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{{Short description|1972 Swedish period psychological drama film by Ingmar Bergman}}
{{About|the Swedish film|the album by Dominic Duval|Cries and Whispers (album)}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Cries and Whispers
| image          = Criesandwhispers.jpg
| caption        = Swedish theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Ingmar Bergman]]
| producer       = Lars-Owe Carlberg
| writer         = Ingmar Bergman
| narrator       = 
| starring       = [[Harriet Andersson]]<br />[[Kari Sylwan]]<br />[[Ingrid Thulin]]<br />[[Liv Ullmann]]
| music          = [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]<br />[[Frédéric Chopin]]
| cinematography = [[Sven Nykvist]]
| editing        = Siv Lundgren
| studio         = [[AB Svensk Filmindustri|Svensk Filmindustri]]
| distributor =
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1972|12|21|United States|1973|3|5|Sweden|ref2={{sfn|Steene|2005|p=299}}}}
| runtime        = 91 minutes{{sfn|Shargel|2007|p=xv}}
| country        = Sweden
| language       = Swedish
| budget         = $450,000{{sfn|Shargel|2007|p=133}}
| gross          = SEK 2,130,705 (Sweden)<br />$1.5 million (U.S.){{sfn|Corman|Jerome|1990|p=190}}<br />$3.5 million<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/294/mode/1up|title= American film distribution : the changing marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=294|isbn= 978-0-8357-1776-2}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref>
}}
'''''Cries And Whispers''''' ({{langx|sv|'''Viskningar Och Rop'''|lit=Whispers And Cries}}) is a 1972 Swedish [[psychological drama]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Emma |title=Cries and Whispers: Love and Death |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3511-cries-and-whispers-love-and-death |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=The Criterion Collection |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cries and Whispers |url=https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/production/cries-and-whispers |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=www.ingmarbergman.se |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cowie |first=Peter |date=2022-12-30 |title=A Drama of Death in Vivid Color |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-drama-of-death-in-vivid-color-cries-and-whispers-ingmar-bergman-11672434811 |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> film written and directed by [[Ingmar Bergman]] and starring [[Harriet Andersson]], [[Kari Sylwan]], [[Ingrid Thulin]] and [[Liv Ullmann]]. The film, set in a mansion at the end of the 19th century, is about three sisters and a servant who struggle with the terminal cancer of one of the sisters (Andersson). The servant (Sylwan) is close to her, while the other two sisters (Ullmann and Thulin) confront their emotional distance from each other.

Inspired by Bergman's mother, Karin Åkerblom, and his vision of four women in a red room, ''Cries and Whispers'' was filmed at [[Taxinge-Näsby Castle]] in 1971. Its themes include faith, the [[Feminine psychology|female psyche]] and the search for meaning in suffering, and academics have found Biblical allusions. Unlike previous Bergman films, it uses saturated colour, [[crimson]] in particular.

After its premiere in the United States, distributed by [[Roger Corman]] and [[New World Pictures]], the film was released in Sweden and screened out of competition at the [[1973 Cannes Film Festival]]. Following two unsuccessful films by Bergman, ''Cries and Whispers'' was a critical and commercial success. It received five [[46th Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations, including one for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] (rare for a foreign-language film). Cinematographer [[Sven Nykvist]] won the [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography]], and ''Cries and Whispers'' won the [[Guldbagge Award for Best Film]] and other honours.

The film inspired stage adaptations by [[Ivo van Hove]] and [[Andrei Șerban]] and influenced later cinema. It was commemorated on [[Postage stamps and postal history of Sweden|Swedish postage stamps]] referring to a scene in which Andersson and Sylwan replicate the ''[[Pietà]]''. It is often ranked among Bergman's finest works.

==Plot==
In a large 19th-century mansion with red walls and carpets, Agnes is dying of [[uterine cancer]].{{efn|Agnes' illness is identified as cancer of the womb by numerous authors.{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=147}}{{sfn|Tapper|2017|pp=100-101}}{{sfn|Luko|2015}} }} Her sisters, Maria and Karin, arrive at their childhood home and take turns with the maid, Anna, watching over Agnes. Anna, more religious than the sisters, prays after she lost her young daughter. When Agnes's doctor David visits, he sees his former lover Maria. Maria remembers their [[adultery|affair]] and her failed marriage with her husband Joakim, who stabbed himself non-fatally in response to the adultery. David tells her that she has become more indifferent. Agnes remembers their mother, who neglected and teased her and favoured Maria, with greater understanding and recalls sharing a moment of sorrow with her. While Agnes' sisters remain emotionally distant, Anna comforts the suffering Agnes by baring her breasts and holding her at night.

Agnes dies after a long period of suffering, and at her wake the priest says that her faith was stronger than his own. Maria tells Karin that it is unusual for them to avoid touching each other or having a deep conversation. She tries to touch Karin, who recoils at the gesture. Karin recalls an earlier occasion at the mansion, where, struggling with [[self-harm]], she mutilated her genitals with a piece of broken glass to repel her husband Fredrik. Karin later dines with Maria, saying that Anna was devoted to Agnes and probably deserves a memento. She says she resents Anna's seeming familiarity with her and Maria, speaks of her own [[Suicide crisis|suicidal tendencies]], and confesses her hatred of Maria and her flirtatiousness and shallow smiles. The sisters reconcile after the argument, touching each other.

In a dream sequence, Agnes briefly returns to life and asks Karin and then Maria to approach her. Karin, repelled by the invitation, says that she still has life and does not love Agnes enough to join her. Maria approaches the [[undead]] Agnes but flees in terror when she grabs her, saying that she cannot leave her husband and children. Anna re-enters the room and takes Agnes back to bed, where she cradles the dead Agnes in her arms.

The family decides to send Anna away at the end of the month, with Fredrik refusing to award her with any additional severance pay, and the maid rejects her promised memento. Maria returns to Joakim, and Karin cannot believe Maria's claim that she does not remember their touch. Anna finds Agnes' diary with an account of a visit with Maria, Karin and Anna, with a shared, nostalgic moment on a [[Swing (seat)|swing]]. Agnes wrote that "come what may, this is happiness."

==Production==
===Development===
[[File:Viskningar och rop klänning.jpg|thumb|alt=Long, white dress in a museum|[[Ingrid Thulin]]'s dress as Karin. White dresses against a red background were a key colour motif in the film.]]
According to Bergman, he conceived the story during a lonely, unhappy time on [[Fårö]] when he wrote constantly.<ref name="Nyrerod">{{cite AV media |last1=Nyreröd |first1=Marie |last2=Bergman |first2=Ingmar |date=2015 |title=Introduction by Ingmar Bergman |work=Cries and Whispers |medium=Blu-ray |publisher=[[The Criterion Collection]]}}</ref> He described a recurring dream of four women in white clothing in a red room, whispering to each other. He said that this symbolised his childhood view of the soul as a faceless person who was black on the outside, representing shame, and red on the inside.{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=408}} The persistence of the vision indicated to Bergman that it could be a film, he said,<ref name="Nyrerod"/> and he planned a "portrait of my mother ... the great beloved of my childhood".{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=408}} Karin has the same name as Bergman's mother,{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=409}} but all four female protagonists are intended to represent aspects of her personality.{{sfn|Gervais|1999|p=120}}

