The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 40-36
I’ve completed a series of episode-by-episode reviews of the television miniseries Scenes from a Marriage. I’ve decided to make it easier to access these posts as part of a group by making this page as an index. I’ve also added a short synopsis of each episode so that you can find what you’re looking for quickly.… Read More Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Gunnel Lindblom (My thoughts on the previous episode are here.) It’s not surprising that in this final episode, more like an epilogue than an actual continuation of the plot, Johan and Marianne seem to be back together. They are no longer married. He’s married to an Anna,… Read More Scenes from a Marriage, S1E6, “In the Middle of the Night in a Dark House Somewhere in the World”
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson (My thoughts on the previous episode are here.) The windowless walls of Johan’s office are utterly bare, a bland taupe that makes the room seem close even when he’s sitting there by himself and which, as the episode carries on, makes it seem like entire setting is… Read More Scenes from a Marriage S1E5, “The Illiterates”
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson (My thoughts on the previous episode are here.) “The Vale of Tears,” like “The Art of Sweeping Things Under the Rug,” acts like a ligament in the miniseries, although there’s much more change that occurs in this installment than in the second episode. “The Vale of Tears”… Read More Scenes from a Marriage S1E4, “The Vale of Tears”
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson (My thoughts on the previous episode are here.) “I came here to tell you something. I’ve gone and fallen in love. It’s absurd, and probably a big mistake. Most probably a big mistake.” At the end of this episode, Johan is packing up for a trip to… Read More Scenes from a Marriage S1E3, “Paula”
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Halvar Bjork Bergman is still Bergman in this movie, and I have no doubt that someone else has used that line to describe Autumn Sonata before and I don’t care. Ingmar Bergman is still addicted to close-ups, still putting our cheeks to the hot stove of emotional upheaval for… Read More Autumn Sonata (1978)
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann Cries and Whispers is planted in a middle ground between the theatrical and the cinematic. As a play, it works for the uncanny focus on its primary characters, the rapidly understandable emotions each character holds back, the dramatic moments of pain, the rich setting in absolutely… Read More Cries and Whispers (1972)
Seeing Things Secondhand 