What It's About:

Thirty years after their divorce in director Bergman's "Scenes From A Marriage", Marianne (Ullmann) impulsively decides to pay former husband Johan (Josephson) a visit, seeking some final perspective on their fractured relationship. In the process, Marianne meets Henrik (Borje Ahlstedt), Johan's son from his first marriage, and Henrik's nineteen year old daughter Karin (Julia Dufvenius). Henrik and Karin live nearby and are both healing from the loss of wife/ mother Anna, who succumbed to cancer two years before. In witnessing Johan and Henrik's strained relationship, and delving into the life conflicts confronting Karin, Marianne learns even more about Johan's manifold frailties. Yet imperfect as he is, she cannot extinguish the residue of affection she still feels for her old spouse.

Why I Love It:

In today's film environment, watching a new Bergman feature is like experiencing a rain-shower during a drought. Anyone who recalls 1973's "Scenes" will be particularly moved by the reunion of Ullmann and Josephson. But the director is wise enough to include some fresh characters who help us better understand the ones we think we already know. The sub-plot concerning Henrik's over-reliance on the lovely, talented Karin is heart-rending, as is the nasty, unbridgeable divide between father and son. Ullmann's Marianne, wiser and more observant than in earlier days, calmly tries to make sense of all this dysfunction, right along with us. A worthy swan-song for the octogenarian director, "Saraband" is piercing, profound and altogether brilliant.