A childhood memory of the [[Sophiahemmet]] mortuary also influenced the director:
{{blockquote|The young girl who had just been treated lay on a wooden table in the middle of the floor. I pulled back the sheet and exposed her. She was quite naked apart from a plaster that ran from throat to [[pudenda]]. I lifted a hand and touched her shoulder. I had heard about the chill of death, but the girl's skin was not cold but hot. I moved my hand to her breast, which was small and slack with an erect black nipple. There was dark down on her abdomen. She was breathing.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite web |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3511-cries-and-whispers-love-and-death |title=Cries and Whispers: Love and Death |publisher=The Criterion Collection |last=Wilson |first=Emma |date=2 April 2015 |access-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116133019/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3511-cries-and-whispers-love-and-death |archive-date=16 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}

Since Bergman's films were difficult to market, foreign capital was unavailable to finance the film. He decided to shoot ''Cries and Whispers'' in Swedish rather than English (as his previous film, ''[[The Touch (1971 film)|The Touch]]'', had been) and finance it through his production company, Cinematograph. Although he used 750,000 [[Swedish krona|SEK]] of his savings and borrowed 200,000 SEK, he also asked the [[Swedish Film Institute]] for help with the film's 1.5-million SEK budget. This attracted some criticism, since Bergman was not an up-and-coming director in the greatest need of subsidy.<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation>{{cite web |title=Cries and Whispers |url=http://ingmarbergman.se/en/production/cries-and-whispers |publisher=The Ingmar Bergman Foundation |access-date=28 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815061546/http://ingmarbergman.se/en/production/cries-and-whispers |archive-date=15 August 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=44}} To save money, the main actresses and Nykvist returned their salaries as loans and were nominal co-producers.{{sfn|Gado|1986|pp=397–399}}

In his book, ''Images'', Bergman wrote: "Today I feel that in ''[[Persona (1966 film)|Persona]]''—and later in ''Cries and Whispers''—I had gone as far as I could go. And that in these two instances when working in total freedom, I touched wordless secrets that only the cinema can discover".{{sfn|Vermilye|2006|p=123}} In an essay included with the DVD, critic [[Peter Cowie]] quoted the director: "All of my films can be thought of in terms of black and white, except ''Cries and Whispers''".<ref name="rogerebert.suntimes.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-cries-and-whispers-1972 |title=Cries and Whispers |last=Ebert |first=Roger |publisher=[[RogerEbert.com]] |date=18 August 2002 |access-date=12 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001040606/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-cries-and-whispers-1972 |archive-date=1 October 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===Casting===
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Cast list
|-
! {{anchor|Cast}}Actor{{sfn|Vermilye|2006|p=139}}
! Role <!-- or "Character" -->
|-
| {{sortname|Harriet|Andersson}}
| Agnes
|-
| {{sortname|Kari|Sylwan}}
| Anna
|-
| {{sortname|Ingrid|Thulin}}
| Karin
|-
| {{sortname|Liv|Ullmann}}
| Maria (and her mother)
|-
| {{sortname|Anders|Ek}}
| Isak, the priest
|-
| {{sortname|Inga|Gill}}
| Aunt Olga
|-
| {{sortname|Erland|Josephson}}
| David
|-
| {{sortname|Henning|Moritzen}}
| Joakim
|-
| {{sortname|Georg|Årlin}}
| Fredrik
|-
| {{sortname|Linn|Ullmann}}
| Maria's daughter
|-
| {{sortname|Lena|Bergman}}
| young Maria
|}
When Bergman wrote the screenplay, he intended from the start to cast [[Liv Ullmann]] and [[Ingrid Thulin]]. He explained his choice of [[Harriet Andersson]] for Agnes: "I would very much like to have Harriet, too, since she belongs to this breed of enigmatic women".<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation/> Andersson had not worked with Bergman for years, and he sent her notes rather than a complete screenplay.<ref name="CowieAndersson">{{cite AV media |last1=Cowie |first1=Peter |last2=Andersson |first2=Harriet |date=2015 |title=Harriet Andersson on Cries and Whispers |work=Cries and Whispers |medium=Blu-ray |publisher=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> Ullmann described receiving a 50-page "personal letter" from Bergman describing the story which began, "Dear Friends: We're now going to make a film together. It is a sort of a vision that I have and I will try to describe it".{{sfn|Long|2006|p=6}}{{efn|Before the director's death in 2007, Ullmann starred in 11 of his works and became known as his muse.<ref name="Shanahan">{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2016/05/20/liv-ullmann-talks-about-ingmar-bergman/TrsHLpqPQo2VKY8Lp9uxVI/story.html |last=Shanahan |first=Mark  |date=20 May 2016 |title=Liv Ullmann talks about Ingmar Bergman |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=11 October 2017 }}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] remarked Bergman and Ullmann's "lives have been intertwined since ''[[Persona (1966 film)|Persona]]'', and that's been the most important fact in ... [Ullmann's] artistic life", and they also had a daughter, [[Linn Ullmann]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/liv-ullmann-and-memories-of-bergman |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=16 February 2001 |title=Liv Ullmann and Memories of Bergman |publisher=RogerEbert.com |access-date=11 October 2017 }}</ref> }} Andersson did not receive a backstory about Agnes; Agnes' sisters were married with children, but Andersson was uncertain whether Agnes had ever married or became ill at an early age and lived with her mother.<ref name="CowieAndersson"/>

Bergman and Ullmann had a previous romantic relationship, and their daughter [[Linn Ullmann]] appears as both Maria's daughter and Anna's daughter in the picture.{{sfnm|1a1=Gado|1y=1986|1p=414|2a1=Gervais|2y=1999|2p=133}} Another of Bergman's daughters, [[Lena Bergman|Lena]], also appears as young Maria.<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation/>

The director initially said that he hoped [[Mia Farrow]] would be in the film: "Let's see if that works out. It probably will; why shouldn't it?" However, Farrow was never cast.<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation/> [[Kari Sylwan]], a novice in Bergman's films, had what would have been Farrow's role.<ref name="Cowie"/>

===Pre-production===
Few of Bergman's previous films were shot in colour. Red was particularly sensitive, and cinematographer [[Sven Nykvist]] made many photography tests to capture balanced combinations of reds, whites and skin colours.<ref name="Nyrerod"/> To the disappointment of Swedish Film Institute members, Bergman refused to shoot in their new, expensive studios and filmed on location at [[Taxinge-Näsby Castle]].<ref name="Cowie"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfi.se/sv/svensk-film/Filmdatabasen/?itemid=4905&type=MOVIE&iv=RecordingPlace |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613120521/http://www.sfi.se/sv/svensk-filmdatabas/Item/?itemid=4905&type=MOVIE&iv=RecordingPlace |archive-date=13 June 2011 |title=Viskningar och rop (1973) – Inspelningsplatser|publisher=Svenska Filminstitutet|language=sv|access-date=17 January 2010}}</ref> Since the mansion's interior was dilapidated, the crew was free to paint and decorate as they saw fit.<ref name="Cowie"/>

===Filming===
[[File:Taxinge Näsby slottet 02.JPG|thumb|alt=Large, two-story tan-and-white house|''Cries and Whispers'' was filmed at Taxinge-Näsby Castle, outside [[Mariefred]].]]
[[Principal photography]] took place from 9 September to 30 October 1971.<ref name="Cowie">{{cite AV media |last=Cowie |first=Peter |date=2015 |title=On-Set Footage |work=Cries and Whispers |medium=Blu-ray |publisher=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> Nykvist used [[Eastmancolor]] film, which reduced [[Film grain|graininess]] and would be the most sensitive to colours.{{sfn|Armstrong|2012|p=84}} The final, outdoor swing scene was shot early in production so the filmmakers could have sunlight before the darker season set in.<ref name="Cowie"/> Ullmann said that every scene was shot in natural light, using large windows for indoor scenes.{{sfn|Long|2006|p=6}}

