This blog post examines how the sisters’ whispering in the film Cries and Whispers delicately reveals their inner pain and alienation.
Generally, we think suppressing our inner voice and repeating only whispers is detrimental to problem-solving and mental health. Yet, in films, outcries are often portrayed as unconventional behavior and incomprehensible screams. Nevertheless, in the most relatable and easily understood scenes, the language the sisters use is not shouting but whispering. This language of whispers is the exact opposite of the expected loud, painful expression. Rather, it is through these quiet whispers that the inner turmoil is expressed with greater urgency and delicacy. This conveys a deep narrative, shared through emotion and quiet solidarity, one that remains unspoken aloud. Here, the whisper carries immense power, bearing the weight of unspoken fears and suppressed sorrow. It is an expression of subtle emotion that only the recipient of the whisper can truly understand and feel.
Furthermore, one cautiously wonders if their suffering stems from alienation—a lack of belonging—and the resulting fear, pain, and resentment. First, Karin is unable to adapt to the moral discipline and religious values imposed upon her by the era’s backdrop and atmosphere. She endures the pressure from the collective, the fear and pain of feeling alienated. This is revealed in scenes like the suffocatingly dull dinner with her indifferent diplomat husband, and the act of self-harming her genitals with broken glass, then moistening her mouth with her blood-stained hands. In this state of anxiety and suffering, Karin could no longer contain her suppressed emotions internally, expressing her inner voice outwardly through extreme acts.
Meanwhile, Maria, who had an affair, likely felt alienated through her inner whispers as her relationship with the family doctor grew distant. The despair of failing to win the doctor’s heart and the intense humiliation before the mirror represent the moment her inner torment collided with the external world. In that instant, Maria confronts her own alienation. While outwardly maintaining beauty, her inner cynicism and isolation were increasingly marginalizing her socially.
Agnes stands closest to the boundary between life and death; death is the farewell to all living things and the process of departing alone. This transcends every kind of alienation and fear humans can feel. For this reason, Agnes yearns for affection and warmth from Anna and the sisters, yet she feels alienated once more, her feelings inadequately received. This conflict serves as a stark reminder of how unstable and fleeting Agnes’s existence is, deepening the abyss of her emotions and the inner voice experienced by one facing death. Her final moments struggle against the ultimate alienation death brings, carrying her affection for those left behind and her yearning for the love and warmth she longed to receive from them. This becomes the most powerful whisper and cry in her life and death, leading to a profound reflection on the essence of existence and its end.
Finally, Anna was, from beginning to end, a figure psychologically detached from her sisters, never an object of psychological identification or empathy. She existed solely in the role of caring for Agnes. After Agnes’s death, the sisters allowed Anna to take one item, yet showed reluctance. This was a situation sufficient for Anna to feel alienated. For Anna, the only being who trusted and depended on her was Agnes. When the dead Agnes returned, Anna was the only one who opened her heart. Ultimately, Agnes may have been the object through which Anna sought to resolve her own alienation. This signifies that the alienation felt by each individual can manifest in different forms.
