IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
A Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist. But he is an emotionally scarred man, a Holocaust survivor; consequently, their relationship will be painfully d... Read allA Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist. But he is an emotionally scarred man, a Holocaust survivor; consequently, their relationship will be painfully difficult.A Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist. But he is an emotionally scarred man, a Holocaust survivor; consequently, their relationship will be painfully difficult.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Margaretha Byström
- Secretary to Andreas Vergerus
- (uncredited)
Elsa Ebbesen
- Hospital Matron
- (uncredited)
Dennis Gotobed
- English Civil Servant
- (uncredited)
Staffan Hallerstam
- Anders Vergerus
- (uncredited)
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs
- Karin's Mother
- (uncredited)
Åke Lindström
- Dr. Holm
- (uncredited)
Ann-Christin Lobråten
- Museum Employee
- (uncredited)
Maria Nolgård
- Agnes Vergerus
- (uncredited)
Erik Nyhlén
- The Archeologist
- (uncredited)
Bengt Ottekil
- Bellboy
- (uncredited)
Alan Simon
- Therapist at Museum
- (uncredited)
Per Sjöstrand
- Therapist
- (uncredited)
Aino Taube
- Woman on Stairs
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Ingmar Bergman(a film by)
- Writer
- Ingmar Bergman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLast collaboration between Ingmar Bergman and Max von Sydow.
- Quotes
Sara Kovac: Are you going to have a baby? Is it David's child or your husbands?
Karin Vergerus: Does it matter?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Citizen Schein (2017)
Featured review
Good Film With a Bad Reputation
I've heard a lot of things about this film -- it generally gets low reviews, is described as "unBergmanesque", and the fact that its so difficult to find led me have very low expectations for the film. I expected something between the atypical Bergman plot of "The Serpent's Egg" and the disturbing social violence of "From the Life of the Marionettes." I finally tracked down a copy, poor in quality, and expected mediocrity at best when I put it in.
After having just finished watching it, I can say I was very pleasantly surprised with the film. A lot of the things said about it are just plain false -- the plot is very much in keeping with Bergman's other material. A married woman, Karin (Anderson), falls in love with a disturbed architect, David (Gould), and the two begin an emotionally confused love affair. Karin is caught between her happy bourgeois life with her husband (Sydow) and children, and her passionate, unconventional relationship with David. Acting in bad faith, Karen refuses to choose between her two lives, though both David and her husband eventually push the decision on her. Like most Bergman films, its a psychological roller coaster and a bleak portrayal of the coarseness of human relationships.
Bibi Anderson does a wonderful job in a very difficult role, and Max von Sydow plays the part of the honest and good intentioned husband very well, playing hard on the viewer's sympathies. The stiff performance of Gould echoes that of Carradine in "The Serpent's Egg," so it must unfortunately be attributed to Bergman's struggle with directing in English, not on Gould himself. If I recall, the film was made in both Swedish and English, both versions filmed at once, which poses obvious production difficulties which might account from the some times mechanical treatment of the script.
The film has an excellent pace to it, and moves very swiftly and smoothly, wonderfully shot by Nykvist in a way very similar to "The Passion of Anna." Unlike a lot of Bergman's depressing work in the 1970s, I felt good about the film when it was over.
I don't know why this film has such a poor reputation -- I'm very much baffled after having seen it. My guess is the obvious mistake of having made it in English accounts for most of this.
Its seems a lot like Bergman's other work in this period. Very Good.
After having just finished watching it, I can say I was very pleasantly surprised with the film. A lot of the things said about it are just plain false -- the plot is very much in keeping with Bergman's other material. A married woman, Karin (Anderson), falls in love with a disturbed architect, David (Gould), and the two begin an emotionally confused love affair. Karin is caught between her happy bourgeois life with her husband (Sydow) and children, and her passionate, unconventional relationship with David. Acting in bad faith, Karen refuses to choose between her two lives, though both David and her husband eventually push the decision on her. Like most Bergman films, its a psychological roller coaster and a bleak portrayal of the coarseness of human relationships.
Bibi Anderson does a wonderful job in a very difficult role, and Max von Sydow plays the part of the honest and good intentioned husband very well, playing hard on the viewer's sympathies. The stiff performance of Gould echoes that of Carradine in "The Serpent's Egg," so it must unfortunately be attributed to Bergman's struggle with directing in English, not on Gould himself. If I recall, the film was made in both Swedish and English, both versions filmed at once, which poses obvious production difficulties which might account from the some times mechanical treatment of the script.
The film has an excellent pace to it, and moves very swiftly and smoothly, wonderfully shot by Nykvist in a way very similar to "The Passion of Anna." Unlike a lot of Bergman's depressing work in the 1970s, I felt good about the film when it was over.
I don't know why this film has such a poor reputation -- I'm very much baffled after having seen it. My guess is the obvious mistake of having made it in English accounts for most of this.
Its seems a lot like Bergman's other work in this period. Very Good.
helpful•341
- Tartarlamb
- Jan 11, 2003
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Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $6,446
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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