Andersson described the on-set mood as light, an antidote to the film's heavy subject matter. She said that although she usually read the screenplay and went to bed early during a production, the filmmakers kept her awake late to enhance her tired, ill appearance.<ref name="CowieAndersson"/> The actress modeled her death scene on the death of her father, and Bergman directed her deep, violent inhalations.<ref name="CowieAndersson"/>

==Themes and interpretations==
Previous Bergman films had focused on the apparent absence of God, but scholar Julian C. Rice quoted Bergman as saying that he had moved beyond that theme. Rice wrote that ''Cries and Whispers'', following ''[[The Silence (1963 film)|The Silence]]'' (1963) and ''Persona'' (1966), was based more on psychology and [[individuation]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cries and Whispers: The Complete Bergman |journal=The Massachusetts Review |last=Rice |first=Julian C. |date=Winter 1975 |volume=16 |number=1 |page=147}}</ref> Academic Eva Rueschmann said that [[psychoanalysis]] was an obvious tool with which to study the film, given the subconscious links between its characters.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=128}}

===Family and detachment===
[[File:1903 Ludwig Richter.jpg|thumb|alt=Elaborate ink-on-paper drawing of Hansel and Gretel and a witch|Illustration of "[[Hansel and Gretel]]" by [[Ludwig Richter]]; like ''Cries and Whispers'', the fairy tale suggests familial abandonment.]]
Professor [[Egil Törnqvist]] examined the film's title. The young Maria whispers to her mother, and Karin and Maria whisper to each other as they bond. According to Törnqvist, "The cries relate to the opposite emotions: anguish, impotence, loneliness".{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=152}}{{efn|name="Title"|Bergman claimed the title was derived from a description of the music of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]].<ref name="Nyrerod"/> Editor [[Ken Dancyger]] alternatively related the title to the sounds one makes when one dies.{{sfn|Dancyger|2013|p=385}} }} Professor Emma Wilson described the family's predicament, with Karin feeling endangered by touch and Maria seeking an "erotic" touch. However, Maria is repelled by Agnes' decay and her dead body.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=112}} Rueschmann explained Karin's repulsion to touch as a result of her degree of isolation and restraint.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=141}} The scene where Anna cradles Agnes suggests that touch and sensation are soothing, despite the "opaque" question of their relationship, which may be comparable to sisterhood.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=112}}

The [[magic lantern]] show the sisters enjoy is "[[Hansel and Gretel]]", which reveals Agnes' feelings of abandonment and her mother's favouring of Maria; according to Rueschmann, the [[Brothers Grimm]] story of sibling unity contrasts the sisters' estrangement.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=140}}{{efn|name="Lantern"|Bergman recalled receiving his own [[magic lantern]] at age 10, from his aunt.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=32}} In his autobiography, he described it as personally significant, and also depicted a magic lantern in ''[[Fanny and Alexander]]'' (1982).{{sfn|Sitney|2014|p=49}}}} Cinema historian [[P.&nbsp;Adams Sitney]] wrote that  Hansel and Gretel's parents abandoned them in the forest (symbolism), and Agnes' cancer is the equivalent of the witch in the Brothers Grimm tale.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Color and Myth in Cries and Whispers |journal=Film Criticism |last=Sitney |first=P. Adams |date=Spring 1989 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=40}}</ref> Karin's cutting of her vulva means that her husband will not have sex with her, and the [[red wine]] symbolises blood from the womb. Törnqvist wrote that Karin's transfer of blood from her vulva to her mouth means that she will neither have sex nor speak, and preventing communication reinforces loneliness.{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=157}} Sitney wrote that the family is most united when reading [[Charles Dickens]]' ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]'', which describes "male solidarity and chicanery, threatened by female plots for marriage".{{sfn|Sitney|2014|pp=48-49}} According to Frank Gado, detachment returns after Agnes' funeral. Anna is dismissed without warmth or sympathy, and the men deny her monetary rewards despite years of service. Maria also rejects "sentimental appeals" from Karin.{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=420}}

Film scholar [[Marc Gervais]] wrote that ''Cries and Whispers'' has no definitive solution of whether suffering and death have any meaning, citing the pastor who expresses his own doubts and fears when he eulogises Agnes. Gervais likened this to the protagonist of Bergman's earlier ''[[Winter Light]]'', Bergman's own conflicted feelings and his relationship to his father, [[Erik Bergman (Lutheran minister)|Erik]], a minister of the [[Church of Sweden]].{{sfn|Gervais|1999|pp=120-121}}{{efn|Earlier with his 1963 film ''[[Winter Light]]'', which had a clergyman protagonist struggling with his faith while seeing suffering in the world, Bergman took the rare step of sharing the screenplay with Erik, and boasted that the latter read it three times. Bergman was possibly trying to communicate that he understood Erik, though the name of the character, Ericsson (son of Erik), may indicate the character represents Bergman more than his father.{{sfn|Gado|1986|pp=281-282}} }} According to Gervais, the ending presents Bergman's solution: a touch, on certain occasions, can make life worthwhile.{{sfn|Gervais|1999|p=121}} Törnqvist compared the ending to that of Bergman's 1957 ''[[Wild Strawberries (film)|Wild Strawberries]]''; it "points to the past, to a paradisaic existence in ''this'' life, to the communion inherent in childhood that has later been lost".{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=152}}

===Sex and gender roles===
Critic Marco Lanzagorta wrote, "Undeniably, ''Cries and Whispers'' is a film about the world of women, and is very open in terms of the gender and sexual politics that it portrays".<ref name="Lanzagorta"/> The story fits Bergman's motif of "warring women", seen earlier in ''The Silence'' and ''Persona'' and later in ''[[Autumn Sonata]]'' (1978).{{sfn|Orr|2014|p=67}} The film inspired essays about Bergman's view of women.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=889}} Patricia Erens wrote, "Bergman's women in such films as ''Persona'' and ''Cries and Whispers'' are not simply objects of abuse, but creatures through whom Bergman can express his own subjective fears, his many frustrations and failures at preserving autonomy of self and control of reality".{{sfn|Erens|1979|p=100}}

Feminists critiqued the film.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=889}} In ''[[Film Quarterly]]'', Joan Mellen acknowledged that Bergman used his female characters as mouthpieces and his women signify "the dilemma of alienated, suffering human beings".<ref name="Mellen">{{cite journal |title=Bergman and Women: Cries and Whispers |journal=[[Film Quarterly]] |last=Mellen |first=Joan |date=Autumn 1973 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=2–11 |doi=10.2307/1211448 |jstor=1211448 }}</ref> In Bergman's films, women and men fail to find answers to their dilemmas; according to Mellen, the men are unanswered or cannot care for anyone but themselves. However, she wrote that Bergman's women fail because of their biology and an inability to move past their sexuality: "Bergman insists that because of their physiology, women are trapped in dry and empty lives within which they wither as the lines begin to appear on their faces".<ref name="Mellen"/> Critic [[Molly Haskell]] assigned ''Cries and Whispers'' to Bergman's later filmography, which differed from his earlier works in their view of women. Women in his early films lived in harmony with each other and had more-complete lives; Bergman used the women in ''Cries and Whispers'' and his later films as "projections of his soul", revealing his "sexual vanity".{{sfn|Haskell|2016|p=315}} According to Haskell, Bergman attacked his female characters for the attributes he gave them: Karin's repression and Maria's sexuality.{{sfn|Haskell|2016|p=315}}

