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Title: Even a lesser Bergman is a good picture.
Review: In addition to two fine reviews, let me add that the misogynist plot (Peter hates his wife Katrina but kills a prostitute instead) and the incessant recording (done by the investigator, the psychiatrist, and the murderer himself) draw our attention to the one gay man. Tim is a person who does not want to record what he has to say and who, although nearly everyone knows the imminent danger intuitively and disregards it, chooses to look himself in the mirror and recognizes the horror of both what he has done and not done. Yet we don't care when Katrina acknowledges his shallowness despite his hand upon her cheek. Since we don't care about Tim, how are we to care whether Peter ever found him? Consequently, Peter's anguish remains vague and we're left grateful he's locked up--not typical for Bergman who more often yearns for escape.
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