Winter Light

Winter Light is a 1963 Swedish drama film written and directed by <a href="/facts/Ingmar_Bergman/bg2u5Flu">Ingmar Bergman</a> and starring his regulars, <a href="/facts/Gunnar_Bj%C3%B6rnstrand/owFKKKxC">Gunnar Björnstrand</a>, <a href="/facts/Ingrid_Thulin/Y8qNTI9z">Ingrid Thulin</a> and <a href="/facts/Max_von_Sydow/zPkK466a">Max von Sydow</a>. It follows Tomas Ericsson (Björnstrand), pastor of a small rural Swedish church, as he deals with an <a href="/facts/Existential_crisis/yp5GkbdE">existential crisis</a> and his Christianity.
The film is the second in a series of thematically related films, following <a href="/facts/Through_a_Glass_Darkly_(film)/eSLDe0a4">Through a Glass Darkly</a> (1961) and followed by <a href="/facts/The_Silence_(1963_film)/SeRJuU6d">The Silence</a> (1963); this is sometimes considered a trilogy. In it, Bergman reconsiders Through a Glass Darkly's argument that God is love, and repeated the prior film's reference to God as a monstrous spider.
Bergman formed the story after speaking to a clergyman whose parishioner committed suicide. It was shot in different locations in Sweden in 1962. <a href="/facts/Vilgot_Sj%C3%B6man/YVLQ2VFX">Vilgot Sjöman</a>'s film <a href="/facts/Ingmar_Bergman_Makes_a_Movie/WzbGSGEy">Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie</a> was made simultaneously with Winter Light and documents its production. The feature received positive reviews for its cinematography and themes.

Winter Light open-in-new

Winter Light