Academic Laura Hubner agreed with ''[[CineAction]]'' essayist Varda Burstyn's view that ''Cries and Whispers'' depicts the suppression of women, but it does not endorse the suppression and the film opposes patriarchy.{{sfn|Hubner|2007|p=136}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cries and Whispers Reconsidered |magazine=[[CineAction]] |last=Burstyn |first=Varda |date=January 1986 |issue=3–4 |pages=33–45}}</ref> Rueschmann traced the emotional estrangement to the women's mother, who reacts to the era's [[gender role]]s with "boredom, anger and frustration". According to Rueschmann, her daughters assume (or reject) her position and harm themselves in the process.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=136}} Agnes' confinement to bed may reflect gender roles and expectations for women about sex, childbirth and death.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=139}} Author Birgitta Steene disputed what she called Mellen's [[Marxist feminist]] analysis, cross-referencing Bergman's realistic and metaphorical films to say that they are not the product of a sexist outlook.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=889}}

Rueschmann quoted Bergman as saying his "ceaseless fascination with the whole race of women is one of [his] mainsprings. Obviously such an obsession implies ambivalence; it has something compulsive about it".{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=128}} However, he doubted that there was much difference between men and women: "I think that if I had made ''Cries and Whispers'' with four men in the leading roles, the story would have been largely the same".{{sfn|Tapper|2017|p=50}}

==={{anchor|Myth and Biblical allusions}}Mythical and biblical allusions===
[[File:LaPieta-MichelAnge detalle.jpg|thumb|alt=Michelangelo's sculpture of Mary holding the dead Jesus|Michelangelo's ''Pietà''; Agnes' death is reminiscent of Jesus' Passion.]]
Although Agnes' apparent resurrection may reflect Anna's fear (or desire), Emma Wilson wrote that it blurred the line between life and dream and might involve supernatural activity.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=115}} Bergman explained the scene:
{{blockquote|Death is the ultimate loneliness; that is what is so important. Agnes's death has been caught up halfway out into the void. I can't see that there's anything odd about that. Yes, by Christ there is! This situation has never been known, either in reality or at the movies.{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=157}}}}
Törnqvist advised against a literal reading of Agnes rising from the dead, relating it to the sisters' guilt.{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=158}}

According to Sitney, the statue in the prologue may be [[Apollo]] or [[Orpheus]]. If the artistic, doomed Agnes matches Orpheus as well as Bergman, Agnes' mother may correspond to [[Eurydice]] (representing "the green world").{{sfn|Sitney|2014|p=48}} P. Adams Sitney concluded that ''Cries and Whispers'' tells of an "Orphic transformation of terror into art, of the loss of the mother into the musical richness of autumnal color".{{sfn|Sitney|2014|p=51}}

The sisters' Aunt Olga uses the magic lantern to narrate "Hansel and Gretel", and Sitney connected this with "the gift of [[fairy tale]]s—and thereby the psychic-defense machinery for exteriorising infantile and [[Oedipus|Oedipal]] terrors".{{sfn|Sitney|2014|p=49}} In the folk tale "[[Cinderella]]", the wicked stepsisters' bleeding feet as a metaphor for menstruation is magnified by Karin's cutting of her vulva.{{sfn|Sitney|2014|p=50}} Her laugh is reminiscent of the wicked witch in "Hansel and Gretel", as she reacts to the damage her sexuality has done.{{sfn|Sitney|2014|p=50}}

Törnqvist, seeing that Anna prays for her dead daughter while eating an apple, wrote: "The eating of the apple links Anna, whose dead daughter was undoubtedly an illegitimate child, with the [[Eve]] of the Fall, with [[Original Sin]]".{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=148}} According to editor Raphael Shargel, Anna seems oblivious to the sacrilege of snacking immediately after worship and that her choice of food is the [[forbidden fruit]].{{sfn|Shargel|2007|p=xii}}

Törnqvist wrote that Agnes' prolonged pain and death resemble the [[Passion of Jesus]],{{sfn|Törnqvist|1995|p=153}} and Wilson compared the position of Agnes' arms and legs to Jesus' body after his Passion.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=115}} Gado also saw parallels to the [[crucifixion of Jesus]] and [[flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]] to [[Good Friday]] and a mention of [[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Twelfth Night]] at the end of the film (which he considered ironic, since Twelfth Night is associated with revelation).{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=420}} The magic-lantern show takes place on Twelfth Night.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=140}} Sitney, Rueschmann, and Irving Singer described the scene where Anna cradles Agnes as reminiscent of ''[[Pietà]]'',{{sfnm|1a1=Rueschmann|1y=2000|1p=138|2a1=Sitney|2y=2014|2p=48|3a1=Singer|3y=2009|3p=196}} with Lanzagorta specifying [[Michelangelo]]'s ''[[Pietà (Michelangelo)|Pietà]]''.<ref name="Lanzagorta">{{cite magazine |url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/cteq/cries_and_whispers/ |title=Cries and Whispers |last=Lanzagorta |first=Marco |magazine=[[Senses of Cinema]] |date=March 2003 |issue=25 |access-date=9 December 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522062657/http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/cteq/cries_and_whispers/ |archive-date=22 May 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>  According to academic Arthur Gibson, the ''Pietà'' rite becomes redemption: "Anna is holding in her arms the pain and loneliness and sin of the world caught up in the innocent Divine Sufferer".{{sfn|Gibson|1993|p=27}}

==Style==
[[File:Red (34286724965).jpg|thumb|alt=Red rectangle|[[Crimson]] features extensively in the film's [[colour scheme]].]]
In 1972, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''{{'s}} staff defined "Bergman's lean style" as including a "use of lingering close-ups, fades to red and a soundtrack echoing with the ticking of clocks, the rustle of dresses and the hushed cries of the lost".<ref name="Variety"/> Critic [[Richard Brody]] called ''Cries and Whispers'' a [[period piece]] in which costumes are prominent.<ref name="Brody"/> According to Gervais, Bergman had shed his previous austerity in favour of greater aesthetics.{{sfn|Gervais|1999|p=120}}

Wilson noted the film's red rooms occupied by women in white, and the "azure, [[Garden of Eden|Edenic]] images of the start are gradually engulfed in crimson".<ref name="Wilson"/> Producer [[Bruce A. Block]] described its colour variety as minimal, with an emphasis on "extremely [[Saturation (color theory)|saturated]] red".{{sfn|Block|2013|p=164}} According to Richard Armstrong, the Eastmancolor film added "a livid, slightly oneiric quality".{{sfn|Armstrong|2012|p=84}} Two rooms in the first scene  (one where Maria is sleeping and the other being Agnes' room) are joined by the same colours, including "blood red" carpets and drapes and white pillows and nightdresses.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=107}} Wilson observed that the film has fade-ins and fade-outs in saturated reds.<ref name="Wilson"/> Sitney analysed ''Cries and Whispers''{{'}} colour scheme, writing that there are moves from red with white to red with black to orange and [[ochre]] (in the final, autumnal outdoor scene).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Color and Myth in Cries and Whispers |journal=Film Criticism |last=Sitney |first=P. Adams |date=Spring 1989 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=38}}</ref> Blood, seen when Maria's husband injures himself and Karin cuts her vulva, echoes an earlier view of the mother character holding a red book against her dress. Sitney associates this with [[menstruation]] and [[castration]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Color and Myth in Cries and Whispers |journal=Film Criticism |last=Sitney |first=P. Adams |date=Spring 1989 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=39}}</ref>

