While on tour in a European country, the actors Hans Winkelmann (Gunnar Björnstrand), his wife Thea Winkelmann (Ingrid Thulin) and his best friend Sebastian Fisher (Anders Ek) are charged of obscenities and sent to court. While interviewing the trio individually in his office, Judge Dr. Abrahamson (Erik Hell) challenges and discloses the feelings and troubles of the unstable personality of each one of them: Sebastian is an aggressive man with drinking problem and lover of Thea; Hans is a controlled wealthy man and leader of the company; and Thea is a fragile and vulnerable woman with mental disturbance. The judge pushes the emotions of the dysfunctional troupe to the edge and they propose a private exhibition of their play The Rite for his evaluation where the judge finds more than eroticism and obscenities.
I am a great fan of Ingmar Bergman, my director number one ever, I have already seen most of his movies, but "Riten" is not among my favorite ones. The claustrophobic and theatrical drama with actors playing actors is extremely well acted but is too experimental and Kafkaesque for my taste. Of course I recommend to any cinema lover to watch this film (I have seen it twice); but be prepared to see a very hermetic story without explanation for the final impressive sequence, open to the most different interpretations. I believe the greatest problem with me is that I have watched "Riten" out of the chronology of Bergman's filmography, since the DVD has been released only a couple of months ago in Brazil. In the future, I have the intention to see the movies of Bergman again in chronological sequence to try to follow and understand a little bit more his brilliant mind. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "O Rito" ("The Rite")
I am a great fan of Ingmar Bergman, my director number one ever, I have already seen most of his movies, but "Riten" is not among my favorite ones. The claustrophobic and theatrical drama with actors playing actors is extremely well acted but is too experimental and Kafkaesque for my taste. Of course I recommend to any cinema lover to watch this film (I have seen it twice); but be prepared to see a very hermetic story without explanation for the final impressive sequence, open to the most different interpretations. I believe the greatest problem with me is that I have watched "Riten" out of the chronology of Bergman's filmography, since the DVD has been released only a couple of months ago in Brazil. In the future, I have the intention to see the movies of Bergman again in chronological sequence to try to follow and understand a little bit more his brilliant mind. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "O Rito" ("The Rite")