Nothing happened in Stockholm?

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/old-town-in-
stockholm-sweden-gm523395133-51237318

Stockholm Syndrome never really happened, at least not how they described it to us. A little background here... Back in 1973, in Stockholm, a convict on parole, Jan Erik Olsson, attempted to rob a bank with a gun. He took four bank employees as hostages. He held the hostages for six days in the bank vault, demanding that the police release his friend, a celebrity criminal, Clark Olofson, from behind bars, some money and free passage. The police did not budge, but they managed to smoke them out by drilling a hole through the vault and infusing noxious gas inside. The puzzling thing throughout the whole fiasco was that the hostages were said to have sided with the assailant. They viewed the police as the bad guys and did not take the opportunity to escape when the police purposely laid the plan for them. It is said that the hostages later crowdsourced funds for the robber's trial. 

It was later revealed that all these were fabricated. There was even a rumour that one of the hostages was engaged to her captor. The most apparent thing was that none of the media people interviewed the hostages to get a first-hand account of what transpired in the bank. Unverified rumours started flying. Soon, the understanding was that the hostages were brainwashed. In Sweden, pretty soon, the act of hostages building psychological bonds with their kidnappers was labelled Norrmalmstorgssyndromet,  after Norrmalmstorg Square, where the attempted robbery took place.

Outside, this phenomenon was recognised as Stockholm Syndrome. Policemen at academies were taught to take note of this when handling a hostage situation. Hostages cannot be relied upon to cooperate with the police but could paradoxically work with the bandits.

To be fair, Stockholm Syndrome is not classified as a mental disorder in the DSM-5. The FBI's extensive research into numerous kidnappings indicates that only 5% of victims develop some kind of psychological bond with their captors. Additionally, 3% of the general population hates the police, anyway.

The interest in this phenomenon was piqued once again a year later, in 1974, when Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of a famous publisher, was kidnapped by an urban guerrilla group, the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was later caught robbing a bank with the group. She was imprisoned for seven years, only to be pardoned and freed by Bill Clinton.

It gets more complicated after this. Quite the opposite of what is described in Stockholm Syndrome, sometimes the kidnappers grow a soft spot for their victims. In 1996, thousands of party attendees at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru, were abducted. It is said that the friendly rapport with the kidnappers helped the earlier release of hostages. Anyway, the invited guests were probably high-level diplomats who were well-versed in negotiation skills. The scenario where the perpetrators build a positive bond with their victims is called 'Lima Syndrome'.
 

Kristin Enmark
"I did what I could do to survive!"
https://varldenshistoria.se/kriminalitet/stockholmssyndromet
-gisslan-skyddade-svenska-brottslingar

Contrary to what developed in Stockholm and Lima, hostages sometimes invoke their kidnappers' aversion. In 1980, the Iranian Embassy was seized with 26 captives by terrorists. The hostages were argumentative, loud, and trying to escape. The terrorist quickly shot the loudest one of the lot and threw him out of the Embassy to emphasise his demands with no qualms. This is London Syndrome. The bad behaviour of the victim sparks a negative response.

In one podcast, Radiolab, finally, eight years ago, someone interviewed one of the hostages, Kristin Enmark, involved in the Stockholm bank robbery, to find out what was really happening then. Kristin volunteered to be a hostage after overhearing her co-worker speaking on the phone emotionally to her husband about her children's logistics arrangements, as she would be stuck in the crisis.

It is difficult for a third person to predict how a victim would react in a stressful situation. We fail to see why a person repeatedly finds himself trapped in an abusive relationship. We wonder for how long a battered wife gets stuck with her abusive husband. There must be more than meets the eye. The logical thing for a person on the outside is to get out. It is not so easily done.

https://ivno.over-blog.com/2023/03/les-illusions-le-syndrome-de-stockholm.html

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Life, a living hell?

Prison (Fängelse, 1949)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Another early offering #6 from Bergman. It is a short film which has a very dark background, setting and story-wise, noir like. It is precursor to many of his later movie with dark themes like the silence of God, mental illness and the uncertainty of life. Here, it looks at the trappings of life.

A movie shooting is in progress. The director's old Maths professor who had just been released from mental asylum meets him to propose his bizarre story for consideration to be made into a film. The story narrates how Satan comes to Earth to declare it as Hell itself! The team politely declines the story. The happenings over the next few days actually makes everyone thinking. Perhaps, life on Earth is already a living Hell!

