Bergman in top form
Added 9/7/2008
Ingmar Bergman's 1969 film A Passion (En Passion, misnomered in America as The Passion Of Anna) is a great film, and out of the series of late 1960s films (also including Persona, Hour Of The Wolf, and Shame) dealing with relationships and the self, it may be the best. It stars many of the Bergman retinue of actors: Max Von Sydow as Andreas Winkelman, Liv Ullman as Anna Fromm, Bibi Andersson as Eva Vergerus, and Erland Josephson as Elis Vergerus.
It follows Andreas, an ex-convict, as he recovers from his wife's abandonment, on a small farm on a Swedish island- ostensibly Bergman's own Farö, where it was filmed. One day, Anna, a crippled widow, comes to his home and Andreas listens in on the phone call she needs to make. She then accidentally (or not?) leaves her purse at his house, and he reads a letter of her rocky marriage, as he digs through her purse to find her address, and learns of her dead husband's fears for her sanity. When he returns the purse, that night, he meets the Vergeruses, the couple whom Anna lives with. He is later invited over to dinner, and the foursome discuss life and philosophy.....Throughout the film, a number of other subtexts emerge, such as Bergman again breaking the fictive spell of the film by having his four main actors portray themselves talking about their characters. Another side story involves the abuse, torture, and killing of local animals. A local hermit, with a history of mental instability, is suspected. Andreas knows the man, Johan Andersson (Erik Hell), and it's clear he is not the culprit, because he is an old lumbering man, and early in the film the audience glimpsed a young man speedily running away from a scene where he is hanging the puppy that Andreas saves. Nonetheless, as sheep, and other animals, are killed, a band of young vigilante islanders have apparently beaten and tortured the old man to confess. This act of cruelty drives him to suicide, and he leaves a note of thanks for Andreas, for all his kindnesses, that the police bring to him....
This film's ending is famous, but has been misinterpreted in many ways. First, Bergman has admitted in print that he did not zoom in to get the graininess of the final images, but merely blew up the shot. As for what it means? Many take it simply as the psychological dissolution of Andreas Winkeleman, which is the final in a series of character dissolutions in this series of late 1960s films....But that's too melodramatic a claim....The ending leaves a visceral impact, both for its visuals and its often overlooked critical revelation....The film succeeds magnificently, in an understated way that many of Bergman's more famous films do not. It's that good.
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A film whose ending is self-referential
Added 8/28/2008
"The Passion of Anna"--or simply "Passion" in the Swedish--ends with the protagonist Andreas (Max von Sydow) striding back and forth in increasingly unraveling indecision until he finally collapses. Although it pains me to say it--and although I'm the in the minority among Bergman fans when it comes to "Passion"--I think this is a good metaphor for the film's quality.
Bergman said that he thought of "Passion" as a catalogue of moods, or passions/sufferings. Andreas is the loner, broken by life, who manages to achieve some semblance of peace by retreating from all responsibility to others. Anna Fromm (Liv Ullmann), a widow who has lost her family in a horrible car accident, encloses herself within her memories, and is just as shut-down as Andreas (although she seems almost redeemable at the movie's end). Eva (Bibi Andersson) is a childless wife who feels radically incomplete, and her husband Elis is an affectless and manipulative guy who endlessly photographs people and renders them one-dimensional and powerless. But the lives of the four people never quite mesh into a single film. In fact, Eva and Elis disappear altogether in the second half.
In the accompanying interviews with Ullmann and Erlander Josephson (who plays Elis), both actors think that Bergman wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with this film. "Passion" is famous for the story getting interrupted several times for cameo interviews with the four principle actors as they explain how they envision their characters. Ullmann says that this wasn't planned by Bergman, but instead was a spontaneous decision on the set. Josephson, who's always been remarkably loyal to Bergman, thinks it was an artistic mistake.
Bergman was always a director who insisted on order, coherency, and blueprints. The very fact that he made spur of the moment decisions while filming "Passion" suggests that he wasn't quite sure in his own mind what he wanted the film to be. And even though the film is well worth seeing--because even an unsuccessful Bergman movie is still a cut above most others--it's not his best.
