En passion (1969)

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:

Referenced in Orada (2009)

Masterful Piece

Bergman really was at the top of his game by the late 1960's and this masterful piece is one of his (many) great works.

He has some of his best actors at his disposal: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson and Max von Sydow. They are all superb in this film.

Key themes include "living a lie", the many ways in which love can manifest itself, man's inhumanity to man and our ability to be cruel to animals as well as each other. People who get especially upset at images of cruelty to animals might best keep away from this movie, although those scenes are done very sensitively.

The film is interspersed with post modernist vignettes by the main actors explaining how they feel about their characters. While I found those scenes fascinating, they did interrupt the flow a little and I found myself needing some time after each interruption to rejoin the lost and lonely world on that remote island.

But the criticisms are minor. The heaps of praise are my main comments on this film. I was transfixed by it. As usual with Bergman, action junkies should stay away, but lovers of great and thoughtful drama should get a lot of pleasure from this great film.