Tomas, a screenwriter, of late has been consuming more and more alcohol than he should. During one of his stuporous states, he suggested to his fiancé they should commit suicide together! Startled, the fiancé bolts for her life after knocking him out with the end of a wine bottle.

On the other side of town, a young prostitute, Birgitta, is pregnant. Her guardian promises to gives the baby for adoption. Birgitta is tormented in her guilt but feels helpless to expunge herself from her predicament. She longs for her lost childhood.

The baby was never given for adoption but was killed by Birgitta's pimp boyfriend and his partner. The police picks up the cue and are hot on her trail.

Tomas and Birgitta meet along the way. They find that they get along well but certain old memories from her past still torments her. The image of her dead child haunts her. She runs away from Tomas decides to continue her routine life.

The film crew realise that perhaps there is truth in the Maths professor's prophecy. Life on Earth has became tough for some, a real living Hell.

http://amzn.to/1OVkvW5
http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy

On motherhood...

Nara Livet [1958, Swedish; Brink of Life(US), So Close to life(UK)]

Director: Ingmar Bergman

A drama which earned 1958 Cannes award for Best director and awards for Best Actress (all three main characters), this is a story of the concept of having children, the guilt, the acceptance and the problems associated with them. 

It narrates the occurrences in the maternity ward over a span of a day. 

Not every child is born in the world wanted, sometimes their loss wrecks relationship, other times so much hope is placed on them which leads to disappointed when expectation is not met!

The film starts with Cecilia Ellius, at three months' pregnancy being wheeled in to the ward after experiencing bleeding. A guilt stricken Cecilia has a miscarriage and blames herself for her predicament. She never wanted the child in the first place. Her husband too, in midst of completing his thesis was not really ready.

Mr and Mrs Ellius' relationship take a dive for the worst and are contemplating separation.

Cecilia, not a young person, feels that she is not fit to be a mum. She feels that at her age, solitude and loneliness just suits her fine.

Sharing her same room are two expectant mothers; Stinas Andersson, a first timer who had way past her due date and is waiting for the baby to pop out and Hjördis Petterson, a unmarried teenager whose boyfriend takes no responsibility of her pregnancy.

Stinas and her husband are so excited to receive the addition to the family and have made plans for the newborn. During visiting hours, the Anderssons discuss the baby's room and the paraphernalia that needs to be added.

Hjördis, on the other hand, was admitted as she was unwell and some time more to deliver. She is generally a frustrated young lady. She had left her mother's house as she could not see eye to eye with her. Her mother was displeased with her behaviour and they had parted on bad terms. Now, at ends' wit and lack of cash, she yearns to go back home but has no courage to face her mother.

In the meantime, later that night, Stinas goes into labour. Unfortunately, her big plans came tumbling. Complications during labour ended with untimely demise of loved child.

Hjördis laments her condition to the welfare officer who, herself subfertile, feels happy for her being pregnant and discouraged her to undergo a termination. Hjördis herself cannot understand she should be happy with her pregnancy as she has been a disappointment to everyone around her.

Along the movie, the three ladies do communicate and give each other support. Cecilia coaxes Hjördis to call her mother for encouragement. She picks up some courage to call her and to her astonishment she willingly asks her to return home. Together, they were going to usher the newborn.

Cecilia's problem is also solved when her sister-in-law gives her some words of wisdom. She resolves to mend her relationship with her kind husband.

Stina, on the other hand, was sleeping her woes away when the film ended.

What Man wants?

En Passion (The Passion, Swedish; 1969)
Director: Ingmar Bergman

As the camera rolls in, the loneliness of the protagonist is made apparent. He is only greeted with the sounds of birds, winds and nature. There are no company of people for miles around, and the weather is not so refreshing. This is the backdrop of the start of this film which, one questions the very things that all individuals ask after they have achieved a certain level in life. They lay down specific guidelines for people around them to follow, and the boundary is breached; they cannot accept it, and pandemonium is the order of the day. People around them, affected by them, who long for their companion, who look at them for guidance and love, are the direct victims of their actions. If this explanation sounds confusing, watch it yourself and draw your conclusions. Answers in life are neither black nor white; they come in shades of grey.