Wilson described other uses of imagery: statues filling a garden, decorations, sunlight on a clock and a view of Maria revealing the "texture" of her hair.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=107}} Images follow one another in the five-minute prologue with no spoken words.{{sfn|Dancyger|2013|p=385}} The close-ups of Maria in the initial scene are childlike.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=140}} Agnes is seen with an open mouth and moist eyes, depicting her pain.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=108}} Her memories of her mother are idealised, with the "flourishing greenery of the Edenic garden".{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=139}} Surveying the visuals and Bergman's depiction of social isolation and mourning, critics Christopher Heathcote and Jai Marshall found parallels in the paintings of [[Edvard Munch]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cries and Whispers: The Complete Bergman |magazine=[[Quadrant (magazine)|Quadrant]] |last1=Heathcote |first1=Christopher |last2=Marshall |first2=Jai |date=April 2013 |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=84–91}}</ref>

{{listen|type=music|filename=Frederic Chopin - mazurka no. 4 in a minor, op. 17.ogg|title=Mazurka in A minor|description=The film includes a [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]] [[mazurka]].|format=[[Ogg]]}}
[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s sarabande from [[Cello Suites (Bach)|Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor]], performed by [[Pierre Fournier]], is used in the film.{{sfn|Vermilye|2006|p=139}} Noting its use when the two sisters touch affectionately, critic [[Robin Wood (critic)|Robin Wood]] wrote that it fit Bergman's use of Bach to signify "a possible transcendent wholeness".{{sfn|Wood|2012|p=258}}{{efn|name="Bach"|Wood connected this usage of the music of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] to ''The Silence'' where the [[Goldberg Variations]] play, and ''[[Autumn Sonata]]'' where it is used in a moment of unity, and contrasted it to darker usage in ''[[Through a Glass Darkly (film)|Through a Glass Darkly]]'' and ''Persona''.{{sfn|Wood|2012|pp=258-259}} }} The score also contains [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s [[Mazurkas, Op. 17 (Chopin)|Mazurka in A minor, Op.17/4]], performed by [[Käbi Laretei]].{{sfn|Vermilye|2006|p=139}} According to musicologist Alexis Luko, Bergman's use of the mazurka when Anna recalls her deceased daughter communicates "a sensory moment of reminiscence".{{sfn|Luko|2015}}

Sounds are used in other ways, with Anna's dead daughter apparently audible when Anna is near the cradle following Agnes' death.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=115}} The prologue's bells and clocks are more audible than the natural sounds preceding them; Agnes' struggle to breathe soon joins the clocks' ticking, with editor [[Ken Dancyger]] finding "the continuity of time and life".{{sfn|Dancyger|2013|p=385}}

==Release==
Every major film-distribution company rejected ''Cries and Whispers'', even when Bergman asked for an [[advance against royalties|advance]] of only $75,000.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=44}} Its U.S. rights were bought by [[Roger Corman]] of [[New World Pictures]] (who favored having the studio branch out into arthouse distribution such as with ''[[Amarcord]]'') for $150,000. Corman spent an additional $80,000 on marketing to go with booking the film on the drive-in circuit.{{sfn|Balio|2010|p=296}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |date=1977-06-07 |title=Roger Corman, Tycoon of 'Z' Movies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/06/07/roger-corman-tycoon-of-z-movies/745ec2e5-323c-4955-9a11-6d1aa8834e85/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US}}</ref> According to the producer, the film made a profit of $1&nbsp;million and was Bergman's biggest success in the U.S.{{sfn|Corman|Jerome|1990|p=190}} Author Tino Balio reported a U.S. gross of $1.2 million from 803 theatres, and called it Bergman's best-performing film since ''The Silence''.{{sfn|Balio|2010|p=296}} To qualify for the [[46th Academy Awards]], distributors hurried to premiere ''Cries and Whispers'' in Los Angeles County (several months before its Swedish release).{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=399}} It premiered in [[New York City]] on 21 December 1972.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=299}}

The film premiered at the Spegeln theatre in [[Stockholm]] on 5 March 1973.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=299}} ''Cries and Whispers'' was later shown out of competition at the [[1973 Cannes Film Festival]], where Bergman received a strong positive reaction from the audience.{{sfn|Gado|1986|p=399}}

At the [[61st Berlin International Film Festival]] in February 2011 (with Andersson in attendance), ''Cries and Whispers'' was screened in the Retrospective section.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2011/02_programm_2011/02_Filmdatenblatt_2011_20110311.php#tab=filmStills |title=Viskningar och rop |publisher=[[Berlin International Film Festival]] |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042316/https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2011/02_programm_2011/02_Filmdatenblatt_2011_20110311.php#tab=filmStills |archive-date=1 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.expressen.se/noje/film/harriet-andersson-ingmar-bergman-var-javligt-svartsjuk/ |title=Harriet Andersson: 'Ingmar Bergman var jävligt svartsjuk' |last=Brander |first=Maria |work=[[Expressen]] |language=sv |date=14 February 2011 |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081052/https://www.expressen.se/noje/film/harriet-andersson-ingmar-bergman-var-javligt-svartsjuk/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 2015, [[The Criterion Collection]] released a [[2K resolution|2K]] restoration on [[Blu-ray]] in [[Blu-ray#A|Region&nbsp;A]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/07/01/bergmans-cries-and-whispers-is-a-blu-ray-revelation/ |title=Bergman's 'Cries and Whispers' Is a Blu-ray Revelation |work=[[Village Voice]] |last=Atkinson |first=Michael |date=1 July 2015 |access-date=13 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114043542/https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/07/01/bergmans-cries-and-whispers-is-a-blu-ray-revelation/ |archive-date=14 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Reception==
===Critical reception===
Before the film's release, estimations of Bergman were lowered by ''[[The Rite (1969 film)|The Rite]]'' (1969) and ''[[The Touch (1971 film)|The Touch]]'' (1971).<ref name="Parkinson"/> In Sweden, ''[[Svenska Dagbladet]]'' critic Åke Janzon and ''[[Dagens Nyheter]]'' critic Hanserik Hjerten assessed ''Cries and Whispers'' as a poetically-rendered psychological study.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=300}} Critic O. Foss wrote a less-positive review in ''Fant'', calling it "a rhapsody of petrified Bergman themes".{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=300}} The Swedish cultural magazine ''[[Ord och Bild]]'' considered the film as Bergman’s  personal  view  on  women and argued that the film was both static and ahistorical.<ref>{{cite book|page=46 |author=Michael Tapper|title=Ingmar Bergman's Face to Face|year=2017|publisher=Wallflower Press|location=London; New York|doi=10.7312/tapp17652 |isbn=9780231851213  |url=https://doi.org/10.7312/tapp17652}}</ref>

