I became increasingly irritated as I kept seeing buses pass me plastered with ads for HBO's new remake of this. Why did it bother me so much? Well, perhaps because Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece of a relationship study practically created a new genre. It doesn't need an "in-name" remake because people have been subtly remaking it for half a century since the original was released. From films like Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation," to Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story," to even Judd Apatow's "This is 40," this film's fingerprints are all over them. Bergman didn't invent arguing, strife, or divorce, but it did present it in a way that few films had touched on before. While the theatrical cut of the film paints a more montaged broad strokes portrait of marriage, the original 6 hour televised cut provides focused glimpses of 6 events throughout the course of a marriage, some of them major and others subtly banal. But even though we never see Marianne and Johan interacting with their children or many other day to day activities in their routine, but we nonetheless feel like we gather enough behavioral information to see a pretty clear picture of this relationship, and even with its lengthy runtime, it's absolutely riveting.

What makes this film so impressive is that while the themes of infidelity, neglect, and abuse can be universal, all of this feels so specific to this one couple that we're catching a glimpse of. There are many stories like it, but this is all their own. They take us through lows and slightly higher lows, and yet you feel that this history is so richly drawn that it doesn't seem out of place when one or both breaks from a devastating argument to start laughing. Verbal fights are so rarely scripted perfectly like a dramatic play with peaks and valleys or cliff-drop revelations. I don't understand the logic behind remaking this particular film for a new generation. To see what the couple's arguments might have been like if they had cell phones? There's no shortage of scripts that allow actors to tap into tears and shouting, so why recreate this couple as some sort of showy acting exercise to bring a new take to? Is it just for people who think they would like Bergman films if they didn't have to read subtitles or look at actors who they didn't recognize? Is that the title is so famous that it has essentially become a brand? Or did HBO just want a shortcut to some awards buzz without having that pesky step of coming up with an original story? All I know is that if you can sit through 6 hours of Jessica Chastain & Oscar Isaac, then you can sit through 6 hours of Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson, and be a lot better off for it. Honestly, Jessica, the audacity of deigning to step into Liv's shoes. Have you no shame? This isn't the most fun or entertaining Bergman to return to, but it's an essential entry into his canon and one that can really get under your skin. I got into an argument with my wife just last night and my skills were greatly improved after having this fresh in my mind to draw from. Maybe I'll save a rewatch of "Saraband" for the next time I do something worth getting yelled at over.