'Saraband' serves both as Ingmar Bergman's good-bye to film-making (and indeed, life itself, for he would be dead within four years, aged 89) and as a coda to his massively successful 'Scenes from a Marriage' Swedish TV drama series.
The characters of Johan and Marianne return in this film, now withered and battle-weary, and ponder their past, trying to understand why they still feel a connection many years after their divorce. Marianne even turns to the camera, asking the viewer directly if visiting her ex-husband after so many years is a mistake.
Johan and Marianne's interactions in 'Saraband' are more gentle and kind than they are in the comparatively explosive 'Scenes from a Marriage' -- no longer do they feel that they desperately need something from each other; nor do they have to argue or play games; they are open, they simply see each other as people, not as lovers, nor as opponents.
Of course, this is Bergman, so nothing is as simple as all that. Johan has a deeply damaged and bitter relationship with his son, Henrik (Börje Ahlstedt), and openly admits to him in one powerful scene that he'd have no relationship with him at all were it not for his granddaughter, Henrik's now grown-up child, Karin.
Henrik's relationship with his daughter is even more dark: both are grieving for their wife and mother who died several years previously and the two have a power/guilt relationship wrapped up in that grief and loneliness; and not unlike in Bergman's 'The Silence', incest is implied, but -- with the exception of one kiss that becomes sexual -- is never explicitly confirmed. Börje Ahlstedt is tremendous in the role.
You almost feel that Marianne and Johan take a backseat to the 'real' story, which is that of Henrik and his daughter -- perhaps Bergman wrote the popular characters into a new story that he was more interested in, understanding the great interest in 'whatever happened to Marianne and Johan'? Because of this, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson don't have a great deal to work with -- certainly a lot less than they had in the lengthy TV series -- but what they do have is very strong.
The most moving scene in the film is when, after a disturbing development involving Johan's son, Marianne and Johan share a bed together naked, for the first time in many years. Josepheon is shown entirely naked at the age of 80, which is extremely brave acting.
'Saraband' is not at the high level of quality of some of Ingmar Bergman's late-career classics, such as the experimental and underrated 'From the Life of the Marionettes', the crushing 'Autumn Sonata' or the internationally celebrated 'Fanny and Alexander', but it is a very fine conclusion to the career of one of the all-time greats.
And perhaps Bergman had finally come to terms with his existential relationship with God (or the idea of Him): in one scene, Liv Ullmann visits a church, and after a conversion with Henrik that becomes confrontational, stands up facing the altar and looks at an image of Christ, gripping her hands tightly in prayer.
The characters of Johan and Marianne return in this film, now withered and battle-weary, and ponder their past, trying to understand why they still feel a connection many years after their divorce. Marianne even turns to the camera, asking the viewer directly if visiting her ex-husband after so many years is a mistake.
Johan and Marianne's interactions in 'Saraband' are more gentle and kind than they are in the comparatively explosive 'Scenes from a Marriage' -- no longer do they feel that they desperately need something from each other; nor do they have to argue or play games; they are open, they simply see each other as people, not as lovers, nor as opponents.
Of course, this is Bergman, so nothing is as simple as all that. Johan has a deeply damaged and bitter relationship with his son, Henrik (Börje Ahlstedt), and openly admits to him in one powerful scene that he'd have no relationship with him at all were it not for his granddaughter, Henrik's now grown-up child, Karin.
Henrik's relationship with his daughter is even more dark: both are grieving for their wife and mother who died several years previously and the two have a power/guilt relationship wrapped up in that grief and loneliness; and not unlike in Bergman's 'The Silence', incest is implied, but -- with the exception of one kiss that becomes sexual -- is never explicitly confirmed. Börje Ahlstedt is tremendous in the role.
You almost feel that Marianne and Johan take a backseat to the 'real' story, which is that of Henrik and his daughter -- perhaps Bergman wrote the popular characters into a new story that he was more interested in, understanding the great interest in 'whatever happened to Marianne and Johan'? Because of this, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson don't have a great deal to work with -- certainly a lot less than they had in the lengthy TV series -- but what they do have is very strong.
The most moving scene in the film is when, after a disturbing development involving Johan's son, Marianne and Johan share a bed together naked, for the first time in many years. Josepheon is shown entirely naked at the age of 80, which is extremely brave acting.
'Saraband' is not at the high level of quality of some of Ingmar Bergman's late-career classics, such as the experimental and underrated 'From the Life of the Marionettes', the crushing 'Autumn Sonata' or the internationally celebrated 'Fanny and Alexander', but it is a very fine conclusion to the career of one of the all-time greats.
And perhaps Bergman had finally come to terms with his existential relationship with God (or the idea of Him): in one scene, Liv Ullmann visits a church, and after a conversion with Henrik that becomes confrontational, stands up facing the altar and looks at an image of Christ, gripping her hands tightly in prayer.