Three and a half stars.
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A "Passion" For Bergman
Added 7/31/2007
Hearing about the recent death yesterday of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman I felt compelled to review one of the master's films as a sort of tribute. But which one? I've reviewed so many of his films on Amazon. "Wild Strawberries", "The Seventh Seal", "Persona", "Scenes From A Marriage" and "Fanny and Alexander". Then I suddenly thought about this movie.
Bergman was and still is my all time favorite director. No filmmaker in the history of cinema has shown the human condition in such poetic ways. Many times when watching a Bergman film it is as if we are staring into a mirror of society. Moments become so realistic we turn away. It's uncomfortable when faced with such grim truths. I've always thought that was the strenght of films such as "Scenes From A Marriage", the most intense film I have ever seen on the subject of love and marriage.
Though there were those who claimed Bergman was pretentious. His work was boring and depressing. I suppose that's the risk you run when you make films concerning man's relationship to God and question the very existence of God's being. But, I must admit, so called "depressing" films never depress me. After you watch a great film, say "Cries and Whispers", which is undoubtedly a sad movie, I never felt depressed afterwards. When I watch a great work of art I become inspired. It's like after reading a good book, you find that you want to share your discovery with others. You tell all you see about it. That's how I feel about movies. You may think of them as depressing but I become moved by them. It could be because I'm a filmbuff and an amateur filmmaker, but great art doesn't depress me.
Ingmar Bergman made a career out of asking the big questions. His films were either about the relationships between men and women, i.e. "Scenes From A Marriage", "Secrets of Women", "A Lesson in Love" or about man's place in the world and God's silence which surrounds us as was the case with his "faith trilogy"; "Winter Light", "Through A Glass, Darkly", and "The Silence". "The Passion of Anna" falls somewhere inbetween.
The first image we see in "The Passion of Anna" is of a flock of sheep. Next we meet Andreas Winkelman (Max von Sydow) as is does some roof repairs. Andreas we discover lives the life of a hermit. His wife left him and he is faced with financial woes. One day a lady, Anna (Liv Ullman) comes to his door asking if she can use his phone. He agrees and lets her in.
There's something about Anna that intrigues Andreas. There is a sense of sadness on her face. Anna was in a car accident with her husband and son and now walks with a limp. She speaks fondly of her marriage. All she has are her memories since her husband and son died in the accident.
Anna lives with Eva and Elis Vergerus (the beyond beautiful Bibi Andersson and Erland Josephson). And Andreas strikes up a friendship with Elis and soon finds himself having an affair with Eva which ends soon as Andreas starts to see Anna.
Now while all of this is going on a madman has been killing animals in this empty village. Sheep are found mutilated, Andreas finds a dog that was hung, a barn is set on fire killing all the cattle. The townspeople try to investigate what is going on and soon blame a friend of Andreas, Johan (Erik Hell).
There is a parable between the destruction of the animals and the slow, emotional destruction of the characters in the film.
But Bergman never answers the question of who is behind the killing of the animals. It always remains a faceless, unseen person. I think the statement Bergman is making is that it is mankind who is killing the animals and everything else. Mankind has violent tendencies within him.
At times Bergman breaks the dramatic tension he builds in scenes by showing us interviews of the actors speaking about their characters. While at first this may distract some viewers or at the very least confuse some, I think this device works on two levels. For one, it is a reminder this is all only a movie. Bergman did something similar at the beginning of his film "Persona". But the interviews also serve another function. One of the themes of "The Passion of Anna" is self-examination and having the actors speak of their characters gets this point across. During Max von Sydow's interviews he says of his character, he tries to block out his identity. And soon we think of that first image of sheep. Are these characters like the sheep? A flock of wandering, aimless people who simply get lost in the flock? One sheep looks like the next, thus losing their identity.
"The Passion of Anna" is a movie dealing with some strong themes. Violence and God's silence is one of them. These characters are surrounded by violence. First the violence against the animals, the violence Anna witness after the crash which killed her family (it is one of the most painful scenes in the film), and the violence which in inflicted upon Johan. And through it all, where is the justice? Where is God? This all culminates to a powerful ending between Andreas and Anna.
