Cries and Whispers (1972)

Poetic, mysterious and super stylistic, Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers (1972) is considered by some to be a masterpiece. In 2002, Roger Ebert added it to his “Great Movies” list, saying the film touches the “extremes of human feeling.” We don’t know about that but there is at least one scene that had us touching our nether regions. Also known as Viskningar och rop, the Swedish drama follows Agnes (Harriet Andersson), a wealthy woman who has terminal cancer at the end of the 1800s. Her sisters Maria (Liv Ullmann) and Karin (Ingrid Thulin) come to be with Agnes at her mansion. But instead of being consoling like the servant Anna (Kari Sylwan), the sisters go back and forth between fearing and hoping for Agnes’s death. Most of the scenes are comprised of flashbacks to earlier memories. Each of the three sisters has their own quirky incident to recall. Of course, our favorite is Karin’s since her fleshback includes views of Ingrid’s bare breasts, bush and bum as the character changes her clothes. Perhaps that’s why the movie won an Oscar for Best Cinematography and was nominated for other Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In fact, Ms. Andersson, Ms. Ullmann, Ms. Thulin and Ms. Sylwan all took home a Special David di Donatello Award for their ensemble performances. If that’s not impressive enough, Mr. Skin has a statuette in his pants for these lovely actresses. You can bet, we’d be applauding them if our hands weren’t already busy thanks to Ingrid’s three Bs!