MovieChat Forums > Nattvardsgästerna (1963) Discussion > We never really find out why Jonas kills...

We never really find out why Jonas kills himself

posted 9 years ago by Bowen4
2 replies | jump to latest

Jonas's wife says that Jonas started feeling upset when he read in the papers about the Chinese building atom bombs, and I don't really get this part. It seems like a very silly reason to become depressed, because you're afraid that the Chinese are going to blow you up? Shouldn't you be more afraid of the Americans and Soviets? Couldn't Bergman have come up with a better reason for why Jonas was depressed? I don't think Jonas's wife knew why Jonas was depressed, so she just came up with this reason. I don't recall Jonas ever talking about what he was actually depressed about. He just remains silent about it and goes along with the Chinese explanation. I think the Chinese explanation was just a way of avoiding the real reason for his depression.

[–] HelloCarol509 9 years ago

I don't think it was just that. I feel like that was a symptom of a larger problem he was having. I think he was in a general state of depression and hopelessness about the state of the modern world and was struggling to cope with finding meaning in the face of God's silence.

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[–] kenny-164 9 years ago

First of all I want to reiterate that as cinema Winter Light is as close to a perfect effort as any I can think of. The one part of it that is most problematic I think is Jonas's case as it were.

As noted by the OP the putative explanation for Jonas's suicide doesn't make sense. But is this a flaw in the film? I think on first viewing, perhaps the first few, it is a rather jarring and "obvious" shortcoming.

But I think if you get past the lack of logic, Jonas's decision and it's lack of logic speaks to the potential for chaos in the world and the damage it can cause.

Jonas does not see his concern about Red China and the bomb in the same way that Tomas is concerned about God's silence. But it does parallel it, in the sense that Jonas has a lack of faith that anything or anybody (or country) will stop them. Since he has no faith, he cannot see meaning in continuing his life as it is being lived by him. Yes, this seems illogical and it is - he kills himself out of what amounts to a fear that he will die because of the Red Chinese using the bomb.

But on his level he cannot find comfort in the world and it becomes not worht living without that comfort.

That people would make such decisions is very much in keeping with the overall themes of this film. While on the surface the Jonas piece of it seems flawed, in fact it is in keeping with the film's totality.