The films of Ingmar Bergman have probably attracted more attention internationally than the work of any other moviemaker since the war. Born in 1918, he directed his first feature at 27 and at 43 has just completed his 24th film. With two exceptions (Brink of Life and The Virgin Spring) Bergman has written his own screenplays and his output represents to a degree that is unusual in the industry, a highly personal vision.

The vision has attracted large audiences throughout Europe and in the art theatres of the United States. Most recently some of his latter-day films have been dubbed in the United States in order to reach greater audiences. Bergman seems to have struck a note of profound response among highly critical audiences, his scripts have been published in book form by Simon and Schuster, his work analyzed in great detail in a great many magazine and newspaper articles.

It was not until 1956 and the appearance of Smiles of a Summer Night at the Cannes Festival that Bergman became well known outside Sweden. His first fifteen films were not widely seen until he had acquired an international reputation. He has received many international awards since then, but it was not until 1960 that his work was officially recognized by Hollywood with the presentation of his first Oscar for The Virgin Spring.

Through a Glass Darkly, the recipient of Sweden's Academy Award, has been awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 1961 Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The title of Ingmar Bergman's 24th film is a biblical quotation from Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians (13:12); which reads in its entirety:

"For now we see through a glass darkly;
But then face to face;
Now I know in part;
But then I shall know even as also I am known"

The thirteenth chapter of Paul's Epistle deals with "Love, the Indispensable and Crowning Grace." It is the theme with which Bergman was concerned when making Wild Strawberries and The Virgin Spring.

"All these three films are concerned with the question of atonement," said Bergman in a recent interview. "The problem of God is always before me, always present. Film by film, I have tried to find a steadily clearer interpretation of the matter of atonement. In The Virgin Spring God for the time answered the cry of a human being. In that film I dared to take a stand, to make a statement although it was under the guise of Medieval trappings. In Through a Glass Darkly there is nothing to hide or obstruct what I want to have said."

His latest film concerns four people during a twenty-four hour period in an old house far out in the Stockholm Archipelago. The story centres around a sensitive young woman's mental breakdown and the devastating effect of her illness on her immediate family. The woman is played by Harriet Andersson who appeared in Smiles of a Summer Night, Dreams, The Naked Night. Her husband is Max von Sydow, who had the title role in The Magician, was the Knight in The Seventh Seal, and the avenging father in The Virgin Spring. The father is portrayed by Gunnar Björnstrand, remembered for his work in The Magician, The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries; and the part of the young brother is taken by a newcomer in the Bergman stable, Lars Passgård, a nineteen year old boy who recently made his debut at the Malmö City Theatre.

The picture was filmed on a rustic islet Faron which forms a part of the island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish Defense Staff opened up a piece of land otherwise restricted for military operations. A lighthouse plays an integral part in the film and Bergman received special permission from the Swedish Coast Guard to erect a temporary one.

The film is dedicated "to Käbi, my Wife," and it is believed to be the first time a film has been dedicated to a person not directly concerned with the movie or its plot. Käbi Laretei, Bergman's wife, is a concert pianist and a celebrity in her own right.

Produced by the Svensk Filmindustri, the Janus release runs 91 minutes and is photographed in black and white.