Product: Saraband (2005)
Rating: 5.0
familiar themes, classic Bergman
Saraband is really not a sequel, not in the traditional sense. It's perhaps more accurate to say the characters Johan and Marianne from Scenes From a Marriage play a large part in this new drama. It wasn't what I expected, but it turned out to be a wise choice, I think. Rather than simply revisit two characters from 30 years ago and see where they are now (which would have been interesting enough), Bergman chose to include and focus on the story of Henrik (Johan's son) and Henrik's wife and daughter. The story is fascinating, disturbing, thought-provoking; classic Bergman.Though Saraband probably won't be remembered as Bergman's finest achievement, it is certainly Bergman at his finest, and, whether intentionally or not, the film definitely echoes other Bergman classics. The light coming in through the church windows in an empty church reminds of questions raised in Winter Light. The daughter wandering through the woods and into a stream reminds us of violations of The Virgin Spring. Likewise, inappropriate surrogate relationships (I'll put it that way for those who haven't seen the film) reminds us of issues raised in The Silence. And issues of love between parents (particularly fathers) and their children raised in Through a Glass Darkly and Wild Strawberries also appear here. Bergman does not provide us with answers any more than he did when he raised these questions some 40 years ago, but he can still make us think. So if Saraband is Bergman's last film, it's a very fitting exit.The documentary on the making of the film is, for me, no less emotionally moving than the film itself -- it touchs on Bergman's thoughts on making his last film, the death of his wife and his own mortality.