Scènes de la vie conjugale

Scenes from a Marriage is a film about a breakup. We are not talking about some ephemeral youthful relationship, but a happy marriage of many years between a couple who truly feel they are happy together.

Yet cracks become visible, and soon the whole structure comes tumbling down as the once happy couple spends the next 15 years of their lives trying to make sense of it all. The film (aired in Sweden as a 6 part miniseries) is 5 hours of the most intense, painful, emotional conversations ever committed to celluloid. It is filmed almost entirely in close-up with sparse lighting and no music. I have watched it multiple times and by the end of the emotionally grueling experience it feels as though you have lived through each moment Johan and Marianne have experienced, no matter how far from your actual life any one detail might be.

That may not seem like the most pleasant viewing experience, but I should add that the film is not quite as harrowing as my description might make it seem. Yes, intense doesn't even begin to describe it, but Bergman has created the film with such honesty that there is no manipulation or unnecessary suffering. Even the immortal Eric Rohmer has never displayed this level of understanding into basic human relationships. Again, there is no manipulation here; Bergman would never stoop so low as to include suffering merely for the sake of additional drama. What is actually present in every second of the film is simply many lifetimes worth of wisdom on love, loss and moving on.

There are no easy answers in Scenes from a Marriage. The film is an emotional roller-coaster from start to finish. The person who is handling things the best will just as often have hit a new low when they are revisited down the road. The couple's bond will never disappear and yet they can never be what they were to each other. Old feelings resurface, old wounds reopen, old passions return and throughout it all Sven Nykvist's camera does not flinch. No film has done more with such a stark palate of images.

What elevates the film to "second favorite movie ever" level for me is not just the insight into human interaction, though that is my favorite subject matter in film. Scenes from a Marriage is not content to merely show what the loss of a loved one is like, Bergman also has a point beyond a simple documentation of the dissolution of a marriage.

By the final chapter, perfectly titled "In the Middle of the Night in a Dark House Somewhere in the World", an epiphany is reached. Johan and Marianne do not necessarily "get back together" or "never see each other again", but a certain level of acceptance is reached. That which can never be understood, which no one can put into words, and which has no solution is somehow grasped in the final scenes of this magnificent movie. Like a fleeting glimpse of the sun from inside a cave, all the mysteries of life and love briefly make sense.

While I never leave a viewing of Scenes from a Marriage feeling any less confused about the grand questions of life, I can't help but suspect that for a time during its brief 5 hours I almost had it. What more could any artist want from their viewer?

Enormous success it had with audiences of Swedish TV, where it was shown in six episodes paved way for its theatrical release. This however called for compromising almost half the original length of celluloid.

As one of more easily understandable Bergman films, "Scenes From A Marriage" met much enthusiasm on both sides of the Atlatic.

The film showcases great two of Ingmar Bergman's favorite actors. Both Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson give lively mature performances, lauded by critics.

Being a down-to-earth family drama with strong social commentary of great relevance, "Scenes From A Marriage" has something important to convey. It is a meaningful picture.

It reflects on the nature of relationship between man and woman. It invites us to ponder on this basic issue, a cornerstone of human society Although not quite in the same league with bona-fide Bergman classics like "The Seventh Seal" and "Persona", "Scenes From A Marriage" remains a powerful movie.

Ohmygod. Liv Ullman really deserved an Oscar for this one, as did Bergman. WOW- not many movies are this honest, this heartbreaking, this true, and this tumultuous- we see two people, in and out of a relationship over fifteen years, experiencing all the pain, loss, love, hate, anger, jealousy, denial, sadness, and so on that finding one's soul-mate brings, stretched out long-term.

Not many movies even come close to this one's brutality in its genuine awareness of people. Most modern films (and television, for that matter) cannot even come close to the psychological precision of Bergman's films. Perhaps "Scenes from a Marriage" is his best work- more accessible than "Wild Strawberries", more compelling than "Persona." This is definitely a film to seek out.

Scenes from a Marriage (the TV version, even as the theatrical cut is still very good and worth the time if the only copy available) is an intimate, naturalistic portrait of a couple, who at first are seemingly happy, then aren't, then try and find out where they go wrong. It's involving drama at its nexus, and for those who love the theater it's an absolute must see (aside from the theme, no music, all talk). Johan and Marianne are two of Bergman's most interesting, true characters (among his countless others) that he's ever presented, and like many other film artists, you can tell he's lived through at least some if not most of the emotions and trials these characters have been through.

Along with several supporting characters, two of the more notable ones played by Bibi Andersson and Malmjso are a perfect contrast in the first episode of the series. The conflicts that are established throughout the series never pay-off in a mis-fire. Craft-wise there is almost no style except for the minimal lighting by the great Sven Nykvist. And the dialog that goes on between the two leads goes from amusing to tragic, from romantic to bleak, and with all the emotions that I (as one who's never been married) can only guess can be as so. Bergman's script would be just that, a poignant, very profound lot of bits between two people more or less on paper, if not for Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. They turn on the emotions intuitively, like they've been these people somewhere else at some other time. Or rather, the husband and wife don't have very complicated jobs or economic situation, but the problems lie on the emotional plane, and the intellect they try to put to it. Johan loves another woman, how does that affect Marianne? Marianne asks for a divorce, how does that affect Johan? What will they do to cope? These are questions Bergman poses for his actors, among plenty of others, and they pull off the emotional cues off of each other like the most wonderful theatrical pros.

It's hard to find anything wrong with their acting, cause they don't over-do it (unless you're not into Marianne's changes in feeling in some scenes, which could be understandable), and the bottom line is that despite it being in Europe thirty years ago, it's highly possible these people could be in your house, or in your neighbor's house. Ullmann's Marianne is the 180 of her character from Persona, who could only let out emotions once or twice, mostly as an observer. Josephson's Johan is complex behind is usually sarcastic and simple demeanor- what drives him to do what he does in episode three, or in four? What will the conclusion lead to? Bergman creates a drama that is never boring, never diluted, and asks us to search for ideas about love and relationships we sometimes try and push away. It's a superb, concise treatise about the nature of falling in and out of love, how to differentiate what love is, and essentially what a marriage is. I can't wait to see the sequel, Saraband, which is Bergman's (definite) last film.

"Scenes From A Marriage" is quite simply that: we meet Marianne & Johan ten years into their union & we witness half a dozen scenes of their lives. I'm not married, but I have of course known many people, family & friends, who were married & who talked, acted, & lived much like this couple does. That they are well-educated & affluent is somewhat irrelevant - married couples often seem to be keeping a certain secret (some keep it better than others) that they disguise with contentment, ritual, obligation, affection. Most of the time they keep this secret even from themselves. This movie is about the gradual discovery of the two main characters of the nature & ramifications of that secret.

As far as Bergman films go, it's strangely pretty, in color, with two attractive leads. But I think perhaps Bergman (& Sven Nykvist) sought to give us a sense of familiarity with the suburban, middle-class surroundings to lure us into a false sense of the security of the marriage in question. Without giving anything away, I suggest that this film is no less dark & heavy than other Bergman films; it rather goes for the heart in the way that you often wish modern dramas about relationships would. It's not trite, nor contrived, nor easily resolved. It's wise as life.

The movie was edited down by Bergman from a six-episode television series, which comprise the "scenes." The cast is great, but it's Ullmann & Josephson's show, & Ullmann is such a magnificent actor that I marvel at her expressive face, which Bergman smartly keeps his camera on.

It's unbearably wise, & sometimes difficult, but there aren't many films out there as honest as this one.