Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Through a Glass Darkly

Original title: Såsom i en spegel
  • 19611961
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
26K
YOUR RATING
Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer2:16
1 Video
89 Photos
Drama
Recently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by G... Read allRecently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.Recently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
26K
YOUR RATING
    • Ingmar Bergman
    • Ingmar Bergman
  • Stars
    • Harriet Andersson
    • Gunnar Björnstrand
    • Max von Sydow
    • Ingmar Bergman
    • Ingmar Bergman
  • Stars
    • Harriet Andersson
    • Gunnar Björnstrand
    • Max von Sydow
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 86User reviews
    • 46Critic reviews
    • 84Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:16
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos89

    Harriet Andersson and Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Max von Sydow, Harriet Andersson, and Gunnar Björnstrand in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Harriet Andersson and Gunnar Björnstrand in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Max von Sydow and Harriet Andersson in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Harriet Andersson and Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Max von Sydow and Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Gunnar Björnstrand in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Harriet Andersson and Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Lars Passgård in Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Harriet Andersson
    Harriet Andersson
    • Karin…
    Gunnar Björnstrand
    Gunnar Björnstrand
    • David…
    Max von Sydow
    Max von Sydow
    • Martin…
    Lars Passgård
    Lars Passgård
    • Minus…
      • Ingmar Bergman
      • Ingmar Bergman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Winter Light
    8.0
    Winter Light
    The Silence
    7.8
    The Silence
    The Virgin Spring
    8.1
    The Virgin Spring
    Cries & Whispers
    8.0
    Cries & Whispers
    Shame
    8.0
    Shame
    Hour of the Wolf
    7.5
    Hour of the Wolf
    The Magician
    7.6
    The Magician
    Autumn Sonata
    8.1
    Autumn Sonata
    The Passion of Anna
    7.6
    The Passion of Anna
    Wild Strawberries
    8.1
    Wild Strawberries
    Smiles of a Summer Night
    7.7
    Smiles of a Summer Night
    Summer with Monika
    7.5
    Summer with Monika

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The first Ingmar Bergman film to be made on the island of Fårö. Bergman would later buy a home on the island.
    • Goofs
      As Minus paints the chair, the amount of paint on the chair changes between shots.
    • Quotes

      Fredrik: Father, I'm scared. When I was hugging Karin in the boat, reality was revealed. Do you know what I mean?

      David: I do.

      Fredrik: Reality was revealed, and I collapsed. It's like a dream. Anything can happen. Anything.

      David: I know.

      Fredrik: I can't live in this new world.

      David: Yes, you can. But you must have a support.

      Fredrik: What kind of support? You mean a God? Give me a proof of his existance. You can't.

      David: I can. But you gotta pay attention to what I say.

      Fredrik: Yes. I need to listen.

      David: I can only tell you a thought of my own hopes. It is to know that love exists for real in the human world.

      Fredrik: A sort of special love, I suppose?

      David: All kinds of it. The bigger and the smaller, the most absurd one and the most sublime one. All kinds of love.

      Fredrik: What about the desire for love?

      David: Desire and denying. Trust and distrust.

      Fredrik: Then love is the proof?

      David: I don't know if love is the proof of God's existance or if it's God itself.

      Fredrik: To you, love and God are the same thing.

      David: That thought makes me feel less empty; Makes my desperation less worse.

      Fredrik: Go on, dad.

      David: All of a sudden, emptiness turns into abundance, and desperation turns into life. It's like a temporary death's sentence strike.

      Fredrik: Dad... if it's like how you say it is, then God is all over Karin. We love her so much.

      David: Yes.

      Fredrik: Can't that help her?

      David: I think so.

    • Connections
      Featured in Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film (2002)
    • Soundtracks
      Sarabande from Suite No. 2 in D minor for Violoncello
      Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performed by Blondal Bengston.

    User reviews86

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    absolutely touching and penetrating, tragic and sad
    this is one of bergman's most serious and devastating, sometimes horribly depressing and (it's only flaw) a little too heavy handed for even the toughest and healthiest viewers. it is fascinating to watch bergman come to terms with the absence of god and man's tragic isolation in an indifferent universe through the art he uses like no one else could or does, the art of film. karin is a mentally disordered young woman, intensely loved by her family and well cared for but nonetheless subject to bouts of extreme madness and delusions of divinity that are so convincing and well performed as to be hard to watch (particularly the scene where she is convinced that a deity disguised as a spider is going to crawl out of a closet). although it ends on a semi hopeful note, the film's atmosphere is largely one of sterility, emotional dryness, impoverishment and despair. karin lives on an isolated island just as we inhabit a vast, incomprehensible universe that is essentially little but a doomed speck of dust in a monstrous cosmos that does not care. i think there can be little debate as to the correct interpretation of this movie, which is the utter void at the center of false human beliefs and illusions of happiness or omnipotence. order is a lie and religious belief is founded on deliberate self deception. a masterpiece of the most passionate artistry and integrity.
    helpful•53
    13
    • reasonbran234
    • Nov 4, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 16, 1961 (Sweden)
      • Sweden
      • Swedish
      • Latin
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Fårö, Gotlands län, Sweden
    • Production company
      • Svensk Filmindustri (SF)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 30 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Mono

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Through a Glass Darkly (1961) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.