Saraband (2003)

94% of critics liked it
(78 reviews)
83% of users liked it
(4,679 ratings)

As the final masterwork of Ingmar Bergman, the world's most revered cinematic craftsperson, Saraband embodies the sequel to the director's five-hour Scenes from a Marriage, produced and directed 30 years after that original epic. Here, Bergman revisits the two characters from that film, divorcees… More As the final masterwork of Ingmar Bergman, the world's most revered cinematic craftsperson, Saraband embodies the sequel to the director's five-hour Scenes from a Marriage, produced and directed 30 years after that original epic. Here, Bergman revisits the two characters from that film, divorcees Johan (Erland Josephson) and Marianne (Liv Ullmann), after years of estrangement from one another. Marianne now lives alone; of her two middle-aged daughters from the marriage to Johan, one lives in Australia, while the other suffered a mental breakdown. Marianne has contact with neither. After leafing through an assemblage of old photographs and waxing nostalgic, Marianne decides to revisit the now-wealthy Johan, who lives in the country with an adjoining cottage and two descendants: his 61-year-old widower son, Henrik (Börje Ahlstedt of I Am Curious (Yellow)), and Henrik's 19-year-old daughter, Karin (Julia Dufvenius). The relationships in Johan's family are broken and deeply dysfunctional: Johan resents Henrik, whom he perceives as worthless in every capacity other than fatherhood; Henrik resents Johan for his niggardly attitudes about his wealth; Karin feels bound by familial shackles and yearns to escape the confines of the life that ensnares her, ultimately hoping to move to the city and pursue her dream of becoming a cellist. Bergman uses the central narrative to examine how parents can damage one another by wielding the demands of their own selfish egos and refusing to grant joy and contentment to themselves or their children. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman
Written By: Ingmar Bergman
Genres: Drama, Television, Art House & International

In Theaters: Dec 1, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Jan 10, 2006
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
While bringing an abundance of inspiration to this world, Bergman unapologetically refused to ignore the pain and darkness that infects mankind. There will never be another filmmaker like him.
Tim Page, Washington Post
The performances -- welling, unified and multidimensional -- are beyond praise, as are Bergman's visual images.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A stunning and complex final bow from a stunning and complex artist.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The performances are perfectly distilled, but the traits I dislike in Bergman are all here -- self-pity, brutality, spiritual constipation, and an unwillingness to try to overcome these difficulties.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
What remain intact are the filmmaker's unbreakable heart, lyrical soul and sublime art. So why should we say goodbye? Instead: Bravo. Encore.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Saraband, flat and static both visually and thematically, doesn't begin to approximate the austere beauty of the director's art-house classics.
Robert Davis, Paste Magazine
Bergman has a sharp talent for observing human conflicts without claiming to fully understand them.
Brandon Fibbs, BrandonFibbs.com
So many great directors seem to go out with a whimper. Ingmar Bergman has gone out with a bang.
Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
We find [Bergman]at 87, sifting through his pictures, wondering at the choices he's made.
Jonathan Kiefer, Sacramento News & Review
No one else could have made it, and you should see it.
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
Insightful as ever but a little dated in the set-up and treatment of the shooting.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Powerful and more than a little depressing, but it's also essential filmmaking for anyone who cares about one of the giants of cinema.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Any Bergman is better than most of the art-house dramas that have been shipped to the States from Europe in recent times.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
It's easy to go out in style when you have style.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
confessional outbursts are captured in lengthy takes, usually in mercilessly tight close-ups.... It's as if Bergman is taking X-rays of their souls.
Jamie Woolley, BBC
Even if it is, as he claims, his last film, Saraband will be a testament to Bergman's skill as a filmmaker, still a creative force to be reckoned with after 60-plus years in the business.

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Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Saraband", written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, takes place thirty years after the events of "Scenes from a Marriage".(But it is not essential that you see the earlier movie to watch "Saraband.") Once married, Johan(Erland… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Saraband", written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, takes place thirty years after the events of "Scenes from a Marriage".(But it is not essential that you see the earlier movie to watch "Saraband.") Once married, Johan(Erland Josephson) and Marianne(Liv Ullmann) have not seen each other in the interim when she decides on a whim to visit him. Johan is now retired from being a professor because of an inheritance from an aunt and living in the country. His son, Henrik(Borje Ahlsedt), from a different marriage, and Henrik's daughter, Karin(Julia Dufvenius), live nearby physically but distant emotionally. Karin's saintly mother, Anna, died two years before. Henrik is an underemployed music professor while Karin is a 19-year old talented classical musician in need of professional training. It is the relationship between Karin and Henrik that takes center stage here.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Ingmar Bergman has not lightened up in his old age. "Saraband" is a chamber piece which is mostly about the damage parents can do to their children. The main flaw here is that there is no real resolution to the main conflict. The performances are of course all great.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]Note: I know a lot has been made of this being Ingmar Bergman's swan song. But this is the first appearance of Liv Ullmann, 66, in front of a camera in nearly ten years. So, I am wondering how many more movies will she be appearing in? [/font]