Watching Saraband immediately after Scenes from a Marriage is technically odd, as the production value and quality of the film is much higher, but also odd from a human standpoint. Here, some thirty years after Scenes from a Marriage, are the same two actors, reprising the same roles, having aged thirty years themselves and with their characters having advanced approximately the same in terms of the story. If Scenes from a Marriage is a brutal, real-time introspective on middle age and a relationship disintegrating, then Saraband is a fortunate retrospective on all that was and how it led to what is. Not only are the actors and characters three decades older, so is Ingmar Bergman. The film has the clear imprint of an intelligent director contemplating the end.
Overall, Saraband is good, and Liv Ullmann delivers a powerhouse performance. But, the movie falls short of what it seemingly could have been. It's best moments truly are great, but it also is marred by plot incongruities evident from the earliest parts of the movie. The characters' ages and post-Scenes from a Marriage backstory make little sense. This would be less notable if Bergman were merely borrowing characters and planting them in a new environment, but the film unambiguously is a continuation of the story from Scenes from a Marriage. Bergman then adds in developments from an impossible chronology, with the result of much confusion.
For those who have not seen Scenes from a Marriage, the characters likely lack the emotional depth of the five hours we previously spent with them. But, then, if Saraband only delivers its maximum value for those pre-existing Bergman experiences, why did he create an impossible timeline inconsistent with that earlier film and also sideline (both thematically and from an emotional standpoint for both Marianne and Johan) characters that did exist in Scenes from a Marriage in favor of (in both respects) characters that did not exist in the earlier production? These and other questions dragged the movie down for me, notwithstanding some truly excellent parts.
Ultimately, Saraband is a "sequel" that has excellent moments but falls short because of these inconsistencies.
Overall, Saraband is good, and Liv Ullmann delivers a powerhouse performance. But, the movie falls short of what it seemingly could have been. It's best moments truly are great, but it also is marred by plot incongruities evident from the earliest parts of the movie. The characters' ages and post-Scenes from a Marriage backstory make little sense. This would be less notable if Bergman were merely borrowing characters and planting them in a new environment, but the film unambiguously is a continuation of the story from Scenes from a Marriage. Bergman then adds in developments from an impossible chronology, with the result of much confusion.
For those who have not seen Scenes from a Marriage, the characters likely lack the emotional depth of the five hours we previously spent with them. But, then, if Saraband only delivers its maximum value for those pre-existing Bergman experiences, why did he create an impossible timeline inconsistent with that earlier film and also sideline (both thematically and from an emotional standpoint for both Marianne and Johan) characters that did exist in Scenes from a Marriage in favor of (in both respects) characters that did not exist in the earlier production? These and other questions dragged the movie down for me, notwithstanding some truly excellent parts.
Ultimately, Saraband is a "sequel" that has excellent moments but falls short because of these inconsistencies.