En passion (1969)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)

Release Date:

28 May 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Andreas, a man struggling with the recent demise of his marriage and his own emotional isolation, befriends...

Plot Keywords:

Isolation | Couples | Snow | Nightmare | Sweden

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Max von Sydow	...	Andreas Winkelman
Liv Ullmann	...	Anna Fromm
Bibi Andersson	...	Eva Vergerus
Erland Josephson	...	Elis Vergerus
Erik Hell	...	Johan Andersson
Sigge Fürst	...	Verner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Britta Brunius	...	Woman in dream
Lars-Owe Carlberg	...	Police officer
Malin Ek	...	Woman in dream
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs	...	Woman in dream
Svea Holst	...	Verner's wife
Marianne Karlbeck	...	Woman in dream
Annika Kronberg	...	Katarina
Brita Öberg	...	Woman in dream
Brian Wikström	...	Police officer

Also Known As:

A Passion (UK)
The Passion of Anna (USA)

Runtime:

101 min | Argentina:99 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:Unrated | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) (cut) | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Fårö, Gotlands län, Sweden

Company:

Cinematograph AB

Trivia:

Dinner scene between the four characters is mostly improvised

Movie Connections:

References Skammen (1968)

A Bergman film not entirely sure of itself, though never in perilous hands

The Passion of Anna (or The Passion, as it might've been more appropriately titled in Sweden), is Ingmar Bergman with a cast of some of his most recognizable faces- Max Von Sydow (Seventh Seal), Liv Ullman (Persona), Erland Josephsson (Scenes from a Marriage), and Bibi Anderson (Cries and Whispers) - and with a script he's written that shows him not entirely sure, or rather confident, as he usually is as a filmmaker. He uses improvisation with his actors in some scenes, experiments with what's in the story and what's outside of the story (it's self-conscious but good self-conscious, similar in tune with Persona's self-consciousness of a film being made outside of what's in the story), and deals away with his classic themes of despair, self-drought, and inner-maelstroms. And, indeed, the theme of deconstruction of the soul is in focus. For a couple of moments some of the self-consciousness could come off as distracting, or at most dangerous boring, but there are counter-weights to balance out whatever troubles Bergman must've had that he's pouring out onto the celluloid.

While I thought the Passion of Anna wasn't one of Bergman's very best works, it has a story and characters (and with a cast that doesn't do wrong within any given scene) that remain as potent as in his masterpieces. The sub-plot involving the slaying of the animals on the island maybe could've been developed more, but that too brings a thought-provoking backbone to the central characters. At the core, Bergman's presenting the audiences with people who are in a hell-ish situation, with fires and blood being spread along the fields, and that these people feel more or less stuck here. The relationship between Andreas (Von Sydow) and Anna (Ullman) is the strongest asset to the film, and for their performances it's nearly worth it enough to rush out to buy the DVD. But beneath that, this is a Bergman film that could grow on a particular viewer over time. Maybe upon a first viewing, at least for what I came away with, the style may be trying to one-up over the substance, and that could be what hinders this from being a magnificent work of art on the level of Persona or The Seventh Seal. However, it's also holds subtleties to the craft, to the compositions by Sven Nykvist, and in the emotions conveyed by the principles of the cast. Pretty haunting, evocative, though not entirely perfect, this is definitely an intriguing Bergman entry. Grade: (strong) A-