1001 films you must see before you die- Part VIII: 1960-1964

Through a Glass Darkly (Swedish: Såsom i en spegel ("As in a mirror")) is a 1961 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and produced by Allan Ekelund. The film is a three-act “chamber film,” in which four family members act as mirrors for each other. It is the first of many Bergman films to be shot on the island of Fårö.
The story takes place during a twenty-four hour period while four family members vacation on a remote island, shortly after one of them, Karin (Harriet Andersson), who suffers from schizophrenia was released from an asylum. Karin's husband Martin (Max von Sydow) tells her and Minus's (Lars Passgård) father, David, that Karin's disease is almost incurable. Meanwhile, Minus tells Karin that he wishes he could have a real conversation with his father, and cries because he feels deprived of his father's affection. David (Gunnar Björnstrand) is a second-rate novelist who has just returned from a long trip abroad. He announces he will leave again in a month, though he promised he would stay. The others are upset, and David gives them bad, last-minute presents. He leaves them and sobs alone for a moment. When he returns, the others cheerfully announce that they too have a "surprise" for David; they perform a play for him that Minus has written. David takes offense (although approving on the outside with cries of "author, author") at the play, which can be interpreted as an attack on his character and art.