Three Courses & Another Bergman Film

Last Friday night, our friends Randy & Kim invited us over to continue Bergman's film trilogy on faith and man's relationship with God. We started with "Through a Glass Darkly" a couple of weeks ago at our house, and last Friday we watched "Winter Light" (1963), the second in the trilogy.

As usual chefs Raines & Raines made a fabulous three-course meal: Randy's poached sea bass and Kim's ricotta gnocchi were both outstanding.

What We Ate:

• aperitif: Prosecco
• appetizer: Chilean sea bass, poached in olive oil with lemon rinds, served over polenta and topped with crispy pancetti, shredded parsley and a fried quail egg - paired with a Sauvignon blanc - so delicious! the fish was very flavorful but not overcooked, and the quail egg (so tiny!) was rich but not overpowering
• entrée: lamb shank, sautéed shitake mushrooms, and ricotta gnocchi - paired with a Montepulciano - after dinner, we kept eating the leftover gnocchi like popcorn - it was addictively good
• dessert: apple almond tart topped with vanilla ice cream - paired with an ice wine

(I also learned something about poaching that evening: as long as you keep the liquid/meat at a constant temperature, you can cook it as long as you want without fear of overcooking - you'll just keep infusing flavor. The French have a similar technique called sous-vide, where food sealed in an airtight plastic bag is cooked in a water bath at a constant temperature for a long period of time.)

After dinner we settled down - with coffee & more ice wine - to watch the movie. Like most Bergman films, it centers more around relationships & conversations than actions & events. The main character Tomas Ericsson is a small-town clergyman in rural Sweden; Marta Lundberg is the local schoolteacher and Ericsson's sometimes mistress. Approached by two church members Jonas & Karin Persson for spiritual counseling, Ericsson suffers a personal crisis of faith. The movie's story takes place all within 3-4 hours on one Sunday afternoon, between a morning communion service and an afternoon vespers service.

We had a good discussion afterwards: Kim & I firmly believe that the film's ending - including a conversation with the church's hunchback sexton Algot - is cynical & depressing, while Randy & Topher just as firmly believe that it's hopeful. We even went back and watched the last 10-15 minutes again. Too bad the guys still didn't get it. ;)

Further reading on "Winter Light":
Review in the NYTimes - May 14, 1963
Essay from The Criterion Collection - August 18, 2003
Essay by Tobias Wolff in The New Yorker - June 9, 2008