ncgraham’s review published on Letterboxd:
absolutely bodied me. after Autumn Sonata I foolishly thought that later Bergman just wasn't for me, but everything about that movie that felt forced to me becomes natural here, probably because we're dealing with a different medium, television, and there's much more time to build up to emotional climaxes, and much more room to build out the characters. Scenes from a Marriage may actually be my favorite from the Swedish master now, but if not, it's certainly my favorite script. the insight of, say, Marianne's diary entry in scene 4 left me breathless, and the performances measure up.
it's actually quite comforting to realize that I'm never going to be as good at anything as Liv Ullman is at acting. Erland Josephson has the less obviously sympathetic role, and a narrower range of emotions to play at first, so it's unsurprising that he ends up running second to Ullmann for many of the scenes, but his performance is just as lived-in and vital. my friend Elliott Folds points out in his review that Johan is in many ways the prototype for the classic Woody Allen protagonist, but there are depths and shades here that neither Woody himself nor the younger actors he's directed in "the Woody Allen role" have achieved in their portraits of sarcasm and bitterness.
as I write this review, I am watching—or rather listening to—Peter Cowle's comparison of the television and theatrical versions of Scenes from a Marriage on the Criterion Channel, and listen. so many things I love got cut out for the cinema. I'm glad I took the time to watch this masterpiece as it was originally conceived.
(22/36 of my 6 x 6 challenge, 4/6 directed by Ingmar Bergman)
ncgraham liked these reviews
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