Movie Review – Viskningar och rop (How do the taboo desires of three sisters and a maid emerge in the silence of a mansion?)

The film Viskningar och rop explores repressed desires and taboos in a mansion, focusing on the daily lives of three sisters and their maid. Homoerotic elements and sexual tension are symbolically represented through the color red, providing an intense sensory stimulus for the audience.

 

Viskningar och rop centers on the daily life in the mansion where the three sisters and their maid Anna live together. The main setting of the movie is just the mansion itself, and there are no dramatic events that take place, but instead, a sense of unease and tension that slowly builds. The movie quietly reveals the psychological pain and inner conflict that the characters experience in their seemingly monotonous daily lives.
The eldest of the three sisters, Agnes, is confined to her bed on the verge of death, while the other two sisters and their maid Anna nurse her. The second, Karin, is a strictly disciplined character who maintains a stoic facade but reveals an obsessive and unstable inner life. She expresses her repressed emotions and anger at her controlled life through an extreme act of deviation, cutting her genitals with a piece of glass. Maria, the youngest, is outwardly immature, but is internally conflicted about caring for Agnes, and does not hide her desires by having an affair with the doctor who comes to treat Anna’s daughter.
While watching the film, I felt that the element of homosexuality was an important theme in the film, especially in the relationship between Karin and Maria, where the overly intimate physical contact between the sisters, the stroking of faces and kissing, suggests sexual tension that goes beyond simple sisterly affection. Later in the film, Karin says to Maria, “You touched me,” suggesting that the relationship between the two is moving beyond simple sisterly affection and into uncomfortable taboo territory.
There’s also a strong homoerotic allusion in the scene where Agnes calls out to Karin, Maria, and Anna before her death. In this scene, each of the three characters closes the door to Agnes’ room before entering, creating a one-on-one space and heightening the tension between each of them and Agnes. In particular, when Maria tries to take Agnes’s hand and Agnes seems to overpower her, it can be interpreted as an expression of repressed desire, rather than simply seeking comfort from her sister. Later, when Anna hugs Agnes and exposes her breasts, the scene may appear maternal on the surface, but it is difficult to exclude the sexual tension that lies beneath.

 

 

The color red, an important symbol in the film, is also closely associated with these homoerotic elements. The color red is used repeatedly throughout the film to convey energy and sexuality, visually conveying that the characters are trapped by repressed desires and taboos. This is similar to the use of red pomegranates as a sexual symbol in the movie A Separation. The red color that fills the mansion and the intense red screen that appears during scene transitions creates anxiety and tension for the audience, hinting at the hidden themes of the film.
The film, which deals with death and suffering, exposes taboos through same-sex and blood-related sexual relationships, making the audience uncomfortable. Although homosexuality and taboos are not the subject of the film, they are important subtexts that keep the audience on edge. In particular, the repeated use of the color red, the maid Anna’s breathing, Agnes’s cries, and the close-ups that emphasize facial expressions provide intense sensory stimulation. On the other hand, the frequent auditory gaps and the monotonous flow of the film without any major events further maximize these stimuli and immerse the audience in the film.
In this way, the movie uses the elements of homosexuality and taboo to make a strong impression on the audience, creating a unique cinematic experience that lingers in the viewer’s mind.