During the seventies it seemed as if Bergman could do no wrong. Starting the decade with this film he would also release "The Touch", "Cries and Whispers", "Scenes From A Marriage", "The Magic Flute" and "Face to Face" among others. "The Passion of Anna" won Bergman a National Society Film Critics award for "best director" and was placed on Siskel & Ebert's top ten films of the year list.
Bergman will be missed by film lovers all over the world. His films will not be forgotten and will continue to inspire young filmmakers for years to come.
Bottom-line: One of the great Bergman films dealing with self-examination, violence and God. Powerful performances and beautiful cinematography highlight this Bergman masterpiece.
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The Passion of Anna
Added 7/2/2007
In "Passion", Bergman addresses the recurring theme of human isolation. Eva is a vulnerable woman in search of identity, Elis a successful architect whose cynical, assured veneer is a barrier to intimacy. Anna deals with her own plight by righteously proclaiming the value of "honesty" in relationships, yet deceives herself about her own unsuccessful marriage. Soon, Andreas remembers why he'd craved solitude in the first place. In this multi-layered character study, Bergman includes sequences where the actors comment on the roles they're playing--a fascinating touch. Beautifully photographed by the immortal Sven Nykvist, "Anna" is a stunning accomplishment.
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A strong effort of the late 1960s
Added 2/11/2007
The protagonist of Ingmar Bergman's 1969 drama EN PASION (The Passion of Anna) is Andreas Winkelman (Max von Sydow), a fortyish year-old man who has isolated himself on an island after some rough years. There he meets Anna (Liv Ullman), who herself has a mysterious past in which her husband and son perished in an automobile accident. The troubled relationship that builds between the two, and the interference of slightly threatening neighbours Elis (Erland Josephson) and Eva (Bibi Andersson), form the bulk of the plot. There's also an enigmatic subplot in which the islands livestock are killed by some deranged figure.
The film contains some innovations of Bergman, beyond the fact that it was his first colour film. The first evident is the presence of a narrator, whose contributions are few but which remind us that we are watching a document of some earlier event, not spying in on scenes as they happen. Also, pauses in the film's action come four times in the film, as we see the actors being interviewed about the characters they play, reminding us that this is very much a fictional account to which the actors must apply their skills. Finally, the film shows the start of Bergman's interest in improvised dialogue, as a dinner party scene allowed the actors to say whatever came to mind.
I liked the film quite a bit. Especially positive aspects include Erland Josephson again playing a creepy role (like the Baron in VARGTIMMEN), the rapport between Sydow and Ullman (more convincing than in VARGTIMMEN), and the strong cinematography. At one point in the film, Anna relates a dream, the flashback of which is a scene taken from Bergman's earlier film SKAMEN, a fascinating establishment of thematic continuity. And the closing shot, which I won't mention here to avoid spoiling the ending, is extremely clever and thought-provoking.
However, a couple of things stopped me from liking this as much as some other Bergman films. Andreas' scolding of Anna at one point in the film seems too much like a repeat of Tomas' diatribe against Marta in NATTVARDSGAESTERNA. Also, the dropping of Eva's role, as well as the failure to provide sufficient closure on the killing of livestock, make this film end too abruptly. It's a strong effort, but not Bergman's best.
If you don't know the work of Ingmar Bergman, I'd suggest working through his films chronologically starting from DET SJUNDE INSEGLET (The Seventh Seal). EN PASION will be one memorable installment along the way.
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Bergman in top form
Added 9/7/2008
Ingmar Bergman's 1969 film A Passion (En Passion, misnomered in America as The Passion Of Anna) is a great film, and out of the series of late 1960s films (also including Persona, Hour Of The Wolf, and Shame) dealing with relationships and the self, it may be the best. It stars many of the Bergman retinue of actors: Max Von Sydow as Andreas Winkelman, Liv Ullman as Anna Fromm, Bibi Andersson as Eva Vergerus, and Erland Josephson as Elis Vergerus.
