Scenes from a Marriage

1973 mini-series

Rating: 18/20

Plot: The disintegration of a marriage.

Warnings early--a photographer saying that it "looks like [the couple] loves each other, details about the relationship growing from seeds of unhappiness, a peek at a messy bedroom. Life, as you know if you're my age, goes wrong imperceptibly, and Bergman captures that so well in this six-part mini-series. I watched the longer version--not the condensed film released in America--and I can't imagine a single second of this thing being lost. Every moment--each subtle look, gesture, sigh--is vital in showing the disintegration of this marriage between these intense illiterates.

Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson seem like they've been living in these roles and in this relationship for ten years before the opening shots. So much of the revelations about their characters and relationship come from what is unspoken. Check out the looks they're exchanging when they get their unpleasant dinner guests ("I could buy a lay from anyone just to wash you out of my genitals" might be best line I've ever heard in a movie) and a glimpse at marital hell. References to mask--horrible masks--abound, and a lot of the joy in watching the pain of these human beings is watching Ullmann wear those masks. She seems to have this ability to change her appearance mid-scenes and even shrink when she needs to. Josephson displays this controlled blend of this male arrogance and "absolute, all-encompassing loneliness," so perfect at being dejected and in control, sometimes from one minute to the next and sometimes simultaneously. Together, they have a perfect non-rapport, a glorious lack of harmony. Most of these scenes look like they would have been exhausting for the pair to create.

I like how they're shot, too. As far as I can remember, there aren't any scenes that take place outside until the last installment. Well, no, I do remember another brief scene. But most of the time, these characters are trapped in these indoor spaces. There's an intimacy to the whole thing with these close-ups capable of making the viewer uncomfortable. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist doesn't do a lot that's flashy here, but the camera is always in the right place in all these long takes, and you have to love the way stripes are used in the third episode of this thing.