Stifled By The Darkness

Because I think of WILD STRAWBERRIES as one of Bergman's most positive and life-affirming movies, I chose it as a doorway to introduce his work to my last girlfriend. She hated the film, called it "too dark," and could not be persuaded to watch anything else by Bergman.

I have to concede that the film's warm, serene ending comes at the cost of great struggle by the characters. Anxieties, bleak memories, losses, nightmares: all of these are pitfalls on the way to reconciliation and peace, so much so that any viewer coming into the story halfway through could easily mistake this for a horror film.

What is horror: a result, or a process?

Many stories and films deal with a process of horror, but reach a happy ending -- a well-deserved, painfully-gained sense of closure in the daylight. I would never suggest that such films are less fascinating or beautiful than films that result in horror. BLUE VELVET, INLAND EMPIRE, ORPHÉE, VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS, VAMPYR, CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, THE QUEEN OF SPADES: these end in daylight or in peace, but I still consider them great films that would appeal to horror viewers.

On the other hand, I think of horror as a result, as a mood that remains and overwhelms a story. My favourite horror films leave me in the dark: DAY OF WRATH, DEAD OF NIGHT, SECONDS, LES YEUX SANS VISAGE, PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, THE INNOCENTS, L'ANNÉ DERNIÈRE À MARIENBAD, SOLARIS, IVAN'S CHILDHOOD, THE BODY SNATCHER, LEMORA.

Many of Bergman's films also lead into darkness: WINTER LIGHT, SHAME, HOUR OF THE WOLF, PERSONA, THE SERPENT'S EGG. Other films are equally horrific, but end with a hard-won mood of hope: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, WILD STRAWBERRIES, and perhaps even THE SILENCE.

As my last girlfriend made clear to me, for some people, a happy result might not cancel out an unhappy process. For them, a story might end in daylight, but their memories of that experience are stifled by the darkness.