As autumn falls upon us and the air turns colder, Violet Hour returns to the Castle Cinema with a screening of Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly (1961) + Kurt Kren’s 3/60: Trees in Autumn (1960).

Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

On a remote island in the Baltic Sea, a family gathers for a 24-hour vacation with their loved one Karin, who has recently been released from a mental hospital. Following her treatment for schizophrenia, Karin finds her fragile reality slipping from her once more, as she hears voices calling to her, promising the arrival of God. As the vacation slowly disintegrates into quiet, claustrophobic horror, Through A Glass Darkly becomes a haunting portrait of spiritual isolation, psychic collapse, and the devastating limits of human compassion. Stripping away all melodrama, Bergman creates a stark and intense chamber piece that has left an indelible mark on his filmography, winning an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Kurt Kren’s 3/60: Trees in Autumn (1960)

An autumnal short film depicting the frames of bare treetops against a pale sky, featuring web-like geometry and rapid editing. Kren deconstructs nature into cold, alienated forms; a stark visual overture to Karin’s fracturing mind and the desolate island setting of Through a Glass Darkly.

About Violet Hour

Violet Hour showcases the dark, transgressive and enigmatic side of the screen. Exploring the darker aspects of the psyche through cinema, we screen and discuss works that unsettle, undo us, and challenge our perceptions. Follow us here ~