Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers)

Agnes, riddled with cancer, is dying in the family mansion, cared for by the faithful old retainer, Anna. Her two sisters - one suicidal, the other neurotic to the point of madness - return home to give her comfort, but in fact hardly help her. Only the most extravagant superlatives could hope to convey the visual, aural and acting artistry of this film, the action of which occurs mostly in an agony of suffering silence, punctuated by the cries and whispers of the title. Unremittingly bleak and harrowing, it is a powerful document about dying, and reactions to dying, made by a master. (Foreign Film Guide).