Synopsis

Small-town pastor Tomas performs his duties mechanically before a dwindling congregation, including his stubbornly devoted lover, Märta.

When he is asked to assuage a troubled parishioner’s fear of nuclear annihilation, Tomas is terrified to find that he can provide nothing but his own doubt.



Cast: Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Gunnel Lindblom, Allan Edwall, Kolbjörn Knudsen, Olof Thunberg, Elsa Ebbesen


The film is the second in a series of thematically related films, following Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and followed by The Silence (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. Vilgot Sjöman's film Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie was made simultaneously with Winter Light and documents its production. The feature received positive reviews for its cinematography and themes.