I have to say that I found this acclaimed swan-song by a great film-maker to be, at best, third-rate Bergman; even the lesser efforts from his vintage period are a good deal preferable to it – at least, they showed a real cinematic sensibility…whereas this feels merely like a piece of filmed theatre (and not a very compelling one at that!).
Anyway, the plot follows on from Bergman’s much earlier SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (1973; which I still haven’t watched because I can’t convince myself to willfully submit to 8 hours of misery!) – but, actually, the central situation here is almost a reprise of AUTUMN SONATA (1978)...only, it’s even less appetizing! The cast list is restricted to only 4 actors; another one, talked about during the course of the film, turns up in the last scene but her dialogue-less contribution lasts barely half-a-minute. Ironically, I was more drawn in by the performances of the two ‘new’ members of the Bergman stock company of actors and especially the young Julia Dufvenius (though Borje Ahlstedt was actually featured in 6 films written by the Swedish master as well as a TV mini-series, of these the only major title which had Bergman as director was FANNY AND Alexander [1982]) rather than those of old reliables Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. We’ve seen these two do the ‘miserable routine’ too often to have all that much impact any longer: both are merely happy to acquiesce one last time to the will of the man who made their name – even if, for 80-year old Josephson, it also means having to appear in the nude!
The film isn’t bad per se, simply too harrowing – and, for lack of a better word, unreal (surely not what Bergman intended) – to be taken seriously; I, for one, readily admit to cackling out loud at every melodramatic turn taken by the narrative or in the middle of particularly intense stretches of dialogue! Incidentally, much has been said about the inconclusive endings in the films of Michelangelo Antonioni (who, as everyone knows, died on the same day as Bergman) – what about the ending of this one, then? We never get to know whether Karin was informed of her father’s attempted suicide and whether this eventually effected her career as a musician, or even what became of him after the fact, or why Josephson is suddenly unable to reply to Ullmann’s phone calls. Ultimately, the film emerges as a singularly pointless venture – and light years away from Bergman’s best work.
Anyway, the plot follows on from Bergman’s much earlier SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (1973; which I still haven’t watched because I can’t convince myself to willfully submit to 8 hours of misery!) – but, actually, the central situation here is almost a reprise of AUTUMN SONATA (1978)...only, it’s even less appetizing! The cast list is restricted to only 4 actors; another one, talked about during the course of the film, turns up in the last scene but her dialogue-less contribution lasts barely half-a-minute. Ironically, I was more drawn in by the performances of the two ‘new’ members of the Bergman stock company of actors and especially the young Julia Dufvenius (though Borje Ahlstedt was actually featured in 6 films written by the Swedish master as well as a TV mini-series, of these the only major title which had Bergman as director was FANNY AND Alexander [1982]) rather than those of old reliables Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. We’ve seen these two do the ‘miserable routine’ too often to have all that much impact any longer: both are merely happy to acquiesce one last time to the will of the man who made their name – even if, for 80-year old Josephson, it also means having to appear in the nude!
The film isn’t bad per se, simply too harrowing – and, for lack of a better word, unreal (surely not what Bergman intended) – to be taken seriously; I, for one, readily admit to cackling out loud at every melodramatic turn taken by the narrative or in the middle of particularly intense stretches of dialogue! Incidentally, much has been said about the inconclusive endings in the films of Michelangelo Antonioni (who, as everyone knows, died on the same day as Bergman) – what about the ending of this one, then? We never get to know whether Karin was informed of her father’s attempted suicide and whether this eventually effected her career as a musician, or even what became of him after the fact, or why Josephson is suddenly unable to reply to Ullmann’s phone calls. Ultimately, the film emerges as a singularly pointless venture – and light years away from Bergman’s best work.