Saraband
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Movie Reviews of Saraband
Movie Review: Women's Faces
Summary: 4 Stars
For Bergman devotees like me, any morsel tossed our way by the great master is a treat. Saraband is a good deal more than a morsel, but not the true masterpiece others are claiming. And it takes some investment in Bergman's biography and past works to truly appreciate its depth, I think.
As has been pointed out, the film is a tribute to Bergman's late wife, Ingrid (not the actress) and his mourning for her; the film is dedicated to her, and the photograph of "Anna" that is lingered on lovingly by the characters throughout the film is actually a portrait of Ingrid. (Bergman made a short film--never released in the US--called "Karin's Face"--a tribute to his complicated relationship with his mother, where her photographic portrait is similarly examined by the film camera.)
As with Fanny & Alexander, I was intrigued to see how Bergman quotes his past works and themes in this film. The Bach saraband that haunts the soundtrack is the same piece of music he used in Cries and Whispers, when the two estranged sisters temporaily make contact in a montage of carressing hands and faces (Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Thulin), silent except for the lone cello of Bach's saraband.
Marianne's institutionalized daughter echoes that of Ingrid (the actress) Bergman's character's in Autumn Sonata. The concluding Scene 10 in Saraband is titled Vargtimme (translated as The Hour Before Dawn)which is also the Swedish title of Bergman's 1968 film "Hour of the Wolf," which also begins and ends with Liv Ullmann speaking intimately to the camera (when she was pregnant with Bergman's daughter).
As in The Passion of Anna and Cries and Whispers, a character's secrets are revealed in letters and diaries--things they could never say "face to face."
It is a melancholy treat to see Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson together on screen again (much like seeing Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg reunited in Fellini's Intervista many decades later to watch their youthful selves in the famous Trevi Fountain scene in La Dolce Vita). I was reminded how much I've missed Ullmann's magnificent face, now wrinkled with age and experience, which has been absent from the movie screen for far too long.
To me it's the film's themes of retrospection, regret, loss and becoming reconciled (or not) with one's past that touched me deeply, something the nearing-90 year-old Bergman is obviously engulfed by.
There are other things that disturbed or at least distracted me in Saraband. I must say, as someone else pointed out here, I too was puzzled by the "bad math" of Johann and Marianne's history; their ages don't match up with their stated years married and apart. And maybe it's my American puritanical heritage raising its ugly head as I age, but do middle-aged men really sleep in the same bed with their adult daughters in Sweden? Yes, Dad sees Karin as a replacement for his lost wife, but such overt incestuous overtones are over-the-top and unnecessary.
And I have never bought into Bergman's trite "crippled child" metaphor. Yes, we are all "institutionalized" in some way by our parents' actions or inactions, but doesn't he make that point without having to rely on such obvious symbols? Nevertheless, I was moved to tears in the epilogue when Marianne reveals that following her time with Johann and his family, she truly touched her instituionalized daughter [the crippled child metaphor] for the first time. It's Ullmann's performance that overcomes the contrivance.
The other thing that makes this film outstanding is Bergman's continued reliance on close-ups--and his camera especially loves women's faces. Even without his now-ailing cinematographer Sven Nykvist, Bergman tells as much about the human condition in close-ups of human faces than all the combined dialogue or contrived metaphors of his and others' films combined.
One of the few bonuses in this DVD is a "Making of..." documentary. It's intriguing to see how Bergman works with his actors and crew and we learn more about the film's conception in his discussions with them, especially in his recollection of a conversation he had with Erland Josphson that helped him cope with the loss of his wife. And it's interesting, too, to see how Bergman has adapted to the digital age--quite different from the earlier "Making of..." docs of his creation of Fanny & Alexander and earlier movies where film was the medium. And I was suprised to see that most of the outdoor scenes were created in the studio--convincingly so.
Overall, not Bergman's best, but well worth the investment and a fitting capstone to an amazing career.
Movie Review: "His Last Bow"
Summary: 4 Stars
"A saraband is a grave, courtly Baroque dance.."
Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson), the heroes of "Scenes of a Marriage (1973), meet again after thirty years when Marianne suddenly decides to visit Johan at his old summer house. When he asked why she came, she answered that she thought he had called for her. The story of Marianne and Johan in this film provides a background for another story which involved Johan's son from his first marriage, 61 year old musician Henric and his 19 year old daughter Karin whom Henric has been giving cello lessons and dreams of her becoming a famous performer. There is one more character present in the movie, even though she's been dead for two years - Anna, late Henric's wife and Karin's mother who has been deeply missed and mourned by everyone including Johan.
This film is dedicated to Ingrid von Rosen, Bergman's last wife who died in 1995. It is her face we see at the photograph of Anna which Bergman shows over and over again. It seems to me that one of the reasons of making "Saraband" was for Bergman the chance to say to Ingrid, "I love you and I miss you and even death can't take you from me". In his last movie, Bergman sadly proves (once again) that even time can't heal the painful wounds caused by deeply-rooted hatred which is only one step away from love. How disturbing was the scene between 86 -year-old father and 61-year-old son. They looked the same age, old, grey-haired men who still cherish the hatred and contempt for each other that go way back and there is no victory in this power struggle. But there is hope in the movie for young Karin who breaks out of the world that she was forced to believe she belonged to but she did not and she found the strength to leave and to be free and to make her own decisions...
