Scenes from a Marriage (1974)

Scenes from a Marriage (Scener ur ett äktenskap)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Written by Ingmar Bergman
1974/Sweden
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Johan: I don’t posses much self-knowledge, and I know very little about reality, in spite of all the books I’ve read. But I believe that this catastrophe is the chance of a lifetime.

An accessible Bergman film that also goes deep into the human psyche.  I loved this.

Johan (Erland Josephson) is a psychological researcher.  His wife Marianne (Liv Ullmann) is a divorce attorney.  The couple have two little girls.  As the film begins, a journalist is interviewing the two for an article in a woman’s magazine.  They look to have the perfect marriage.

The article is published and is overflowing with praise for the couple.  Marianne and Johan host a dinner for their friends Katarina (Bibi Andersson) and Peter (Jan Malmsjo) to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  As the evening wears on Katarina and Peter get very drunk and engage in a vicious argument in front of their hosts.  After the dinner, we discover there is trouble in paradise also centering on Marianne’s lack of interest in sex.

Shortly after this, Johan arrives at the couple’s summer cottage a day early and announces that he has fallen in love with a 23-year-old and is departing with her for a six-month stay in Paris.  Marianne is devastated and begs him to stay. Johan vents all his complaints about their marriage before leaving.

The rest of the movie follows the next 10 years in the relationship of these people through divorce, disillusionment, affairs, and second marriages.  They meet and part and meet again, alternating sex for old-times sake with brutally frank arguments.

This film leaves you with a lot to think about and considering another viewing. The acting is needless to say impressive.  The script is amazing.  There is nothing fancy in the production design or camera work as the story was first made as a 5-hour mini-series for Swedish television.  I watched the 3-hour theatrical version and the time flew by.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kZ1PE-Kqm8

Clip