4. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
Marianne and Johan are highly intelligent professionals who have been married for 10 years. They have two daughters and say that they are happily married (in contrast to their friends Peter and Katarina who fight like alley cats). The film explores their marriage - extra-marital affairs, talk of divorce, reconciliation and final separation. Along the way we are privy to a great deal of emotions - love, hate, anger, despair, jealousy, sorrow, denial, pain and loss. This film comes across as a bitter indictment of the union of marriage and how it traps people in unhappiness. Again, the lead actors Liv Ullmann and Arland Josephson are nothing short of excellent in their roles. Bergman himself was into his fifth marriage when he made the the TV series/movie and maybe he injected a lot of his own pain from previous marriages into the mix. Bergman's drama is never boring due to the high amount of emotional torpor portrayed by the leads. The film is another example from Bergman that you don't need a flashy show to be interesting - simple human communications suffice. The film is utterly absorbing as we delve into the complexities of each character. The film is never contrived or contrite in its frank depiction of an ailing marriage. It is full of wisdom and heartbreak.