It follows Andreas, an ex-convict, as he recovers from his wife's abandonment, on a small farm on a Swedish island- ostensibly Bergman's own Farö, where it was filmed. One day, Anna, a crippled widow, comes to his home and Andreas listens in on the phone call she needs to make. She then accidentally (or not?) leaves her purse at his house, and he reads a letter of her rocky marriage, as he digs through her purse to find her address, and learns of her dead husband's fears for her sanity. When he returns the purse, that night, he meets the Vergeruses, the couple whom Anna lives with. He is later invited over to dinner, and the foursome discuss life and philosophy.....Throughout the film, a number of other subtexts emerge, such as Bergman again breaking the fictive spell of the film by having his four main actors portray themselves talking about their characters. Another side story involves the abuse, torture, and killing of local animals. A local hermit, with a history of mental instability, is suspected. Andreas knows the man, Johan Andersson (Erik Hell), and it's clear he is not the culprit, because he is an old lumbering man, and early in the film the audience glimpsed a young man speedily running away from a scene where he is hanging the puppy that Andreas saves. Nonetheless, as sheep, and other animals, are killed, a band of young vigilante islanders have apparently beaten and tortured the old man to confess. This act of cruelty drives him to suicide, and he leaves a note of thanks for Andreas, for all his kindnesses, that the police bring to him....
This film's ending is famous, but has been misinterpreted in many ways. First, Bergman has admitted in print that he did not zoom in to get the graininess of the final images, but merely blew up the shot. As for what it means? Many take it simply as the psychological dissolution of Andreas Winkeleman, which is the final in a series of character dissolutions in this series of late 1960s films....But that's too melodramatic a claim....The ending leaves a visceral impact, both for its visuals and its often overlooked critical revelation....The film succeeds magnificently, in an understated way that many of Bergman's more famous films do not. It's that good.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A film whose ending is self-referential
Added 8/28/2008
"The Passion of Anna"--or simply "Passion" in the Swedish--ends with the protagonist Andreas (Max von Sydow) striding back and forth in increasingly unraveling indecision until he finally collapses. Although it pains me to say it--and although I'm the in the minority among Bergman fans when it comes to "Passion"--I think this is a good metaphor for the film's quality.
Bergman said that he thought of "Passion" as a catalogue of moods, or passions/sufferings. Andreas is the loner, broken by life, who manages to achieve some semblance of peace by retreating from all responsibility to others. Anna Fromm (Liv Ullmann), a widow who has lost her family in a horrible car accident, encloses herself within her memories, and is just as shut-down as Andreas (although she seems almost redeemable at the movie's end). Eva (Bibi Andersson) is a childless wife who feels radically incomplete, and her husband Elis is an affectless and manipulative guy who endlessly photographs people and renders them one-dimensional and powerless. But the lives of the four people never quite mesh into a single film. In fact, Eva and Elis disappear altogether in the second half.
In the accompanying interviews with Ullmann and Erlander Josephson (who plays Elis), both actors think that Bergman wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with this film. "Passion" is famous for the story getting interrupted several times for cameo interviews with the four principle actors as they explain how they envision their characters. Ullmann says that this wasn't planned by Bergman, but instead was a spontaneous decision on the set. Josephson, who's always been remarkably loyal to Bergman, thinks it was an artistic mistake.
Bergman was always a director who insisted on order, coherency, and blueprints. The very fact that he made spur of the moment decisions while filming "Passion" suggests that he wasn't quite sure in his own mind what he wanted the film to be. And even though the film is well worth seeing--because even an unsuccessful Bergman movie is still a cut above most others--it's not his best.
Three and a half stars.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A "Passion" For Bergman
Added 7/31/2007
Hearing about the recent death yesterday of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman I felt compelled to review one of the master's films as a sort of tribute. But which one? I've reviewed so many of his films on Amazon. "Wild Strawberries", "The Seventh Seal", "Persona", "Scenes From A Marriage" and "Fanny and Alexander". Then I suddenly thought about this movie.
Bergman was and still is my all time favorite director. No filmmaker in the history of cinema has shown the human condition in such poetic ways. Many times when watching a Bergman film it is as if we are staring into a mirror of society. Moments become so realistic we turn away. It's uncomfortable when faced with such grim truths. I've always thought that was the strenght of films such as "Scenes From A Marriage", the most intense film I have ever seen on the subject of love and marriage.
