This movie is for people who can tolerate introspection, meditation or a slow pace in visual art, and who want their intelligence and hearts challenged. The "saraband" is a dance between two people, revealing character and emotion, so the structure of this movie is a series of emotional and psychological sarabands. Bergman once again digs deep into human lives through his fictional characters to expose how the need for power destroys love, and the healing power of love. Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson give radiant, wise performances, with depth and compassion. By stripping the action down to the bare minimum, Bergman once again focuses his laser-view camera on the people and reveals his genius in showing us how we are responsible for our own pain and suffering, not others. It saddens to think that this is the last film from this master storyteller and director. This is what film storytelling is all about, not car chases and spectacular explosions and special effects; that is, the human heart and mind.
