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The Silence 15 rating

Two sisters, one ailing, the other with her young son, check into a hotel in a foreign city readying itself for war, in Ingmar Bergman's nightmarish vision of emotional isolation.

Drama 1963 95 mins

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Overview

Heading home after a long trip, two sisters, one ailing, the other with her young son, check into a hotel in a foreign city readying itself for war; the gulf between them grows as both, in their different ways, submit to erotic longing (depicted surprisingly explicitly). As nightmarish (and grotesquely amusing) as Kafka, this largely wordless film explores the all-consuming human need for communication and kindness.

The concluding film in Ingmar Bergman's 'Faith Trilogy' (the films are thematically related but not directly related), The Silence frank sex sequences were trimmed by 35 seconds for its original 1964 release despite the BBFC's award of an 'X' certificate.