Andreas Winkelman (Max von Sydow, a regular in Bergman's films) is a lonely divorcee leading his own lonely life himself where his only company is solitude and sounds of nature. He does his personal things at his own snail's pace. His occasional acquaintance is bronchitic cart pulling man, Sigge, with a prior stint at the mental asylum.
On one fateful day, a visitor from his friend's (Eva and Elis) home (Anna, Liv Ullman, another regular feature in Bergman's films) comes in using his phone as the friend's line was out of order. Andreas eavesdrops on the emotional conversation where she spills her emotion to her ex-husband about money issues.

Anna leaves the house in a hurry, leaving her handbag behind. Anna had allegedly been involved in a nasty accident 3 months previously where her husband and son had perished, and she needed multiple surgeries and was walking with crutches.

The curious Andreas took the liberty to look into the handbag to discover a letter from her husband about her dogmatic attitudes, their incompatibility and separation.
Andreas' friends Eva and Elis have problems of their own. Eva is a chronic insomniac who never got over her previous miscarriage, and her marital bed has been unkindled for a mighty long time. Elis is a keen photographer who is inspired by snapping emotions. Andreas becomes his model.

On the side, the village has a spate of cruel killings and snaring of animals. Bewildered on the perpetrator's identity, the accusing hands of the villagers pointed at Sigge because of his past mental condition. Constant threat and harassment pushed him to suicide, only for the mindless killing to continue even after his demise!

How do human emotions push us to do the unthinkable?

Andreas befriends Anna. After an initial good going, both expressed insecurity and resentment towards each other. Andreas felt freedom in his solitude. Anna's deception about her spouse was uncovered- they divorced! They finally went separate ways, just as the way before.

The take-home message that I draw from here is that one should not be so egoistic in only wanting to attain self-gratification to his own content. Perhaps he should look around at all the good things he has around him and make the best available - less pain, more to gain. Well, it worked well for generations before us! Or maybe being dogmatic, steadfast in our beliefs and set in doing things in a way and insisting on others to do it may just push us off our or others' minds? 

How Man maintains his sanity?

The Virgin Spring (Swedish: Jungfrukällan) 1960
Director: Ingmar Bergman

Yet another movie questioning the silence of God on the happenings of daily life in the Ingmar Bergman fashion. This time it is set in medieval Sweden. I suppose it was the time when the people there are just exposed to the modern religion of Christianity and slowly trying to learn the mysterious ways that He works and trying to understand why.

It is at a time when they are some, usually the underprivileged and the powerless with less clout in society, who are still hoping for their pagan Norse deity Odin to release them from their miseries. In essence, the Christian God seems to be the possession of the bourgeois!

A rich Christian man's maiden daughter, Karin, is assigned to send candles to a church on horseback with her pagan maid. Along the way, they go separate ways. Karin continues the journey alone. Along the way, she bumps into three goatherd brothers. The kindhearted Karin offers them food. After taking her food, the elder two of the savage brothers mercilessly raped and killed her. They ripped her off her expensive tunics and scooted off. This event was watched by the maid but was too stunned to do anything. She just made herself home as if nothing happened.

After a few days, the goatherds who were wondering about took shelter at the rich man's shack, unknown to the visitors of the real owners of the house.

After feeding their visitors, the host discovers their guests' true identity. In a fit of rage, the father kills all three of the brothers.

The entourage of father, mother, maid finally make it to the site of the slain maiden. The grief-stricken father, obviously remorseful of hasty actions has a one on one monologue with God. This is the climax of the movie. He argues for the reason for the silence of God when the goatherds murdered her child and when he lost his cool seeking vengeance. At the end of the uncertainty, he, like what most mortals would do, decided that he would instead build a magnificent church at the site of the death of his daughter. As if like an auspicious symbol, when the dead girl's remains are lifted, the spring emerges from the earth beneath. The attendees cleanse their faces with it, giving piety to the whole idea.

The message I gather is that we, only feel frustrated by daily turns of events, blame and question God on his action and somewhat lack of, accept that He knows best, carry on glorifying Him and take things as they are...

That is the story of how Man maintains his sanity on life over the years in spite of all the calamities that he faces day in and day out...