Though there were those who claimed Bergman was pretentious. His work was boring and depressing. I suppose that's the risk you run when you make films concerning man's relationship to God and question the very existence of God's being. But, I must admit, so called "depressing" films never depress me. After you watch a great film, say "Cries and Whispers", which is undoubtedly a sad movie, I never felt depressed afterwards. When I watch a great work of art I become inspired. It's like after reading a good book, you find that you want to share your discovery with others. You tell all you see about it. That's how I feel about movies. You may think of them as depressing but I become moved by them. It could be because I'm a filmbuff and an amateur filmmaker, but great art doesn't depress me.
Ingmar Bergman made a career out of asking the big questions. His films were either about the relationships between men and women, i.e. "Scenes From A Marriage", "Secrets of Women", "A Lesson in Love" or about man's place in the world and God's silence which surrounds us as was the case with his "faith trilogy"; "Winter Light", "Through A Glass, Darkly", and "The Silence". "The Passion of Anna" falls somewhere inbetween.
The first image we see in "The Passion of Anna" is of a flock of sheep. Next we meet Andreas Winkelman (Max von Sydow) as is does some roof repairs. Andreas we discover lives the life of a hermit. His wife left him and he is faced with financial woes. One day a lady, Anna (Liv Ullman) comes to his door asking if she can use his phone. He agrees and lets her in.
There's something about Anna that intrigues Andreas. There is a sense of sadness on her face. Anna was in a car accident with her husband and son and now walks with a limp. She speaks fondly of her marriage. All she has are her memories since her husband and son died in the accident.
Anna lives with Eva and Elis Vergerus (the beyond beautiful Bibi Andersson and Erland Josephson). And Andreas strikes up a friendship with Elis and soon finds himself having an affair with Eva which ends soon as Andreas starts to see Anna.
Now while all of this is going on a madman has been killing animals in this empty village. Sheep are found mutilated, Andreas finds a dog that was hung, a barn is set on fire killing all the cattle. The townspeople try to investigate what is going on and soon blame a friend of Andreas, Johan (Erik Hell).
There is a parable between the destruction of the animals and the slow, emotional destruction of the characters in the film.
But Bergman never answers the question of who is behind the killing of the animals. It always remains a faceless, unseen person. I think the statement Bergman is making is that it is mankind who is killing the animals and everything else. Mankind has violent tendencies within him.
At times Bergman breaks the dramatic tension he builds in scenes by showing us interviews of the actors speaking about their characters. While at first this may distract some viewers or at the very least confuse some, I think this device works on two levels. For one, it is a reminder this is all only a movie. Bergman did something similar at the beginning of his film "Persona". But the interviews also serve another function. One of the themes of "The Passion of Anna" is self-examination and having the actors speak of their characters gets this point across. During Max von Sydow's interviews he says of his character, he tries to block out his identity. And soon we think of that first image of sheep. Are these characters like the sheep? A flock of wandering, aimless people who simply get lost in the flock? One sheep looks like the next, thus losing their identity.
"The Passion of Anna" is a movie dealing with some strong themes. Violence and God's silence is one of them. These characters are surrounded by violence. First the violence against the animals, the violence Anna witness after the crash which killed her family (it is one of the most painful scenes in the film), and the violence which in inflicted upon Johan. And through it all, where is the justice? Where is God? This all culminates to a powerful ending between Andreas and Anna.
During the seventies it seemed as if Bergman could do no wrong. Starting the decade with this film he would also release "The Touch", "Cries and Whispers", "Scenes From A Marriage", "The Magic Flute" and "Face to Face" among others. "The Passion of Anna" won Bergman a National Society Film Critics award for "best director" and was placed on Siskel & Ebert's top ten films of the year list.
Bergman will be missed by film lovers all over the world. His films will not be forgotten and will continue to inspire young filmmakers for years to come.
Bottom-line: One of the great Bergman films dealing with self-examination, violence and God. Powerful performances and beautiful cinematography highlight this Bergman masterpiece.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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