2019 Blind Spot Series: Scenes From a Marriage
What I knew going in: That it was originally aired as a mini series, then edited into a film.
We meet Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) giving an interview regarding their marriage for a magazine. Unfortunately, that marriage will eventually end, and we see all the ups and downs along the way.
The DVD I got from Netflix gave me the option of watching the mini series version, or the movie cut. Since Blind Spots are supposed to be about film, I chose the later. It's nearly three hours and split into 6 acts. I was shocked at how quickly time went by. This has to be one of the best paced longer films I've ever watched.
Marianne and Johan felt like a very real couple and we see them almost go through just about every emotion imaginable throughout their divorce. The actors are captivating, especially Ullman. I felt on her side throughout the film. It's certainly not a "fair" look at their divorce.
Ingmar Bergman has been a popular fixture throughout my Blind Spot journey and I'm happy I finally got to this. I was afraid I was going to feel similarly to another film of his I watched - Fanny and Alexander but this didn't feel nearly as indulgent. I'm happy to check it off my list.
Recommended: Yes
Grade: B
Memorable Quote: "But we're not like that." - Marianne (Liv Ullmann)
Glad you liked this film. I too saw the theatrical version of the film though I'm interested in seeing the mini-series version. It's one of my favorite films by Bergman as it is one of his more accessible films though a lot of his work is quite pessimistic not that it's bad.
ReplyDeleteBTW, last night's SNL was the best episode I've seen in a long time. I'M GUMBY DAMMIT!!!!! I always forget how funny Eddie Murphy was then and why he still has it.
Yes! I loved SNL last night. I wasn't familiar with all of Eddie's old bits but I loved everything he did.
DeleteI just watched this last month for the first time as well when they showed it on TCM. I'd been putting it off because of the length plus I'm not an inveterate foreign film viewer. I have to be in the mood. So I usually only watch one or at the most two in a good month's time and sometimes none at all for several months. But I try to take advantage when ones with a substantial reputation are shown and the station has been doing so at a higher rate lately so I've been ticking them off faster than normal.
ReplyDeleteLiv's Marianne was by far the more sympathetic, though not a plaster saint, and both she and Josephson really dug deep into their characters. I won't say the time flew by but it was consistently involving. One watch however was enough for me.
Encouraged by my positive experience with this I finally bit the bullet and hunkered down to watch Fanny & Alexander, another whose length had given me pause and whose rougher reputation had also held me off. But again TCM presented the opportunity to DVR it and I took the bait, though it took me a couple of weeks of bypassing it before I gave it a go. It had some very good things in it but it was ssllooww and could have been cut by at least an hour. I didn't hate it by any means but I was that happy to see the credits when they finally rolled! Ya can't win every time.
I still have several Bergman's to see, though at this point I've seen just about all that are considered his best except The Virgin Spring, and my favorite remains one of the first I'd seen, Wild Strawberries.
I felt the same way about Fanny and Alexander. I felt there was about an hour and a half of that movie that was interesting, and the rest I could've done without.
DeleteI still have a lot of Bergman left too. Persona is still my favorite.
I still have to see this film and would like to see it. It's interesting how he places an autobiographical approach to some of his films which stars 2 women he was involved with bibi Andersson and Live Ullmann.
ReplyDeleteCan't agrue that impeccable taste lol. I hope you enjoy this when you do get around to it.
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