Saraband (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)

Release Date:

1 December 2003 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Marianne (Ullman), some thirty years after divorcing Johan (Josephson), decides to visit her ex-husband at his summer home. She arrives in the middle of a family drama between Johan's son from another marriage and his granddaughter.

Plot Keywords:

Ex Husband | Cello | Kiss | Granddaughter | Organist

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Liv Ullmann	...	Marianne
Erland Josephson	...	Johan
Börje Ahlstedt	...	Henrik
Julia Dufvenius	...	Karin
Gunnel Fred	...	Martha

Also Known As:

Anna (Sweden) (working title)
Saraband (Finland)
Sarabanda (Italy)
Sarabande (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief nudity, language and a violent image.

Runtime:

Argentina:120 min | Hong Kong:107 min | UK:107 min | Singapore:107 min | Sweden:220 min (TV version)

Country:

Sweden | Italy | Germany | Finland | Denmark | Austria

Language:

Swedish | English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:MA | Japan:R-15 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R | Finland:K-11

Company:

Danmarks Radio (DR)

Trivia:

Interviewed in Swedish TV, Ingmar Bergman said that this was his last work.

Goofs:

Plot holes: There are some interesting discrepancies in relation to the time line of the characters. The ages given for the characters are 63 (Marianne), 86 (Johan) and 61 (Henrik). Marianne says that she has not seen Johan for 32 years and that they had been married for 16 years. This means that she married Johan when she was 15 and he was 38. Johan had a falling out with his son when Henrik was 18/19, which must have been after Johan's marriage to Marianne.

Movie Connections:

Follows Scener ur ett äktenskap (1973)

Soundtrack:

Symphony no. 9 in D Minor, Movement 2: Scherzo

The last film masterpiece? Quietness which speaks.

I am by no mean qualified to give a full range analysis of the film Saraband by Ingmar Bergman, but would like to give my personal comments.

This may be the last great film as an art genre, as opposed to film as entertainment. In the early days of film directors where trying to please a reading audience. No living director has protected this heritage better than Bergman. He can still compete with the best authors of his time.

The quietness which surrounds this film, the excellent actor performances, the long footages of close-ups of faces, the first cello sonato of Bach (Saraband), the old man who is a bit like Bergman himself; all this makes the film a masterpiece. The dialogs hold great literary quality. Bergman and his film crew are able to show people who are inactive on the outside, but active on the inside; it is quietness which speaks! There is no time for trivial dialog in the films of Bergman: Here you will find people who talk out about the great tragedies in life. The composition gives you a feeling of being in a theatre.

Bergman is a living challenge to anyone who wants to take film seriously as an art form!