The film was generally praised in the United States.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=300}} In ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Vincent Canby]] called it a "magnificent, moving, and very mysterious new film".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1731E260BC4A51DFB4678389669EDE |title=Cries and Whispers |last=Canby |first=Vincent |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 December 1972 |access-date=12 November 2017|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165316/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1731E260BC4A51DFB4678389669EDE |archive-date=13 November 2017}}</ref> He included the film in his list of the ''10 Best Films of 1972''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Critic's Choice-10 Best Films of '72|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/31/archives/critics-choice-ten-best-films-of-72-critics-choice-ten-best-of-72.html|website=New York Times|date=31 December 1972}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] gave ''Cries and Whispers'' four stars (out of four) in his initial review: "We slip lower in our seats, feeling claustrophobia and sexual disquiet, realizing that we have been surrounded by the vision of a film maker who has absolute mastery of his art".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cries-and-whispers-1973 |title=Cries and Whispers Movie Review (1973) |last=Ebert |first=Roger |publisher=RogerEbert.com |date=12 February 1973 |access-date=21 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222111055/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cries-and-whispers-1973 |archive-date=22 February 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and named it "the best film of 1973".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041215/COMMENTARY/41215001/1023 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |title=Ebert's 10 Best Lists: 1967–present |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908200137/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20041215%2FCOMMENTARY%2F41215001%2F1023 |archive-date=September 8, 2006 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' staff praised the direction for "a hypnotic impact".<ref name="Variety">{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1972/film/reviews/viskningar-och-rop-1200422883/ |title=Viskningar Och Rop |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |last=Staff |date=31 December 1972 |access-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116134540/http://variety.com/1972/film/reviews/viskningar-och-rop-1200422883/ |archive-date=16 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'', [[Judith Crist]] called it "a work of genius— certainly the most complex, the most perceptive and the most humane of Bergman's works to date".<ref>{{cite magazine| title=In the Right Direction |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |last=Crist |first=Judith |date=8 January 1973 |volume=6 |number=2 |page=65}}</ref> [[François Truffaut]] made a theatrical comparison, saying that the film "begins like [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s ''[[Three Sisters (play)|Three Sisters]]'' and ends like ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'' and in between it's more like [[August Strindberg|Strindberg]]".{{sfn|Truffaut|1985|p=257}}

''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' critic David Parkinson gave ''Cries and Whispers'' five stars in 2000, writing that the film fit a subset of "character study" at which Bergman was adept.<ref name="Parkinson">{{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/cries-whispers/review/ |title=Cries and Whispers Review |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |last=Parkinson |first=David |date=1 January 2000 |access-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116141459/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/cries-whispers/review/ |archive-date=16 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Reviewing the DVD in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Richard Brody said that despite its period setting, the emotional drama resonated with modern audiences.<ref name="Brody">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-cries-and-whispers |title=DVD of the Week: Cries and Whispers |last=Brody |first=Richard |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116133023/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-cries-and-whispers |archive-date=16 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Ebert added it to his "[[The Great Movies|Great Movies]]" list in 2002, writing that to watch the film "is to touch the extremes of human feeling. It is so personal, so penetrating of privacy, we almost want to look away".<ref name="rogerebert.suntimes.com"/> That year, [[James Berardinelli]] praised Andersson's performance as "so powerful that we feel like intruders watching it. She screams, whimpers, begs, and cries. She craves death and fears it". Berardinelli considered Bergman's use of [[crimson]] effective in creating [[mood (literature)|mood]]; the "natural associations one makes with this color, especially in a story like this, are of sin and blood".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/c/cries_whispers.html |title=Cries and Whispers |last=Berardinelli |first=James |publisher=Reelviews.net |date=2002 |access-date=1 April 2017}}</ref> Zendry Svärdkrona's 2003 ''[[Aftonbladet]]'' review called it a masterpiece with wonderful aesthetics but unpleasant subject matter, citing Nykvist and Andersson.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/article10391227.ab |title=Filmtips 30 augusti |last=Svärdkrona |first=Zendry |work=[[Aftonbladet]] |language=sv |date=29 August 2003 |access-date=22 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122184308/https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/article10391227.ab |archive-date=22 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[Emanuel Levy]] praised the film's cinematography and the performances of the female leads, calling the result a masterpiece in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://emanuellevy.com/review/cries-and-whispers-1973-masterpieces-of-world-cinema-5/ |title=Cries and Whispers (1973): Bergman's Masterful Chronicle of Pain and Death |last=Levy |first=Emanuel |publisher=[[Emanuel Levy|Emanuellevy.com]] |date=4 February 2008 |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202075434/http://emanuellevy.com/review/cries-and-whispers-1973-masterpieces-of-world-cinema-5/ |archive-date=2 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> ''Cries and Whispers'' ranked 154th in the [[British Film Institute]]'s 2012 ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' critics' poll of the greatest films ever made.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b9f3ba7/sightandsoundpoll2012 |title=Votes for Viskningar Och Rop (1972) |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=21 February 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222112423/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b9f3ba7/sightandsoundpoll2012|archive-date=22 February 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] gave the film three stars in his ''2014 Movie Guide'', praising its visuals but cautioning viewers about the large amount of dialogue.{{sfn|Maltin|2013}} Reviewing the Blu-ray in 2015, ''[[SF Gate]]'' critic Mick LaSalle called ''Cries and Whispers'' a "masterpiece" in which the colour red had an important effect.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Blu-ray-review-Cries-and-Whispers-6217865.php |title=Blu-ray review: 'Cries and Whispers' |work=[[SF Gate]] |last=LaSalle |first=Mick |date=22 April 2015 |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042032/http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Blu-ray-review-Cries-and-Whispers-6217865.php |archive-date=1 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' critic Andy Klein placed the film "solidly in the existential/emotional angst mode of [Bergman's] best work", called it a triumphant comeback from ''The Touch'', and joked about the resurrection scene: "Yes, technically this is a [[zombie film]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/tn-gnp-dvd-review-bergmans-angst-cries-on-bluray-20150403-story.html |title=DVD Review: Bergman's angst 'Cries' on Blu-ray |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last=Klein |first=Andy |date=3 April 2015 |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122031120/http://www.latimes.com/tn-gnp-dvd-review-bergmans-angst-cries-on-bluray-20150403-story.html |archive-date=22 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[Peter Bradshaw]] of [[The Guardian]] gave the film five stars out of five writing "This film burns, like ice held to the skin."<ref>{{cite web|title=Cries and Whispers review-Ingmar Bergman's diabolically inspired claustrophobic horror|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/31/cries-and-whispers-review-ingmar-bergman-horror|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=31 March 2022}}</ref>

Don Druker wrote a negative review in the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'', criticising a lack of substance,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/cries-and-whispers/Film?oid=1073042 |title=Cries and Whispers |work=[[The Chicago Reader]] |last=Druker |first=Don |date=7 January 1985 |access-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116134230/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/cries-and-whispers/Film?oid=1073042 |archive-date=16 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]''{{'}}s review called the film a "[[red herring]]" compared to Bergman's purer [[psychological drama]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/cries-and-whispers |title=Cries and Whispers |work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] |author=VG |date=10 September 2012 |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122023249/https://www.timeout.com/london/film/cries-and-whispers |archive-date=22 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

On the review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''Cries and Whispers'' has an approval rating of 91% based on 34 reviews, with an average score of 8.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Visually stunning and achingly performed, Ingmar Bergman's chamber piece is a visceral rumination on death and sisterhood."<ref>{{cite web|title=Cries and Whispers|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cries_and_whispers|website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref>