As all Bergman's films, "Saraband" does not provide the easy answers to the difficult questions; it does not provide any answers at all but as old Johan in the most moving scene of the film bares his body, Bergman bares his very soul and lets us look inside of it and maybe learn something about ourselves.
4.5/5
Movie Review: Bergman's hypnotic homage to his late wife
Summary: 4 Stars
"Saraband" reintroduces Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson as Marianne and Johan - the characters they played in Ingmar Bergman's classic 1973 release "Scenes from a Marriage." If you've not seen that, no matter. Ullman's Marianne sets the scene for you at the opening of the film and tells you everything you need to know in a five-minute prologue. The movie then consists of 10 intense dialogues between each of the four main characters. [It's not as staged as it sounds.] Then, there's a headscratching, out-of-the-clear-blue epilogue that I'm sure has some great, deep meaning, but was lost on me.
One thing that bothered me is that the math (or the translation?) in the movie doesn't work. Marianne and Johan work out that they've not seen each other in 32 years. Subsequently, Marianne tells Johan she is now 62, meaning they last saw each other when she was 30. Marianne later tells Johan's granddaughter (through a previous marriage) that she was married to Johan for 16 years, then they broke up, then got together again briefly before splitting for good. That puts Marianne at...under 14 when they married. Bergman seems to have lost the plot there a bit.
I have to admit that how I felt about 'Saraband' was deeply influenced after my viewing when I read the following blurb on IMDB: "The film is very autobiographical. The character of Anna (and the picture of her) is actually Ingrid Von Rosen, Ingmar Bergman's wife, who died of cancer, and was his greatest love."
The camera lingers and lingers and...lingers at von Rosen's beguiling photo. It's almost hypnotic and - at the same time - a bit spooky, like you're staring at a ghost that inhabits the entire movie. Indeed, three of the four characters are obsessed with Anna and - two years on - can't come to grips with her passing. With this knowledge, you'll see the movie in a different light and understand the deeply personal nature of it.
Also worth noting: Julia Dufvenius - who plays gifted yound cellist Karin - is going to be a huge star. What a find.
Movie Review: Scenes from a Marriage II: This Time, It's Even MORE Personal...
Summary: 4 Stars
Francois Truffaut once wrote that, in Ingmar Bergman's films, only the women are three-dimensional characters - the men are all ciphers. I don't know if the men are necessarily ciphers in this film, but they certainly have issues. Saraband, of course, is the sequel to Scenes from a Marriage. I didn't like the character of Johann then, and I like him even less now; he is a selfish, sadistic man who uses everyone and feels endlessly sorry for himself. The other male character in the film is his elderly son, Henrik. Johan has always been a bad father to Henrik and now, as a result, Henrik has turned into a monster. The two of them live nearby so they can torture each other as Henrik grieves for his wife.
Henrik lives in a cottage with his eighteen-year-old daughter, Karin. In fact, the two of them sleep in the same bed. They have a quasi-incestuous relationship - if not an actually incestuous one.
The movie is composed of ten chapters, plus a prologue and an epilogue. We take up with Marianne (Liv Ullman) as she is going over a table of pictures. Speaking directly to the camera, she reflects on her life and her thoughts turn towards her ex-husband, whom she hasn't seen in thirty years. She decides to pay him a visit. As with many Bergman films, Saraband is a ghost story without a ghost. Marianne arrives to a haunted house - doors open and close by themselves. But it is not the house - it is the characters who are haunted.
Bergman claims that this is his last work on film. Thank goodness he had another great film left in him. It is a shame however, that his mind seems made up. There is a "making-of" documentary on the disc in which the old master looks pretty spry.
Movie Review: "It's an axiety greater than me..."
Summary: 4 Stars
The most harrowing aspect of senility is perhaps loneliness and a sense of impotence, two sentiments that resonate throughout Ingmar Bergman's latest film "Saraband".
While sorting out old photos and reminiscing about her life, Marianne (Liv Ullman) felt the sudden urge to reconnect with her ex-husband Johan (Erland Josephson) whom she hadn't spoken in thirty years. Soon after arriving at Johan's cottage in a remote countryside, Marianne found herself in the middle of a bitter struggle between Johan and his son, Henrik (Börje Ahlstedt), a former conductor, over the future of Henrik's daughter, Karin (Julia Dufvenius), a budding cellist.
Henrik has been devastated by the recent passing of his late wife, Anna, and his desperate attempt to keep the last remaining love of his life, Karin, on his side not only irritated Johan but also tormented Karin, who was well aware her father's true intention of giving her cello lessons. A surprise finding by Karin would eventually culminate in the climax of the film, a candid portrayal of how far people would go to try to hang on.
In our own way, we all want to know that we matter and that our existence has amounted to something meaningful. This desire is often driven and intensified by the awareness of our mortality. Marianne and Johan were also forced to face up to theirs in the film where in one scene Johan awoke Marianne during the wee hour of the night and confided to her that he felt "an anxiety that's greater than me" and that he couldn't stand to bear it. It was the night where they first slept in the same bed ever since they were separated.
Johan has never looked so at ease lying there besides Marianne.