Swedish masala

Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende, Swedish; 1955)
Written and Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

One romantic comedy set in early 20th century Sweden. It tells the story of 4 couples engaged in a twisted love affair. First, there is a 50year old advocate, Fredrik Egerman, who is married to a 19 year old Anne. He was a widower and and has a 18 year old son, Henrik, who is a confused lad who is trying very hard to be celibate to join priesthood. He is teased by his promiscuous  maid, Petra.

Fredrik and Anne's matrimony had not been consummated despite 2 years of union. Meanwhile, Fredrik meets up with his ex-girlfriend, stage actress Desiree Armfeldt.

Whilst in Desiree's bedroom, her current boyfriend, a hormoned raged soldier, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm walks to his wrath. A tiff ensues. Fredrik leaves but Desiree ends her relationship with the Count.

The enraged Count tells his ever loving wife, Charlotte, Anne's friend about Fredrik's infidelity. Charlotte then tells her friend Anne.

Meanwhile, Desiree and her mother plan a dinner for the Egermans, Count and Countess in conjunction with mid Summer night, the shortest night in summer. What happens next is a series of mix ups. Petra, the flirty maid, pairs up with Armfeldt's burly butler.  Henrik, who always the soft spot for his step mother, beds her and she is deflowered! The couple elope with the help of the maid. The Countess who made a challenge to be able to seduce Fredrik at the dinner is spotted by the Count. The Count challenges Fredrik for a duel in a deadly game of Russian Roulette.

Fredrik fires on his second attempt only to discover that he had been duped. The gun was only loaded with soot!

In the end, the Count and Countess are reunited. Fredrik continues his relationship with Desiree. Everybody is happy. The End.

Effect of too much restriction?

The Silence (Tystnaden, Swedish; 1963)

Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Concluding Bergman's trilogy of faith is this movie about two sisters and a 10 year old boy. Again, this is another movie which would make you wonder the direction the film is taking, initially. Unlike its predecessors, this one does not question religious faith, but rather the faith on how we should lead our lives.

It starts with Ester, a sickly lady with paroxysms of cough and breathlessness, her sister Anna who is stylish but appears to be irritated with her sister. There is Anna's son, Johan, who seems to be in his own world looking and learning all the  things around him. They seem to be travelling in a train in a foreign country.

At a hotel, Ester is still ill but she still refuses to see a doctor but instead buries her sorrows in vodka and cigarette. Anna is busy with self immersion, immersed in a bath and getting dressed for a piece of action in the new town. The town is in brinks of war with sounds of shell blasting being heard. Johan is happy absorbing things around him like a sponge. He makes acquaintance with a group of Spanish dwarfs who are staying in the same hotel. Then there is a old butler who takes a liking to Johan, even though they do not understand each other and do not speak each other's language.

On and off, Ester, does her work of translating documents. Anna goes on her walk about and makes contact with a waiter in a brasserie. Then, the stories starts making sense. Anna comes back to the room to boast to her sister on her sexual escapades!

The way I make of the story is that Ester who is the elder of the two had been taking care of Anna and had been set in her ways and how life should be lived. Anna, the rebel, had to follow unwillingly. She lived by Ester's rules which were as methodical as her line of work, a translator. Now that Ester is weak and powerless, it is her time of revenge. We start to wonder Anna's child is illegitimate.
Ester, I think, also has aversion to men.
After a big showdown between the sisters over a Anna's casual sexual contact, Anna and Johan leaves the hotel heading home, leaving Ester alone in the room.

What the story teller is trying to say is that we can only impart our values so much to the our wards. Everyone have their own values and eventually choose their place of comfort.

Reconcile your past before you pass

Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället, Swedish; 1957)

Directed and Written by: Ingmar Bergman

After a certain age, we of the older generation would tend to walk around with a chip on our shoulder, are conceited with ourselves, thinking of others as not worthy of our acquaintance. We think that whatever we had done was just right and it helped to pave our own and other peoples' life. An occasional smack on the head and humbling experience will definitely make us more grounded. Sometimes, it is important for us to accept the fact and make amends to be at peace with our love ones!

This, in essence is the gist of the movie by the legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
Prof Isak Borg is a cranky 78 year old widower who lives alone with his maid in his big house. He is short tempered sharing a love-hate relationship with his live-in old maid (and it is nothing romantic) of many years. He is to be feted with an honorary doctorate from University of Lund for his 50 years in medical field.

