Saraband (2003) - Ingmar Bergman

Well I'm quite surprised to be the first one to see this, unless I'm missing a thread, which if that's the case, by all means merge away.

I honestly never thought I'd see the day when I could say that I saw a "new" Ingmar Bergman film in a theater. Considering Fanny and Alexander saw it's US premiere the year I was born, he was a little before my time. Watching the film on the big screen I saw something that art house audiences of the 60's and 70's must have seen whenever Bergman had a new release. There was a general excitement about the film. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't "exciting", in fact it's deliberately slow, methodical, and somber, but the craft is what's exciting. Seeing something new from arguably the greatest director living or dead.

For those unfamiliar with the story, I would highly suggest getting Scenes From a Marriage. This film is more of a companion piece to that rather than an outright sequel. Bergman doesn't really attempt to explain away the last thirty years in these characters lives, instead he let's us see them in the present. We get a bit of an introduction in Marrianne's (Liv Ullmann) prologue, but it is merely Bergman's way of getting the trivial matters like setting taken care of.

The film has a novel like form, and it is made more abundantly clear with the use of chapters, I believe there are 11 in all, plus the prologue and epilogue. The film title is the 9th chapter, and for those who don't know what a Saraband is, it's a piece of music. The cast is kept extremely small (as it was in Scenes), with only Ullmann, Erland Josephson (reprising his role of Johan), and Johan's son from another marriage Henrik (Borje Ahlstedt) and his daughter Karin (Julia Dufvenius). There is one other character, but she appears for only one scene, and discussing that particular scene may ruin a genuinely powerful moment in the film.

The title alludes not only to that piece of music, a Bach piece for cello which plays throughout the picture, but as a description of the film itself. It bears the qualities of that piece of music, simple but powerful. Although instead of focusing on the drama of Marrianne and Johan again, the drama is now on Henrik and Karin. Dufvenius gives a remarkably good performance, but it's hard to think of anyone who isn't amazing with a director like Bergman around. Henrik has that pathetic quality to him which fits for the story. He is a "needy" person, always devoted, but constantly in need of someone else. It is this very clingy nature that repulses his father, and the two openly admit their hatred for one another.

If there could be a more appropriate title, it would perhaps be Scenes from a Family, because the focus isn't on the marriage, but on the people who are at least geographically closest to Johan. Marrianne has no direct relation to Karin or Henrik, but serves as a shoulder to cry on for Karin who's torn between what's best for her, and what's best for her father. Marrianne plays much the role of observer throughout, offering insight and guidance, but rarely is her opinion taken to consideration. It is only in the final scene with Johann do we see the dependency that these two had for each other in the original film.

Despite being the observer, Marriane is the main thrust and catalyst of the story. She is the one who makes the contact with Johan, and she is the one that is telling the story, although not through direct narration. Without her there, this film would have no center, she represents us in the story, full of opinions, but without much help to anyone. Marriane is also the strongest character in the film. She doesn't "need" anyone or anything, she sees Johan on an impulse and I believe she just wants to see him. She is also the only character in the film who has an actual job (still a lawyer), although Karin is working on her own future career by the film's end. She has her own life, and she's not left in the country with nothing but beautiful scenery and time to contemplate her life.

I was generally impressed with the film, there were heavy expecations, and I must say the film came through as much as I could have hoped for. I doubt that any cinephile would miss this, but for those in doubt, SEE THIS MOVIE. Bergman makes a strong case for why he may be the greatest director of all time.

My review of Saraband
Comments posted following a press conference and a tribute to LIV ULLMANN

SARABAND

Directed by Ingmar Bergman (2003)

Originally shot for television in high definition video, Ingmar Bergman's latest film, Saraband, is about the reunion of a husband and wife after thirty years of divorce and separation. Divided into ten segments plus a prologue and epilogue, the title is derived from a minuet-like dance for two people commonly performed at court during the 17th and 18th centuries. Like the dance, there are never more than two people on screen at any one time and the film is almost all conversation with bits of classical music. The film is vintage Bergman with revealing close-ups, emotionally intense dialogue, an old-fashioned style of filmmaking, and a surfeit of bitterness about the human condition.

Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson, the original screen couple from Bergman's 1973 film Scenes of a Marriage, reunite in his summer home for their first face to face contact since their breakup. Johan has become very wealthy as a result of an inheritance. Marianne is a lawyer and they have two daughters from their failed marriage: Sara who is married to a prominent lawyer and lives in Australia and Martha who is in a mental institution and does not recognize her mother. Johan is surprised by his ex-wife's visit but they still hold hands and try to remember the good things about the past, though Johan's interest seems to be minimal. Living nearby are Henrik (Borje Ahlstedt), Johan's son from a second marriage and his daughter Karin (Julia Dufvenius), a promising young cellist. Henrik and Karin have an uncomfortably strong attachment and mutual need as a result of the recent death of Anna, Henrik's wife who was deeply loved.

Henrik is training his daughter in the cello to prepare her for an audition at the local conservatory but has to turn to Johan for financial support who uses the occasion to humiliate him. Karin is contemplating going to Europe to work for an orchestra but is afraid of the consequences for Henrik if she leaves. Relationships between the family are strained, seemingly beyond repair and their world is filled with childish resentments and regrets. Karin resents her father for suffocating her emotionally. Marianne still resents Johan for his unfaithfulness. Henrik resents his father for -- not being a father. Johan resents Henrik for not being the son he wanted. No one can see beyond their ego to feel the needs and wants of others. The emotional pain is real but I found the end result to be facile and unconvincing.

Saraband has received high praise as a "lacerating examination of life's conundrums that is exhilarating in its fearlessness and its command", and an "affective, touching, and ultimately highly affirming picture of familial turmoil and the curative, as well as destructive, powers of love." But what I ask is this - What new insights do we gain about the human condition from witnessing a family go at each other with unbridled ruthlessness? In offering his audience the latest generation of "emotional illiterates", Bergman lets us see the clawing and fighting but hides the life-affirming reality that people are capable of transcending their limitations.

In Saraband, there is no self- reflection, responsibility, or hint that people can change with the passage of time. His characters only seem to have been able to refine their capacity for collecting grievances. When Henrik is suffering, no one talks about him, goes to visit him, or seems in the least concerned. Is this the way Bergman after all these years sees human relationships? Is this the legacy he wants to leave us? Despite its considerable strengths, Sourband (sic) is a bitter and despairing film that left a bad taste in my mouth.

GRADE: B-