Saraband
| Saraband | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Written by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Starring | Liv Ullmann Erland Josephson Börje Ahlstedt Julia Dufvenius Gunnel Fred |
Release dates | December 1, 2003 (Sweden) |
Running time | 120 min |
| Language | Swedish |
- For the Baroque dance and its corresponding musical form, see Sarabande.
Saraband (2003) is a Swedish telemovie by film director Ingmar Bergman. In July 2005 Saraband was released theatrically in the United States with subtitles in English.
Storyline
In Saraband, Marianne travels into the country, back to the home of her ex-husband, Johan, who is undergoing a family crisis with his financially irresponsible son and emotionally draining granddaughter. Though his granddaughter is in her early twenties, she provides the son with an excuse for asking his father for money so that she, under his sponsorship and watchful eye, can buy an old Stradivarius cello from Germany and study at a European music conservatoire.
First Scene
The movie opens with the camera on Marianne (played by actress Liv Ullmann) standing by a table covered with photographs. It is a well lit room, and she addresses the viewer as though invited to come in. She picks one picture up after another; they are organised in no particular order, being just heaped all over the table. Some make her smile, or merely elicit a a comment or a sigh. But then she picks up a photograph of her husband, prompting her to reminisce about how they had been happy more or less, and how they'd broken up. She goes on to recall how his second marriage with another woman failed, while she was already married with a second husband herself, and then when her second husband died (by flying a plane off somewhere and disappearing), she reflects that it would be nice to see her first husband again.
Earns Support from Fans
Some of Bergman's fans have hailed the film as one of his best, not from a multiplicity of camera angles, bizarre props and wardrobes, because it has none of that, but perhaps from the storyline being so mundane and commonplace that the instances of dry humor almost pass the viewer by, unnoticed.
In January 2006, the American newspaper USA Today suggested that Börje Ahlstedt should be nominated for an Oscar as Best supporting actor for his role in Saraband, with the comment "He shows you what it's like to be an aging version of a man who was already broken in his 20s."[1]
Cast
- Liv Ullmann (Marianne)
- Erland Josephson (Johan)
- Börje Ahlstedt (Henrik)
- Julia Dufvenius (Karin)
- Gunnel Fred (Martha)