Winter Light

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Year Released: 1963
Rating: 3.0

The 'winter' part of the title - and the film being set during that season - is so very appropriate: the harsh, icy conditions (and sporadic bursts of light through the window) suggest despair and hopelessness in part two of Bergman's Trilogy of Faith. It's as simple as the director gets and, as expected, as serious - the main character, a miserable pastor, cannot help himself out (he's still grieving over the death of his wife, he's losing parishioners, he can't love any other woman again) so how is he expected to be of assistance to anyone else? It shows a world in which religion is becoming less relevant, because the entity everyone's been praying to for guidance may not be listening at all.