Winter Light

A resident of a small town, Pastor Tomas mechanically performs his duties before his dwindling congregation, including his unwaveringly devoted lover, Marta. When asked to reassure a troubled parishioner fearing nuclear annihilation, Tomas is horrified to discover that he can express nothing but his own tormenting doubts.

Released consecutively, "Through a Glass Darkly," "Winter Light," and "The Silence" were united by many film critics into a "trilogy of faith," although the director himself objected to such an interpretation. However, in Bergman's world, God is indeed very important, important precisely because He is absent (or - even worse - indifferent to human suffering) - the void in His place painfully yawns, and the viewer shares with the characters the horror of God-forsakenness.