Post by Capo on Nov 18, 2005 16:44:11 GMT
Scener ur ett äktenskap
Scenes from a Marriage
Director: Ingmar Bergman
1973 Sweden
Over the course of six titled chapters, a husband and wife gradually, and in turns lamentably and encouragingly, watch their own marriage crumble before them. We move from Innocence and Panic, opening with a happy marriage of ten years, and through to In the Middle of the Night in a Dark House Somewhere in the World, by which time the couple, now happily remarried, yearn for each other’s solace again, ten years after their divorce.
Bergman has never been as stylistically sparse as he is here. While Persona was fascinating to look at, thanks mainly to Sven Nykvist’s moodily shadowed photography, and Fanny och Alexander (1982) was as visually colourful and enticing as any other film of that time, this is essentially a succession of dense close-ups, as claustrophobic as the characters’ lives themselves. One wonders if the film was shot in colour only to maintain some kind of visual interest (like Fanny och Alexander, it was originally made for Swedish television). Nykvist, who collaborated with Bergman on most of his masterpieces, doesn’t have much to do here: the script demands little more than a series of unedited talking heads, which capture the emotions filtered through the affecting actors.
Like Persona (1966), this showcases Bergman’s talent at driving a film with nothing but two actors and a script. Indeed, as the couple under our scrutiny, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson are both remarkable and convincing as a wife and husband falling in and out of love. The time span, even in the 167-minute edited version, gives the characters enough time to develop, and the lack of superficial action in the film – the only revelations as far as narrative goes are told through back story – gives the pace and tone a weight which sinks into the audience with a slow but sure plausibility. Ullmann and Josephson give their roles a three dimensionality rarely captured on film. Because of the unique, almost bland visual style, and the reality of Bergman’s own script, we readily accept these characters and connect with them, through their habitual emotional turmoil.
Woody Allen, who has perhaps been most overtly influenced by Bergman, had a talent at capturing human relationships on film, most notably their downfall, or where they so often go wrong; his owing much to the Swedish auteur is seen not least in this film. Be it in the original six-hour version or the truncated theatrical release (which runs at 167 minutes), Scenes is exhaustingly draining. But, like all the great screenwriters, Bergman wasn’t all a one-note master; there are in this film many moments of lightening relief, which neither detract from the tone or feel out of place, but only serve to make the characters and the narrative all the more plausible. This is a restrained, emotional, and ultimately optimistic work, giving us hope seemingly out of the blue. Never mind marriage, these are scenes from life.
CREDITS
Director
Ingmar Bergman
Producer
Lars-Owe Carlberg
Screenplay
Ingmar Bergman
Director of Photography
Sven Nykvist
Film Editing
Siv Lundgren
Production Design
Björn Thulin
Costume Design
Inger Pehrsson
CAST
Liv Ullmann
Marianne
Erland Josephson
Johan
Bibi Andersson
Katarina
Jan Malmsjö
Peter
Gunnel Lindblom
Eva
Anita Wall
Fru Palm
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs
Fru Jacobi
Scenes from a Marriage
Director: Ingmar Bergman
1973 Sweden
Over the course of six titled chapters, a husband and wife gradually, and in turns lamentably and encouragingly, watch their own marriage crumble before them. We move from Innocence and Panic, opening with a happy marriage of ten years, and through to In the Middle of the Night in a Dark House Somewhere in the World, by which time the couple, now happily remarried, yearn for each other’s solace again, ten years after their divorce.
Bergman has never been as stylistically sparse as he is here. While Persona was fascinating to look at, thanks mainly to Sven Nykvist’s moodily shadowed photography, and Fanny och Alexander (1982) was as visually colourful and enticing as any other film of that time, this is essentially a succession of dense close-ups, as claustrophobic as the characters’ lives themselves. One wonders if the film was shot in colour only to maintain some kind of visual interest (like Fanny och Alexander, it was originally made for Swedish television). Nykvist, who collaborated with Bergman on most of his masterpieces, doesn’t have much to do here: the script demands little more than a series of unedited talking heads, which capture the emotions filtered through the affecting actors.
Like Persona (1966), this showcases Bergman’s talent at driving a film with nothing but two actors and a script. Indeed, as the couple under our scrutiny, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson are both remarkable and convincing as a wife and husband falling in and out of love. The time span, even in the 167-minute edited version, gives the characters enough time to develop, and the lack of superficial action in the film – the only revelations as far as narrative goes are told through back story – gives the pace and tone a weight which sinks into the audience with a slow but sure plausibility. Ullmann and Josephson give their roles a three dimensionality rarely captured on film. Because of the unique, almost bland visual style, and the reality of Bergman’s own script, we readily accept these characters and connect with them, through their habitual emotional turmoil.
Woody Allen, who has perhaps been most overtly influenced by Bergman, had a talent at capturing human relationships on film, most notably their downfall, or where they so often go wrong; his owing much to the Swedish auteur is seen not least in this film. Be it in the original six-hour version or the truncated theatrical release (which runs at 167 minutes), Scenes is exhaustingly draining. But, like all the great screenwriters, Bergman wasn’t all a one-note master; there are in this film many moments of lightening relief, which neither detract from the tone or feel out of place, but only serve to make the characters and the narrative all the more plausible. This is a restrained, emotional, and ultimately optimistic work, giving us hope seemingly out of the blue. Never mind marriage, these are scenes from life.
CREDITS
Director
Ingmar Bergman
Producer
Lars-Owe Carlberg
Screenplay
Ingmar Bergman
Director of Photography
Sven Nykvist
Film Editing
Siv Lundgren
Production Design
Björn Thulin
Costume Design
Inger Pehrsson
CAST
Liv Ullmann
Marianne
Erland Josephson
Johan
Bibi Andersson
Katarina
Jan Malmsjö
Peter
Gunnel Lindblom
Eva
Anita Wall
Fru Palm
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs
Fru Jacobi