Stars: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Summary: An honest, probing look at a marriage and its disintegration following an extra-marital affair. Swedish dialogue with subtitles.

SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE was originally conceived as a six-part TV mini-series. Since the film features only two principal actors, a limited number of indoor locales, and no musical score (nor any other atmosphere-enhancing devices), the success of this intense drama stems largely from the interaction between leads Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson, who play Marianne and Josef, an upper-middle-class married couple. At first glance, their lives appear to be devoid of marital conflict, but soon after the opening sequence, it becomes clear that tension is mounting just below the surface. The movie consists almost entirely of dramatic exchanges between Marianne and Josef and eventually evolves into an agonising account of the deterioration of their marriage. But throughout it all, a deep, underlying love keeps the couple from breaking off all ties--in spite of the mutual aggression, cruelty, and even violence that forms part of their relationship.
Ingmar Bergman anticipated that SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE would baffle, if not antagonise, viewers who had come to expect more stylistically groundbreaking and aesthetically polished work from him. In fact, however, as a result of his unflinching, straightforward approach, the film proves to be one of the director's most insightful and accessible works.

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Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriageopens with a couple--Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johann (Erland Josephson)--being interviewed for a magazine. Every moment seems to teeter on the brink of some rupture; just as they start to get comfortable, the interviewer has them freeze for a photograph. After making some bland, general statements, they both start admitting intimate details, confessing that they were brought together by mutual misery, then cheerfully claiming that theirs is a model marriage. The entirety of Scenes from a Marriage--which chronicles their emotional relationship even after a divorce and marriages to other people--continues to have these contradictions, moments of honesty and self-deception, of cruelty and kindness, concern and self-obsession, all laid bare by the skilful actors and the subtle, constantly shifting screenplay. Every scene is a small movie unto itself; in fact, Scenes from a Marriagewas originally a six-episode TV show, carefully edited down into a unified film. This is one of Bergman's most immediate and accessible works, concerned more with the facts of human behaviour than symbolism or abstract themes. Bergman understands how to balance what could be horrible pain and despair with the characters' earnest efforts to improve their lives. His imitators reduce everything to sheer suffering and alienation; Bergman sees the best in his characters, even when their actions are terrible. This 1973 film won numerous awards, including several acting honours for Ullmann. --Bret Fetzer

Aspect Ratio:	1.33 Full Screen
Main Language:	Swedish
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Star And Director Filmographies, Scene Selection, Digitally Remastered Print, Philip Strick Film Notes, Ingmar Bergman
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1973
Release Date:	September 29, 2003
Runtime:	164 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	T V D 3442
Keywords:	Swedish, Subtitled, General, Marriage, Scenes, From, Drama, Scener, Ur, Aktenskap, Ett
Genre:	Drama