Nattvardsgästerna (1963)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 81 minuten
Alternative titles: De Avondmaalsgasten / Winter Light
Country:
Sweden
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
Stars: Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand and Gunnel Lindblom
IMDb score:
8,0 (29.920)
Releasedate: 11 February 1963
Nattvardsgästerna plot
On a cold winter Sunday, while suffering from an emerging flu and undergoing a crisis in his faith, Pastor Tomas Ericsson runs a small church to minister to a small community. After the service, he tries to comfort a fisherman plagued by fears, but Tomas can only speak of his disturbed relationship with God. The schoolmistress Märta Lundberg offers him love as a consolation for his loss in the faith. Thomas is harsh.
Actors and actresses
Tomas Ericsson
Märta Lundberg
Karin Persson
Jonas Persson
Algot Frövik
Knut Aronsson
Fredrik Blom
Magdalena Ledfors
Johan Åkerblom (uncredited)
Hanna Appelblad (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14941 messages
- 4718 votes
Another real Bergman bursting with ideas, but I don't think film is the best medium for that. Fascinating and the pace is fine, but also a completely cold film because it never gives the idea of acting, but mainly sprays ideas. Then atmosphere, high-contrast black-and-white photography and a decent Björnstrand can still be good, but really going along with the film is not possible. A bit the same problem as with Tarkovsky, but Bergman at least gives a good story to follow on the surface and therefore the film does not get boring. 3.5*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Roger Thornhill
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- 6236 messages
- 2566 votes
Beautiful film about existential doubts of people who are just as isolated as the buildings in their landscape, and where an attempt at a helping hand soon goes wrong. Ingrid Thulin makes a big impression as Märta, outwardly a gray mouse (which the actually wonderful actress still has to put in a lot of effort for) but with a turbulent inner life, and Max von Sydow ( who already seems to be almost dead when he the reverend comes to see) is more brittle and fragile than ever, but for me this is otherwise completely Gunnar Björnstrand's film (although he is briefly overshadowed at the end by Allan Edwall's small but impressive role as the modest sexton). Reverend Ericsson is a pitiable figure, and although we witness how a newfound lucidity reveals itself to him, this does not automatically make the viewer sympathize with him - he remains (still) too armored in his loneliness and his egocentrism (but who knows what the future will bring?).
Well stated by IMDb: Although Björnstrand was lesser known than other regular Bergman actors like Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, he was perhaps the most chameleon-like of them all - it's hard to imagine that this is the same man as the burly squire you don't get along with. want to find a quarrel in The seventh seal.
Every now and then you learn something new. While googling reviews of this film, I came across a site that reads: "The theme of the religious father, but also the hypocrisy of the spiritual life, probably [because of Bergman's tyrannical father] plays like a red thread through Bergman's life. For example, in the film The Supper Guests, a pastor who is addicted to pornography plays." So, I think, he was there early on!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Again not a simple, but strong Bergman. We follow the Reverend Tomas who undergoes a crisis of faith regarding God and himself. What should you do next as a sheep when the shepherd himself has lost the path? Some cling desperately to the belief because it is so and has never been different. It is the core of their soul and existence. Others despair and throw themselves into their misfortune, hopelessly devastated and lost...
The Supper Guests is a soberly dressed film. Cold and distant too. Everything rests on the excellent dialogues and strong acting. As the film progresses, the character of the pastor comes into its own better and better. You also start to better place the how and why. The final scene after the verger's explanation about faith and suffering also lifts the film to a higher dimension.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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