Saraband
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Movie Reviews of Saraband
Movie Review: typically minimalist Bergman
Summary: 3 Stars
***1/2
Legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman officially "retired" from filmmaking in 1982 following the release of his highly acclaimed autobiographical drama, "Fanny and Alexander." That was supposed to have been his swan song, yet, since that time, he has made so many TV movies that have been released into theaters in the United States that, for Americans at least, it has pretty much been a "retirement" in name only.
His latest such film to be released here, "Saraband," is, technically, a sequel to his earlier masterwork, "Scenes From a Marriage," which was also a made-for-TV work that received theatrical distribution in the United States in 1974. "Saraband" reunites us with the now-divorced couple, Marianne and Johan, whom we are told have not really spoken to each other for almost thirty years. For reasons that she is not even able to fully explain to herself, Marianne (Liv Ullman) feels compelled to visit her ex-husband (Erland Josephson) and find out how he's doing and, perhaps, figure out if there still might be something between them. However, despite the fact that this new film is billed as an extension of the original "Marriage," Johan and Marianne wind up somewhat on the periphery of the real story which involves the incestuous relationship between Henrik (Borie Ahlstedt), Johan's son from a previous marriage, and his beautiful 19-year old daughter, Karin (Julia Dufvenius). Henrik is a classical musician whose beloved wife, Anna, has recently died. In some strange way, he clings to Karin almost as a replacement for Anna - even though there are hints that the incest began before Anna's death and that indeed Anna was aware of it - making it clear to his daughter that he would be utterly destitute if she were ever to leave.
This is obviously heady stuff for the viewer, but Bergman is, as always, so in control of his material that we are drawn into the conflict even though, initially, we may be repelled by what is taking place. In addition to the struggle between father and daughter, there is also the intense hatred between Johan and Henrik - so intense, in fact, that Henrik even admits he would take great pleasure in seeing his father stricken with a horrible illness that would cause him a slow and agonizing death. Caught in the middle of all this, as both observer and confidante, is Marianne, who can proffer only so much help and advice before she, too, risks becoming infected by the emotional disease that holds these people in its grip. Yet, of all the characters, Marianne appears to be the most stable and hopeful in her dealings with life. For instance, she can see the ugliness of much of Johan's way of interacting with people, yet she can still find a core of something worth loving buried deep inside the man.
Even for a Bergman chamber drama with just four people in its cast, "Saraband" is a remarkably stark piece of cinema and, as such, it may be off-putting to those unfamiliar with the director's work. The camera rarely moves outdoors, preferring instead to remain intensely focused on the characters who pour out at great length their darkest, deepest thoughts for us to muse over and examine. His is a complex tale of people quietly torn asunder by unhealthy obsessions, morbid self-interest and an inability to reach out in love and forgiveness even in the darkest moments of one's life. And as always with Bergman, the four performers transcend mere acting and literally become the characters on screen.
The decades certainly haven't mellowed Bergman's mood when it comes to the contemplation of death or the meaninglessness of existence, so make sure you're in the right frame of mind before taking on this film. But those who are true devotees of Bergman's work will certainly not want to miss "Saraband."
Movie Review: Sad end for master
Summary: 1 Stars
In 2003 Swedish film legend Ingmar Bergman made his last film ever- although he's said that before, some two decades after his prior farewell to film with Fanny And Alexander. He should have never come back after that valedictory, for his effort, Saraband, a supposed sequel to his 1973 Swedish television smash Scenes From A Marriage, is a bad film- the worst I've yet to see from Bergman, and a bad film by any measure. His other `bad' films, Cries And Whispers and The Serpent's Egg, at least had some redeeming features, as the former was overall, a good solid film, while the latter showed some potential near the end. Saraband, by contrast, is an utter void, and takes all of Bergman's worst tendencies, shoves them all together in one film, recycles the worst parts of a half dozen other of his films, and the concoction is godawful, starting with the abysmal writing. I believe Ingmar Bergman, as a screenwriter, had a strong claim to being the greatest published writer of the 20th Century. Period. But, this work is bad, really bad, not only as a screenplay and a film, but most especially as a sequel to the great Scenes From A Marriage. And it starts with the bad writing.
First off, before I delve into that, however, all the major critics are wrong about this film- in their qualitative assessment as well as its ties to Scenes From A Marriage. This is in no way shape nor form a sequel to that film because the two older lead characters, Johan and Marianne (Erland Josephson and Liv Ullman), while sharing superficial qualities in common with the earlier film's qualities, are clearly not the same characters, just as one has to posit that the characters in the tv miniseries version and the shorter film version of Scenes From A Marriage are different characters because they do not go through the exact same things, and key plot elements in one are not in the other. Think of them as parallel universes with slight differences. That contemporary critics miss the obvious in their arts reviews no longer astounds me, it only saddens me. There are too many key differences, however, to be overlooked. If that is so, then the two main characters in this film are even farther removed from the Scenes From A Marriage universe. Yes, they have the same first names, are a divorced couple, and had two daughters together, split up over Johan's similarly named lover- Paula, and work in similar professions to their younger doppelgangers, but all other similarities end there.... What made Scenes From A Marriage a great film was its writing, alone, and that Bergman never condescended. He let his viewers fill in the blanks they knew of from their own lives to background the scenes he showed within. In this film Bergman does not trust his audience, and condescends relentlessly. This is the sort of film that any producer worth their salt should have nixed, for it is an embarrassment to both them and to a great artist who is manifestly past his prime. Real greatness is knowing both what art to create and how, and what art to just leave in the bad idea pile. Bergman manifestly has lost that ability to discern, and this film's greatest flaw is, indeed, that it was ever made. It showcases all of his prior worst tendencies without a dram of his former redeeming greatness. It is forced, overwrought, trite, poorly written and acted, and just plain dull. Bergman leaves no melodramatic angles unused, and all to poor effect- death, suicide, insanity, incest; even Henrik's supposed life or death weighing on his abused daughter. Bergman has, like a child, finally ripped the zit off his face that was annoying him so long, and, with the pimple off, exposed a good deal of the red pulpy flesh beneath, and it ain't pretty!
As for the DVD features, there are only a few trailers, a long making of featurette that, unfortunately, is not well structured nor insightful, and the DVD is not dubbed. It only is subtitled, albeit in crisp gold lettering. Saraband is an unfortunate end to one of the greatest careers in human arts, but worst of all shows the utter bankruptcy of most contemporary arts criticism, in that the critics too often excuse what an art lacks as if it has it in full, merely because of the artist's prior works or reputation. By allowing great artists' bad work a pass it sets up a precedent, so that the critic is not singled out for having shamed themselves by `attacking' a master, that tells lesser artists that they do not have to strive either, and thus the downward cycle starts, and society ends up with reams of rotting garbage as bad art, and no one willing to pinpoint the stench. Welcome to the 21st Century world of art, and be thankful last century's Ingmar Bergman never had to deal with it, lest many of his greatest works would have never been made!