8.3
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Drama • 1972 • 95 min • Adults (18+)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Overview
Ingmar Bergman's 1972 Swedish chamber drama follows three sisters gathered at a country house as one of them dies of cancer, exposing the emotional coldness and quiet failures that pass between them. The Leans Traditional label is mild and earned through a mix of competing signals. Christianity appears in a quietly positive light, which is unusual for a filmmaker often associated with anguished doubt. The family structure, however, is portrayed as a site of suffering rather than comfort, with marriages running cold and intimacy largely absent. These forces roughly offset each other, leaving the film closer to traditional territory mostly through its period aesthetic, its absence of progressive identity themes, and its religious texture.
Starring Cast
Harriet Andersson • Liv Ullmann • Kari Sylwan
Where to watch
Rating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Leans Traditional
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Family Values: Strongly Progressive
Christianity: Positive
Viewer Rating
8.3
Overview
Ingmar Bergman's 1972 Swedish chamber drama follows three sisters gathered at a country house as one of them dies of cancer, exposing the emotional coldness and quiet failures that pass between them. The Leans Traditional label is mild and earned through a mix of competing signals. Christianity appears in a quietly positive light, which is unusual for a filmmaker often associated with anguished doubt. The family structure, however, is portrayed as a site of suffering rather than comfort, with marriages running cold and intimacy largely absent. These forces roughly offset each other, leaving the film closer to traditional territory mostly through its period aesthetic, its absence of progressive identity themes, and its religious texture.
Starring Cast
Harriet Andersson • Liv Ullmann • Kari Sylwan
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Leans Traditional
Primary
Political: Center
Confidence: High
The film's central focus is on universal themes of existential suffering, emotional isolation, and the human search for connection in the face of death, rather than specific political ideologies or societal critiques.
Diversity: Low
Confidence: High
The movie features traditional casting for its time and setting, with no apparent intentional diversity-driven choices. Its narrative focuses on profound psychological and existential themes within a family drama, rather than explicitly critiquing traditional identities or centering on DEI themes.
Secondary
Family Values: Strongly Progressive
Confidence: High
The film portrays the traditional family unit as a source of profound emotional suffering, isolation, and dysfunction, with marriages characterized by coldness and infidelity, and parenting by neglect, thereby strongly critiquing traditional family norms.
Christianity: Positive
Confidence: High
The film portrays Christianity as a significant source of both comfort and profound struggle for its characters. While suffering tests faith, the narrative respectfully depicts the search for spiritual solace and the compassionate acts of devotion, particularly through the character of Anna, aligning with the dignity of the faith.
LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: High
Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers explores the complex dynamics of sisterhood, suffering, and human connection within a confined setting. The film delves deeply into the emotional lives of its female protagonists and their relationships, but it does not include any discernible LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The narrative is entirely centered on heterosexual relationships and familial bonds.
Trans: N/A
Confidence: High
Cries and Whispers does not feature any identifiable transgender characters or explore themes related to gender identity or transition. The narrative centers on the intense emotional dynamics between three cisgender sisters and their maid as one sister dies, focusing on themes of pain, grief, and female relationships. No plot points or character arcs touch upon transsexual experiences.
Female Combat: N/R
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High
Cries and Whispers is an original screenplay by Ingmar Bergman. It does not adapt characters from prior source material, historical records, or previous installments, meaning there are no pre-established character genders to be swapped.
Race Swap: No
Confidence: High
Cries and Whispers is an original film with characters created for the screenplay. There is no prior source material, historical record, or previous adaptation to establish a canonical race for any character that could then be changed.
Hinduism: N/A
Confidence: High
Not depicted in the film.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
7.9
7.9
Critic Ratings
9.2
N/A
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