gunnar Bjornstrand) for succor. He questions his faith and has thoughts of suicide. He puts it bluntly, in effect: "What's to stop me from going down to the river and shooting myself?" The pastor mulls it over and responds (also in paraphrase): "I don't know what to tell you. I can't help you. You might be better off." And so the fisherman goes off and does precisely that. The pastor is called in to perform last rites. He goes through the motions. It's all that's left.

Potent stuff, if you've got the taste for it. If not, National Treasure: Book of Secrets is surely playing in a theater near you...