Scener ur ett äktenskap (1974)

	Directed by: Ingmar Bergman	INTERNATIONAL TITLE Scenes from a Marriage COUNTRY Sweden GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Scener fra et ekteskap RUNNING TIME 167 minutes
	Produced by: Lars-Owe Carlberg
	Written by: Ingmar Bergman

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Marianne	Liv Ullmann	½
Johan	Erland Josephson	½
Katarina	Giuseppe Maggio
Peter	Jan Malmsjö
Eva	Gunnel Lindblom	-
Fru Palm	Anita Wall	-
Fra Jacobi	Barbro Hiort af Ornäs	-
Modern	Wenche Foss	-

Review

Despite its overanalytical, stagey and occasionally affected nature, this Swedish made-for-television miniseries turned international cinematic release may well be Ingmar Bergman at his most progressive. Scener ur ett äktenskap was ahead of its time: an exhaustive dissection of a marriage through several episodes, evolutions, and eras. Bergman’s achievement here, in addition to his special talent for laying his characters bare – or rather having them lay themselves bare – is the isolated, intense form in which he presents the story. If you occasionally feel he has abandoned his two leads, leaving them to fend for themselves under his watchful, sometimes exploitative eye, he somehow always eventually reels them in, letting them rediscover their own voice and identity, usually for their own sake rather than for the director’s objective. There’s a timelessness to the combative, devouring discussions between Johan and Marianne, even if they very obviously, almost smugly, exist in the wake of the sexual revolution. Admittedly, Erland Josephson and Liv Ullmann belonged to the generation that preceded the sexual candour they perpetuate, which is a classic example of how great art can be at the forefront of societal and human currents, and this may well have been Bergman’s greatest talent.