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Rating: Bergman's cinema is not just about...Death.
Stina (Eva Dahlbeck): "I am the symbol of life that continues. I so desire this child. I will go crazy if it doesn't hurry to grow."
Admitted after a miscarriage, Cecilia (Ingrid Thulin) meets two expectant mothers, Stina (Eva Dahlbeck) and Hjordis (Bibi Anderson). The first is a happy woman eagerly waiting for her firstborn, while the second is a single mother who feels abandoned by everyone. During the night, Stina will lose the child, and Hjordis will reconcile with her family.
Finally, in the autumn of 1957, it was time for Ingmar Bergman to focus on the ...birth of life. Although it must be said that, contrary to what one might hastily think, in Bergman life and death are never moments so radically distinct, and the moment of birth can never be considered too far from the moment of passing. A concept beautifully and dramatically reiterated within the film.
“Brink of Life” (Nära Livet) is, in Bergman's filmography, a film overlooked by both the public and critics, probably beyond its (few) demerits, solely because it came immediately after “The Seventh Seal” (Det sjunde inseglet, 1956) and “Wild Strawberries” (Smultronstället, 1957) and before “The Virgin Spring” (1958) and “The Magician” (1958). Therefore, caught in a deadly grip of interest created by legendary, immortal, and multi-awarded masterpieces. However, as emphasized multiple times, according to the author of this review, there is no section of “minor” films in Bergman's filmography, but all of the Master's 50 films (even the lesser-regarded ones) have their own broad and unique breath, profound meaning, and unique and unrepeatable value. The interest in the theme of the birth of life came to Bergman from reading some stories by Ulla Isakson (“The Aunt of Death”): he thought that at least a couple of them would constitute excellent material for a film, and on that subject and with the collaboration of the author, he constructed a screenplay ...“fluid, rapid, and very entertaining.” As the author himself said, “Brink of Life” is...”the well-told story of three women in a hospital room. Where the room is nothing but a comfortable maternity ward.” Ingrid Thulin, among the expectant mothers, will lose the baby in the third month of pregnancy, with great expenditure of...calf's blood. Besides Ingrid Thulin, the Bergmanian acting personnel is almost complete. There are, in fact, Eva Dahlbeck, Bibi Anderson, Max von Sydow, Erland Josephson, and Inga Landgrè. With the nervous and bewildered men reduced almost to the role of simple extras. However, despite the exceptional interpretations of all the actresses, which ennobled his entire work, Bergman, hypercritical as ever, noted in his diary-book Images that: “The makeup was excessive; Eva's wig was enormous; the photography (by Max Vilén) at times mediocre; some tones too literary.”
It is known that Bergman did not like to watch his works very much. He viewed this film of his only three times. At the time of the shooting in the autumn of '57. In his private cinema room in Faro, after almost 50 years. And, between the two viewings, after a recorded interview with Lasse Bergstrom; upon listening to it again, he realized he had never mentioned the film, as if he had forgotten it. And this particular reason led him to rewatch it. During the filming, the Asian flu was rampant. The crew, largely infected, worked with a fever of 40°C and with a gauze mask over their mouths. Very often, the crew, to lighten the mood and relieve excessive tension, would move backstage where the tubes of laughing gas were kept, which had an effect similar to that of drugs but of shorter duration.
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