What struck me more than anything on this my second viewing of 'Through A Glass Darkly' was the stunningly beautiful cinematography of Sven Nykvist.
Certainly Harriett Andersson's astonishing performance draws most of the plaudits, and rightfully so as it compares favourably with the best of the performances by the more acclaimed Liv Ullmann, but given that she is the emotional core of the film, the film, ultimately, will live or die depending on the viewer's reaction to it.
But Nykvist's use of light and shade, particularly in the indoor scenes, and most of those involving Andersson, helps create a world of alternately bleak and serene beauty.
When I first saw it, almost 20 years ago, I considered it to be the quintessence of Bergman for its bleakness and emotional intensity, but, the quality of the Criterion DVD print helps to better place it in its proper, fully drawn relief, as my previous viewing was of a somewhat sub-standard vhs recording from a television broadcast.
Gunnar Bjornstrand's less showy performance provides the perfect contrast to Andersson's; although Max Von Sydow is the most identified of the male Bergman stars,-perhaps because of his international roles, - for me Bjornstrand is consistently head and shoulders above all the others, as he is here.
I don't actually believe I've seen him in an English Language film, but I have good cause to believe that he could have eked out a very lucrative career as a character actor.
Interesting, in light of the comparisons I'm making with Wallander is that Sydow here looks remarkably like the actor who played Lina's father in the most recent 'Wallander' episode I saw: about the missing chorister
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