The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''Cries and Whispers'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>

===Accolades===
''Cries and Whispers'' won three categories at the [[9th Guldbagge Awards]] in Sweden, including [[Guldbagge Award for Best Film|Best Film]].<ref name="9thGuldbagge">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfi.se/en-GB/Swedish-film-database/Item/?type=MOVIE&itemid=4905&iv=Awards |title=Viskningar och rop (1973) |publisher=[[Swedish Film Institute]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119031755/http://www.sfi.se/en-GB/Swedish-film-database/Item/?type=MOVIE&itemid=4905&iv=Awards |date=2 March 2014 |archive-date=19 January 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> At Cannes, it won the [[Vulcan Award#Technical Grand Prize (1951-2001)|Technical Grand Prize]].<ref name="Cannes">{{cite web|url=http://www.cst.fr/spip.php?article49|title=Le Prix Vulcain de l'Artiste Technicien|publisher=Commission supérieure technique de l'image et du son|language=fr|access-date=14 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112210748/http://cst.fr/spip.php?article49|archive-date=12 November 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was the fourth foreign-language film ever nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]],{{efn|name="Oscar"|''Cries and Whispers'' was the fourth foreign-language film in Academy history to receive this nomination, after ''[[La Grande Illusion|Grand Illusion]]'', ''[[Z (1969 film)|Z]]'', and ''[[The Emigrants (film)|The Emigrants]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://emanuellevy.com/oscar/oscar-history-foreign-language-films-as-best-picture-nominees-1/ |title=Oscar: Foreign Language Films as Best Picture Nominees |last=Levy |first=Emanuel |publisher=Emanuellevy.com |date=25 July 2006 |access-date=13 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113235036/http://emanuellevy.com/oscar/oscar-history-foreign-language-films-as-best-picture-nominees-1/ |archive-date=13 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> }} in addition to four other nominations at the [[46th Academy Awards]]; [[Sven Nykvist]] won for [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]].<ref name="Oscar">{{cite web |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1974 |title=The 46th Academy Awards |date=4 October 2014 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=12 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002003312/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1974 |archive-date=2 October 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The film was nominated for, and won, several other awards from critics' associations and festivals. At the [[27th British Academy Film Awards]], [[Sven Nykvist]] was nominated for [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] and Ingrid Thulin for [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role|Best Supporting Actress]];<ref name="BAFTAAward"/> at the [[30th Golden Globe Awards]], it was nominated for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]].<ref name="GoldenGlobe"/>

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col"| Award
! scope="col"| Date of ceremony
! scope="col"| Category
! scope="col"| Recipient(s)
! scope="col"| Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=5| [[Academy Awards]]
| rowspan="5" | [[46th Academy Awards|2 April 1974]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
| rowspan="3" | [[Ingmar Bergman]]
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="5" | <ref name="Oscar"/>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Sven Nykvist]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| [[Marik Vos-Lundh|Marik Vos]]
| {{nom}}
|-
!scope="row" | [[Bodil Awards]]
| rowspan="1" | 1974
| [[Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film|Best European Film]]
| rowspan="1" | Ingmar Bergman
| {{won}}
| rowspan="1" | <ref name="9thGuldbagge"/>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=2| [[British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Awards]]
| rowspan="2" | [[27th British Academy Film Awards|1974]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| Sven Nykvist
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="2" | <ref name="BAFTAAward">{{Cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1974/film?|title=Film in 1974|access-date=12 November 2017|publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113113647/http://awards.bafta.org/award/1974/film|archive-date=13 November 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Ingrid Thulin]]
| {{nom}}
|-
!scope="row" | [[Cannes Film Festival]]
| rowspan="1" | [[1973 Cannes Film Festival|10–25 May 1973]]
| [[Vulcan Award#Technical Grand Prize (1951-2001)|Vulcan Technical Grand Prize]]
| rowspan="2" | Ingmar Bergman
| {{won}}
| rowspan="1" | <ref name="Cannes"/>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=5| [[David di Donatello]]
| rowspan="5" | 1973
| [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Director|Best Foreign Director]]
| {{won}}
| rowspan="1" | <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://physics.gac.edu/~psaul/Library/videodetails/video349.htm |title=Cries and Whispers |access-date=17 November 2017 |publisher=[[Gustavus Adolphus College]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118030621/http://physics.gac.edu/~psaul/Library/videodetails/video349.htm |archive-date=18 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="4" | Special David
| [[Harriet Andersson]]
| {{won}}
| rowspan="4" | {{sfn|Lancia|1998|p=258}}
|-
| Ingrid Thulin
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Liv Ullmann]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Kari Sylwan]]
| {{won}}
|-
!scope="row" | [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globes]]
| rowspan="1" | [[30th Golden Globe Awards|28 January 1973]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
| rowspan="2" | Ingmar Bergman
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="1" | <ref name="GoldenGlobe">{{Cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/cries-and-whispers|title=Cries and Whispers|access-date=12 November 2017|publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113054256/https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/cries-and-whispers|archive-date=13 November 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=3| [[Guldbagge Awards]]
| rowspan="3" | [[9th Guldbagge Awards|29 October 1973]]
| [[Guldbagge Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{won}}
| rowspan="3" | <ref name="9thGuldbagge"/>
|-
| [[Guldbagge Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| Harriet Andersson
| {{won}}
|-
| Special Achievemnent
| Sven Nykvist
| {{won}}
|-
!scope="row" | [[Jussi Awards]]
| rowspan="1" | 1975
| Best Foreign Director
| rowspan="6" | Ingmar Bergman
| {{won}}
| rowspan="1" | <ref name="9thGuldbagge"/>
|-	
!scope="row" | [[Nastro d'Argento]]
| rowspan="1" | 1974
| Best Foreign Film
| {{won}}
| rowspan="1" | <ref name="9thGuldbagge"/>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=3| [[National Board of Review]]
| rowspan="3" | [[National Board of Review Awards 1973|24 December 1973]]
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| {{won}}
| rowspan="3" | <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1973/ |title=1973 Award Winners |access-date=12 November 2017 |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603132410/http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1973/ |archive-date=3 June 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
|-
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
| {{won}}
|-
| Top Foreign Films
| {{won}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=2| [[National Society of Film Critics]]
| rowspan="2" | [[National Society of Film Critics Awards 1972|29 December 1972]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| {{won}}
| rowspan="2" | <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |date=19 December 2009 |access-date=12 November 2017 |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729100021/https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |archive-date=29 July 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| Sven Nykvist
| {{won}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=4| [[New York Film Critics Circle]]
| rowspan="4" | [[1972 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|3 January 1973]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| rowspan="3" | Ingmar Bergman
| {{won}}
| rowspan="4" | <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1972 |title=1972 Awards |access-date=12 November 2017 |publisher=[[New York Film Critics Circle]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113113900/http://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1972 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| Liv Ullmann
| {{won}}
|-
|}

