Product: Saraband (2005)
Rating: 4.0
Bergman's hypnotic homage to his late wife
"Saraband" reintroduces Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson as Marianne and Johan - the characters they played in Ingmar Bergman's classic 1973 release "Scenes from a Marriage." If you've not seen that, no matter. Ullman's Marianne sets the scene for you at the opening of the film and tells you everything you need to know in a five-minute prologue. The movie then consists of 10 intense dialogues between each of the four main characters. [It's not as staged as it sounds.] Then, there's a headscratching, out-of-the-clear-blue epilogue that I'm sure has some great, deep meaning, but was lost on me.One thing that bothered me is that the math (or the translation?) in the movie doesn't work. Marianne and Johan work out that they've not seen each other in 32 years. Subsequently, Marianne tells Johan she is now 62, meaning they last saw each other when she was 30. Marianne later tells Johan's granddaughter (through a previous marriage) that she was married to Johan for 16 years, then they broke up, then got together again briefly before splitting for good. That puts Marianne at...under 14 when they married. Bergman seems to have lost the plot there a bit.I have to admit that how I felt about 'Saraband' was deeply influenced after my viewing when I read the following blurb on IMDB: "The film is very autobiographical. The character of Anna (and the picture of her) is actually Ingrid Von Rosen, Ingmar Bergman's wife, who died of cancer, and was his greatest love."The camera lingers and lingers and...lingers at von Rosen's beguiling photo. It's almost hypnotic and - at the same time - a bit spooky, like you're staring at a ghost that inhabits the entire movie. Indeed, three of the four characters are obsessed with Anna and - two years on - can't come to grips with her passing. With this knowledge, you'll see the movie in a different light and understand the deeply personal nature of it.Also worth noting: Julia Dufvenius - who plays gifted yound cellist Karin - is going to be a huge star. What a find.