“Perhaps it’s not just the womb that opens up here but the entire person.”
Brink of Life (Nära Livet) is my 16th Bergman movie and I had the opportunity to experience it in Stockholm, Sweden, so this one is extra special. Where to begin? Well, with Ingrid Thulin as Cecilia Ellius of course, delivering one of the most heartbreaking monologues I’ve ever seen within the first twenty minutes of the film. I was literally staring at the screen gut-wretched as she spoke about the pain of feeling unloved, and how it tarnished Cecilia’s own feelings for the child she wanted. It underlines all the complex factors surrounding the gestation of a life: it’s an emotionally and physically challenging process not just between the mother and the baby, but between the pregnant woman and the world around her, her relationships, the society she’s inserted in, everything contributes to how that new human being will turn out to be. This is also very apparent in Hjördis Petterson’s story, a young girl played by Bibi Andersson who finds herself pregnant by a neglectful boyfriend, strained from her family and with no guarantee for a future. She starts the movie hating her pregnancy, but soon it becomes clear that Hjördis actually wants the baby, but is burdened and scared by those external circumstances. However, even when an expectant mother has all the right conditions to thrive, the cruel hands of fate can still come at play. That is shown by the story of Eva Dahlbeck’s Stina Andersson, a lovely woman who is very excited about motherhood. Stina’s got a husband (Max Von Sydow) who is as excited as she is to be a father, already thought of names and has a natural way of caring for others that would make her a perfect mother. Yet when the time comes, Stina has a gruesome childbirth in a scene that scared me more than any horror movie, and let’s just say her dreams are shattered. The lives of Cecilia, Hjördis and Stina become deeply connected as they stay together in the same room at the hospital, recovering, waiting, deciding. As the quote from Cecilia’s monologue I put in the beginning said, the three woman are opened from the inside out, and this common vulnerability makes them sisters in a way. They care for each other, uplift each other, and it’s a beautiful thing to see them form this strange bond I believe only women know. Character-driven stories are what always make me come back to Bergman, and this one feels fresh because as much as I love a good study on twisted minds, Brink of Life explores the psyche of a trio of characters who are just average people. They have a lot of flaws, but there’s not much darkness within them, and the movie is no less interesting for that.I’m very glad to have chosen this film to start off my stay in Stockholm, and Cecilia Ellius is a character that is going to stay with me for a long time, just like Märta Lundberg from Winter Light and Manda Vogler from The Magician. Ingrid Thulin, the actress that you are.
“Perhaps it’s not just the womb that opens up here but the entire person.”
Brink of Life (Nära Livet) is my 16th Bergman movie and I had the opportunity to experience it in Stockholm, Sweden, so this one is extra special. Where to begin? Well, with Ingrid Thulin as Cecilia Ellius of course, delivering one of the most heartbreaking monologues I’ve ever seen within the first twenty minutes of the film. I was literally staring at the screen gut-wretched as she spoke about the pain of feeling unloved, and how it tarnished Cecilia’s own feelings for the child she wanted. It underlines all the complex factors surrounding the gestation of a life: it’s an emotionally and physically challenging process not just between the mother and the baby, but between the pregnant woman and the world around her, her relationships, the society she’s inserted in, everything contributes to how that new human being will turn out to be. This is also very apparent in Hjördis Petterson’s story, a young girl played by Bibi Andersson who finds herself pregnant by a neglectful boyfriend, strained from her family and with no guarantee for a future. She starts the movie hating her pregnancy, but soon it becomes clear that Hjördis actually wants the baby, but is burdened and scared by those external circumstances. However, even when an expectant mother has all the right conditions to thrive, the cruel hands of fate can still come at play. That is shown by the story of Eva Dahlbeck’s Stina Andersson, a lovely woman who is very excited about motherhood. Stina’s got a husband (Max Von Sydow) who is as excited as she is to be a father, already thought of names and has a natural way of caring for others that would make her a perfect mother. Yet when the time comes, Stina has a gruesome childbirth in a scene that scared me more than any horror movie, and let’s just say her dreams are shattered. The lives of Cecilia, Hjördis and Stina become deeply connected as they stay together in the same room at the hospital, recovering, waiting, deciding. As the quote from Cecilia’s monologue I put in the beginning said, the three woman are opened from the inside out, and this common vulnerability makes them sisters in a way. They care for each other, uplift each other, and it’s a beautiful thing to see them form this strange bond I believe only women know. Character-driven stories are what always make me come back to Bergman, and this one feels fresh because as much as I love a good study on twisted minds, Brink of Life explores the psyche of a trio of characters who are just average people. They have a lot of flaws, but there’s not much darkness within them, and the movie is no less interesting for that.I’m very glad to have chosen this film to start off my stay in Stockholm, and Cecilia Ellius is a character that is going to stay with me for a long time, just like Märta Lundberg from Winter Light and Manda Vogler from The Magician. Ingrid Thulin, the actress that you are.