==Legacy==
In 1981, [[PostNord Sverige]] issued a [[postage stamp]] of the scene where Anna holds Agnes as part of a series commemorating the history of [[Cinema of Sweden|Swedish cinema]].{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=1041}} [[Woody Allen]]'s later films, including 1978's ''[[Interiors]]'' and 1986's ''[[Hannah and Her Sisters]]'', were influenced by ''Cries and Whispers'',{{efn|name="Allen"|Rueschmann identified ''Interiors'' as Allen's "most candid homage", given the sister characters' relationship to their depressed mother; ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' "reprises his focus on three sisters", but pays more attention to the male characters.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=124}} }} as was [[Margarethe von Trotta]]'s 1979—1988 trilogy: ''[[Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness]]'', ''[[Marianne and Juliane]]'' and ''[[Love and Fear (film)|Love and Fear]]''.{{sfn|Rueschmann|2000|p=124}} In 2017, [[Hallwyl Museum]] exhibited costumes from ''Cries and Whispers'' and other Bergman films.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eposten.se/kultur-noje/bergmans-kostymer-visas-i-anrik-miljo-unt4807861.aspx |title=Bergmans kostymer visas i anrik miljö |last=Stanelius |first=Patrick |work=Enköpings-Posten |language=sv |date=4 November 2017 |access-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034021/http://www.eposten.se/kultur-noje/bergmans-kostymer-visas-i-anrik-miljo-unt4807861.aspx |archive-date=1 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[Robert Eggers]] cited it as an influence on his version of ''[[Nosferatu (2024 film)|Nosferatu]]''.

It has been adapted for the stage. [[Andrei Șerban]] directed ''Cries and Whispers'' in 2010 for the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, dramatising Bergman's story and the film's production.{{sfn|Zrínyi|2013|p=181}} [[Ivo van Hove]] directed a 2009 adaptation at the Bergman Festival in Sweden's [[Royal Dramatic Theatre]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article11849342.ab |title=Bergmans ångest återuppstånden |last=Wåhlin |first=Claes |work=Aftonbladet |language=sv |date=28 May 2009 |access-date=22 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122185001/https://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article11849342.ab |archive-date=22 November 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and in 2011 at the [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]] with Chris Nietvelt as Agnes, moving the story to a contemporary setting, reducing the use of red and replacing the film's classical music with modern songs, including [[Janis Joplin]]'s "[[Cry Baby (Garnet Mimms song)|Cry Baby]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/theater/reviews/cries-and-whispers-at-bam-review.html |title=Sister Slips Away, Under Her Camera's Gaze, in Update of Bergman |last=Isherwood |first=Charles |work=The New York Times |date=26 October 2011 |access-date=17 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035102/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/theater/reviews/cries-and-whispers-at-bam-review.html |archive-date=1 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Richard |title=Mourning Films: A Critical Study of Loss and Grieving in Cinema |location=Jefferson, North Carolina and London |publisher=McFarland |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7864-9314-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Balio |first=Tino |title=The Foreign Film Renaissance on American Screens, 1946–1973 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-299-24793-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Block |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce A. Block |title=The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media |edition=Second |location=Amsterdam, Boston, Heidelberg, London |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-04345-1 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Corman |first1=Roger |author-link=Roger Corman |last2=Jerome |first2=Jim |title=How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime |publisher=Random House |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-394-56974-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/howimadehundredm00corm_0 }}
* {{cite book|last=Dancyger |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Dancyger |title=The Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory, and Practice |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2013 |edition=Fourth |isbn=978-1-136-05282-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Erens |first=Patricia |title=Sexual Stratagems: the World of Women in Film |publisher=Horizon Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-8180-0706-4 }}
* {{cite book|last=Gado |first=Frank |title=The Passion of Ingmar Bergman |url=https://archive.org/details/passionofingmarb0000gado |url-access=registration |publisher=Duke University Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8223-0586-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gervais |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Gervais |title=Ingmar Bergman: Magician and Prophet |location=Montreal, Kingston, London and Ithaca |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7735-1843-8 }}
* {{cite book|last=Gibson |first=Arthur |title=The Rite of Redemption in the Films of Ingmar Bergman: The Rite, The Virgin Spring, Hour of the Wolf, Shame, Passion of Anna, The Touch, Cries and Whispers |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-7734-9205-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Haskell |first=Molly |author-link=Molly Haskell |title=From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2016 |edition=Third |location=Chicago and London |isbn=978-0-226-41292-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hubner |first=Laura |title=The Films of Ingmar Bergman: Illusions of Light and Darkness |publisher=Springer |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-230-80138-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Lancia |first=Enrico |title=I premi del cinema |publisher=Gremese Editore |year=1998 |language=it |isbn=978-88-7742-221-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Long |first=Robert Emmet |title=Liv Ullmann: Interviews |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-57806-824-1 }}
* {{cite book|last=Luko |first=Alexis |chapter=Bergman's Musical Clones and Character Doubles |title=Sonatas, Screams, and Silence: Music and Sound in the Films of Ingmar Bergman |year=2015 |location=New York and London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-02274-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Maltin |title=Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide |publisher=Penguin |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-101-60955-2 }}
* {{cite book|last=Orr |first=John |chapter=Lure of the Archipelago: Bergman-Godard-New Wave |title=The Demons of Modernity: Ingmar Bergman and European Cinema |location=New York and Oxford |year=2014 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-85745-979-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rueschmann |first=Eva |title=Sisters on Screen: Siblings in Contemporary Cinema |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-56639-747-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shargel |first=Raphael |title=Ingmar Bergman: Interviews |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-57806-218-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Singer |first=Irving |author-link=Irving Singer |title=Ingmar Bergman, Cinematic Philosopher: Reflections on His Creativity |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts and London |publisher=MIT Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-262-26481-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sitney |first=P. Adams |author-link=P. Adams Sitney |title=The Cinema of Poetry |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-933704-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Steene |first=Birgitta |title=Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-90-5356-406-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Tapper |first=Michael |title=Ingmar Bergman's Face to Face |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=London and New York |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-231-85121-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Törnqvist |first=Egil |author-link=Egil Törnqvist |title=Between Stage and Screen: Ingmar Bergman Directs |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-90-5356-171-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Truffaut |first=François |author-link=François Truffaut |title=The Films in My Life |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-671-24663-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Vermilye |first=Jerry |title=Ingmar Bergman: His Life and Films |location=Jefferson, North Carolina and London |publisher=McFarland & Company Inc Publishers |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4766-1270-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Emma |chapter=Pietà |title=Love, Mortality and the Moving Image |publisher=Springer |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-36770-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Wood (critic) |chapter=''Persona'' Revisited |title=Ingmar Bergman: New Edition |location=Detroit |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8143-3806-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Zrínyi |first=Ildikó Ungvari |chapter=Scenic Narration Between Film and Theatre |title=Translation and Adaptation in Theatre and Film |editor=Katja Krebs |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-134-11410-8 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0069467}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=71768}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|cries_and_whispers}}
* {{Sfdb title}}

{{Ingmar Bergman}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''Cries and Whispers''
|list =
{{GuldbaggeAwardBestFilm}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cries And Whispers}}
[[Category:1972 films]]
[[Category:1972 drama films]]
[[Category:Best Film Guldbagge Award winners]]
[[Category:Films about cancer]]
[[Category:Films about dysfunctional families]]
[[Category:Films about sisters]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ingmar Bergman]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1890s]]
[[Category:Films set in country houses]]
[[Category:Films set in Sweden]]
[[Category:Films shot in Sweden]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ingmar Bergman]]
[[Category:Films about self-harm]]
[[Category:Swedish drama films]]
[[Category:1970s Swedish-language films]]
[[Category:Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award]]
[[Category:1970s Swedish films]]
[[Category:Films about servants]]
[[Category:Swedish-language drama films]]