Scènes de la vie conjugale

"Scenes from a Marriage" (1974) directed by Ingmar Bergman is yet another of his numerous masterpieces, having directed more than 40 feature films in his career.

The film follows two characters, Marianne and Johan, and in typical Bergman style, he examines ontological questions of love, loneliness, being and what it means to be 'fulfilled' through the two protagonists. As with all of Bergman's films, 'Scenes From a Marriage' is not simply a plot narrative, in this case about a married couple and their 'ups and downs'. Rather, with his usual finesse and intellect, Bergman successfully probes into what it means and feels like to need the love, security, and validation of another person and the consequences of life-changing decisions that can happen in a marriage.

"Scenes from a Marriage" is a seminal masterpiece from one of the greatest directors in film history, and on par with many of his other films, and in my opinion only bested by two of his films "Winter Light" (1963) and "Persona" (1966).

Ten stars for the theatrical cut. One of my difficulties with the set-up is that I can't wrap my head around the notion that any man would walk out on Liv Ullman. But, of course, Johan really couldn't bring himself to do that, as it turns out. This is clearly a low-budget project, but one that Bergman also lavished attention on. The script, shot choice and direction are all both stunning and emotionally devestating. Bergman spent his whole career thinking about relationships. That theme dominated his early work, and even runs through the background of his dark magic realism films of the 1950s. By the 1970s he was able to approach the subject with a world-weary maturity that is missing from early films like Summer Interlude. And this may be the most mature and haunting study of the subject he or anyone else has ever managed. This is a cut-down from the five hour miniseries, so there are a lot of little nuggets that hit the cutting room floor. I noticed that the most in The Illiterates, but, even there, nothing essential got snipped. If you don't mind a film about the interaction between a couple, with no special effects or flash, if you appreciate honest studies of the range and depth of normal human emotional interaction, if you want to see brilliant actors working for a brilliant director all at the top of their game, and if you think you might not have the patience for the 5-hour version, watch this. It's worth it. 26 July 2021.

(This review is for the original six part television series and not the edited version, shown in theatres.)

I felt the first three episodes were deep and intense. Unfortunately, the last three seemed to deacceletate, and weaken the overall impact it could of have. Almost, like it over did it with the psychological insights. Never the less even in the last episodes their were moments that seemed brilliant and tender. I am definitely glad I watched it, and personally benefited from its discussions on guilt and the issues that arise from it. I will omly add that the film serms to go beyond the question of marital happiness and seems actually about the nature of life and love itself. Just my opiniom.

... or at least until one of us has had enough, although that will more than likely be reciprocated. There's a good chance you'll recognise a lot of the characteristics, dialogue and awkwardness on show here although everybody's story is different, but it's the craft of the actors moulding the directors words and wisdom that creates a near perfect marriage made in heaven - as so many of Ingmar Bergman's films do, and as such, you'll struggle to divorce your eyes and ears from the conversation, your mind and memory from reflection.

One of Ingmar Bergman's most well known films, but also looked to be one of his most challenging (on paper at least). Part of that's because of the length. I watched the theatrical cut, which is already about 168 minutes, and there's an extended miniseries cut (which looks like the original version) that's about two hours longer.

I liked this enough to probably give the miniseries a watch at some point, probably somewhere off in the reasonably far future though. The "short" version still felt like a full experience, and went by pretty quick considering its length.

Part of what also made this film look challenging was its subject matter and minimalist style. Being about the breakdown of a marriage and shot in a very simple way, I was worried it would get dull or boring to watch, but it kept me engaged throughout.

It's the acting and writing that really make this as good as it is, and the low-key, simple visuals really help ensure the focus is on the performances and the dialogue. I even found myself liking how stark and static the feel of the film was, as it worked well with the subject matter (a few of those quick zooms didn't look great though, but maybe the effect looked less jarring at the time).

Occasionally there was a line of dialogue that felt a little forced, but that could be as a result of the subtitles filling in gaps, due to the shorter runtime of the theatrical version. But overall, the writing is pretty strong, and I like how it focused on personal issues, thoughts, and feelings, specific to the characters, as I've found in the past that some of the broader, more overtly philosophical Bergman dialogue about "life" and "society" in general doesn't always do it for me.

But in the end, this is one of the best Bergman films I've watched so far, and between this and Smiles of a Summer Night last week, I've been really enjoying diving back into his films. I've only ever seen the theatrical version of Fanny and Alexander, but it remains my favourite film of his, so I may watch the extended miniseries version of that next, to continue this successful run of Bergman films.