Film Review
Saraband marks the closing chapter in one of the most impressive film making careers,
that of the great Swedish cineaste, Ingmar Bergman. After the extravagant spectacle
that was
Fanny and Alexander (1982), this is
a return to the intimate chamber play format which Bergman perfected in the course of
his career.
It was an approach that was influenced by the works of Strindberg, Ibsen
and Chekhov and which allowed Bergman to address psychological and metaphysical themes
with great intensity and insight with a small cast of players in a very restricted physical
and temporal space.
The film reintroduces two characters, Marianne and Johan, from an earlier Bergman
film,
Scenes
from a Marriage, made three decades earlier. Interestingly, the film
is much less concerned with the relationship of these two characters than it is with the
conflict between Johan, his son Henrik and granddaughter Karin. It's a more ambiguous,
less concentrated film than
Scenes from a Marriage,
and in many ways it's a more pessimistic film, exploring how relationships can become
poisoned when issues are left unresolved for years.
Saraband is essentially a film about love that has gone wrong. The death of Johan's
daughter-in-law Anna (represented by a photograph of Bergman's former wife Ingrid Karlebo,
to whom the film is dedicated) has resulted in an unbridgeable schism between Johan and
his son. Henrik's dependency on his granddaughter Karin has become so acute that
the latter is unable to free herself from his hold over her, and the relationship borders
on incest. Having failed in his career, Henrik is equally dependent on his father
for financial support, which merely aggravates Johan's loathing for his weakling son.
The three characters are bound to one another, not by love but by a stifling and ultimately
destructive mutual dependency.
Into this Chekhovian mire of festering nastiness
waltzes the blameless Marianne, Johan's first wife, and probably the only person he truly
loved. Although their first meeting after thirty or so years is about as warm as
a chilly Swedish winter, it soon becomes apparent how much Mariane still means to the
reclusive Johan. It is equally apparent that their time together will be short.
Mariane's arrival serves as a catalyst, setting in motion a chain of events which will
have huge repercussions. Johan, Henrik and Karin all become aware of the evil that
has poisoned their lives and will react accordingly.
Whilst the film's realism is at times compromised by Bergman's almost obsessive drive for perfection,
Saraband
is a thoroughly absorbing and poignant work, meticulously plotted, beautifully
shot and with near-faultless performances from the entire cast. Those who have previously
watched
Scenes from a Marriage will get a genuine
thrill when they see Liv Ullmann reunited on screen with Erland Josephson in one of the
most moving scenes of any Bergman film.
Bergman was in his mid eighties when he made this film, and yet his writing and direction are as sharp, rigorous and inspired
as ever.
Saraband is not quite his best
film, but it is certainly one of his best, a more than satisfactory final salvo in a career
that spanned more than five decades and which comprises not just a few but
many
of cinema's enduring masterpieces. No film director has ever explored
the profound mysteries of the human condition with as much compassion, insight and integrity
as that unsurpassed master of the moving image, Ingmar Bergman.
© James Travers 2007
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Next Ingmar Bergman film:
Crisis (1946)
Film Synopsis
Some thirty years after their divorce, Marianne decides to pay a visit to her former husband,
Johan, who lives alone in his country house. The reunion is soured by the on-going
feud between Johan and his son Henrik. After the death of his wife Anna, Henrik
lives with his daughter Karin, who shows great promise as a cellist. Johan has nothing
but contempt for Henrik, who depends on him for money and on his daughter for affection.
He relishes the day when he can set Karin free...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.