I feel like my reviews of Bergman movies are becoming tedious – basically, it’s the same again: I’m again surprised by the humour he gets into his stories, again I really need to see the movie again before I say much more, and again I’m amazed by Liv Ullmann as an actress; she’s truly one of the greats.

I find it ironic how Bergman’s movies about (essentially) a couple of people in a room talking have been the most interesting I’ve seen so far (compared to those that attempt to be more genre/story intensive, like Hour of the Wolf etc). This and Autumn Sonata are certainly the best I’ve seen (Fanny and Alexander being an exception to the rule). You wouldn’t think a nearly 3 hour drama about a disintegrating marriage could be so interesting, but even if I drifted at points, this movie always pulled me back. I mentioned the humour: I love the way the characters in this movie delight in seeing other people squirm; the husband early on when Ullmann calls her mother to cancel a traditional family gathering on the coming Sunday; Ullmann later on when the husband is reluctantly signing the divorce papers. I think Bergman’s dramas like this, with people simply talking, work so well because even when his characters launch into 2 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute monologues, they’re still interesting, they’re probably the fullest characters to be found in any movies.

I think this movie would make a good triple with Closer and Eyes Wide Shut, btw.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 31st, 2005 at 8:48 pm in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.