At the last minute, after a bizarre dream where he crawled out of a coffin, he decides to drive to his destination instead of his initial plan to fly. His daughter-in-law, Marianne, who is going through a rough patch with her husband (Isak's only child), decides to follow Isak.

Along the journey, they meet characters that remind Isak of his childhood and adulthood to make himself aware that he had not been the best person in the world.

Prof Isak decides to stop, along the way, at a summer house where he used to spend his summer as a child. Taking a siesta under a tree, he is cradled back to his childhood where he is a spectator to all the happenings of a particular summer. His cousin, Sara, who was romantically linked to Isak had a tough time trying to choose between the smart Isak and his fun filled outgoing brother, whom she finally chose.
They (Isak and Marianne) pick up a trio of teenagers who were hitchhiking to Italy. Just as in his case, the girl of the trio has a tough time deciding to choose between a minister and a fun filled guy.

They later have to pick up a feuding couple (a fretfully irritating husband and a mentally unstable wife) after they crashed into their car. Isak sees himself in the couple and realises how painful he must have been to his wife. The feuding couple were such a nuisance that they had to be dropped half-way in the middle of nowhere! In another forty wink episode, he visualizes his wife engaged in an extramarital liaison.

Isak also stops at a gas station whose owners sing praises of Isak when he was a general practitioner in the country side.
Stopping at his mother's house, Isak realizes that his fussy temperament must have come from his annoyingly domineering mother. He later sees the same trait in his son (Marianne's husband).

The conferring event turned out to be such a non-event after all. He feels not so proud of his achievement. Back after the event, in his son's home, he gets the good news that his son and wife have reconciled their differences.
Isak also expresses his apologies and appreciation to his maid who had put up with all his temper and idiosyncrasies.
He goes to bed, a happy man. He does not die in his sleep but sleeps with a smile painted on his face. He had made peace with himself and the people around him.
A good intelligent show with many issues close to our heart which needs pondering...

Our social relationships are limited, most of the time, to gossip and criticizing people's behavior. This observation slowly pushed me to isolate from the so-called social life. My days pass by in solitude.

The thin line which separates....

Through a Glass Darkly* (Såsom i en spegel, 1961; Swedish)
Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman
This is one of the three movies made by Bergman on spiritualism. The mark of this great director is seen in the make of the film which involves 4 characters and a film which spans only a single day. It goes on to suggest (at least in my mind) that there is a very thin line which separates insanity and religious fanaticism!

It starts with the main characters swimming - Karin, her husband Martin, her 17 year old brother Minus and her father David. We slowly realize that Karin is suffering from schizophrenia whose prognosis appears guarded and incurable. Minus has some teenage issues of his own, unable to find a girlfriend. Martin is the only one who seem to be strong. David,  writer, has just returned from Switzerland to be with the family before leaving again. 

We are also told that Karin's mother had died earlier due to the same illness that struck Karin, and the one that drove a grieving David into self imposed exile, neglecting his children. He almost drove himself to suicide but failed only to mechanical reasons. His love for the remaining members of the family is the only thing that drove him to live.

In the meantime, Karin is hallucinating of hearing God through the crack of the torn wall-paper. In spite her struggle, the force is overwhelming driving her to do things beyond her control.

In the morning when both Martin and David were out in sea, fishing, Karin goes into one of her exacerbation of her illness. She runs and hides in a damaged yacht stranded by the shore. Her brother, Minus, goes in search of her. One thing lead to another and the two indulge in an incestuous relationship. When she comes around, she realizes that she cannot be living in two worlds but be in one and must be institutionalized. 

Minus, the other guilty party finds it hard to come in terms with his action. He fears the wrath of God.

Finally, in the final scene, David has a heart to heart talk with his son. Just as his previous experience when he hit a brick wall, he told his son that the God is love and love is God, we live for and with the love of the people we love.

An interesting movie with with rather subtle connotations and messages. Most of the story is left to our imagination. Even though the story may touch on some touchy subjects, all actors are fully clothed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through_a_Glass_Darkly_(film)
* The title is from a biblical passage (1 Corinthians 13) in which seeing through a glass darkly refers to our understanding of God when we are alive; the view will only be clear when we die. [Wikipedia]