Tystnaden/The Silence

Contrary to popular notions, 'Tystnaden' is not a totally quiet film in any sense neither when it comes to dialogue, nor the surrounding environment, the unknown society where the two sisters stay. The silence is perhaps more related to the metaphysical silence of the 'beyond', that is God, who doesn't answer the inner prayers of at least one of the sisters - maybe both - and the little boy, the son of one of them.

Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom are two sisters making a journey together, staying in an unknown town in an unknown country or perhaps only unnamed.
Ingrid Thulin's 'Ester' (in some way maybe referring to the Biblical person, after whome 'The Book of Esther' is named?) works as a translator but when arriving in this new country, she doesn't understand the language. This of course makes her somewhat silent in relation to her work, and thereby as a person as she can't express herself through her professional persona. She is also terminally ill, trying to seek the voice of God or a higher being, letting her continue to live and work. This as she obviously feels that she has a lot of unfinished business to attend to in her earthly existence.
Gunnel Lindblom's 'Anna' (the name of 'Saint Mary's' mother) seem to be haunted by the more physical silence, constituted by the unknown town, its inhabitants with whome she can't talk but also by the fact that she is seeking physical love and doesn't seem able to find it.
On the same time there is a gap between the two sisters, a void of silence created by a hierarchial structure between the two, obviously dating back to their childhood but also shifting from time to time depending on who, momentarily, is the strongests of them.
We get hints about their relationship indicating that 'Ester' was the stonger and more dominant person when they were younger but with her currently being very sick, 'Anna' can dominate 'Ester'. That is if this really is the case as the relationship and struggle for power goes back and forth depending on who is able to take advantage of the other person's weakness.
For the young boy - Johan (Jörgen Lindström) - the silence is created by this power struggle between his mother 'Anna' and her sister, creating a tension and uncertainty that troubles Johan. In a way he more relates to 'Ester' than to his mother but on the same time it seems as if his loyalty with 'Anna', in the end becomes predominant though their emotional relationship hardly could be described as warm and confident, as it should or could be between a mother/father and a child.
In all this we can sense an erotic trait between the two sisters, making us discern a incestuous relationship between the two but also an erotic tension between the mother and her son, the son having reached the age when the sexuality have to be explored. Of course we could use a Freudian perspective with the son in love with his mother but this interpretation is so common and obsolete that we can leave it aside.
Through the waiter (actor Håkan Jahnberg), who's helping not least 'Ester' - like 'the Good Samaritan' in the Bible - Johan also find a friend and guide and this is even more intensified when a group of midgets, being a part of a circus, start to play with him. Also in this case we find the erotic perspective when they dress Johan up in women's clothings, until their boss enters the room and call for discipline and respect.

A lot of questions about vertical and horisontal relations are posed in this film - as almost always in the films by Bergman - and the answers, to a great degree, are to be found in each and everyone of us, the viewers, making this and other œuvres by Bergman into an intellecutal and emotional journey through our inner feelings, confronting us with all the sentiments our socialization has hidden within our deepest mental corridors.