Scenes From a Marriage (2/2) - Breaking Down Bergman - Episode #34

The second part of the Scenes From a Marriage discussion focuses on some of the motivations and struggles of Marianne and Johan as their relationship deteriorates. David Friend and Sonia Strimban also discuss some of the messages they interpreted from the Ingmar Bergman film, and some key scenes.
Watch the discussion of the mini-series version vs the theatrical cut: • Scenes From a Marriage...
Friend and Strimban are watching the career of the Swedish director from his first film to his last, in order, and discussing their observations. Visit the main channel for more details.
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#breakingdownbergman #ingmarbergman #livullmann #erlandjosephson #sweden

[@Badiouian]

As a swede (who probably get the nuances a little better) and as a Bergman enthusiast I have to say that I think Sonia is completely right about the ending, there's no cynicism there from Bergmans side. I think that is apparent in the scene itself, and especially if you know a little bit about Bergman as a person, cynicism wasn't really his style (as opposed to von Trier or Haneke for example). No, I think the last scene is quite honest and sincere, although of course, with a darker undertone which says that this might well happen all over again. And it's this ambiguity which is so great about that last scene, this honesty and sincerity but at the same time this feeling that there is ultimately no guarantee that things will turn out well. Sonias summary of the meaning of the last scene was spot on. Sorry David. But on the other hand, I liked that you defended Johan, he may not be as sympathetic as Marianne, but for some reason I actually liked him more than Marianne. Maybe because he, even if he makes the wrong choices, at least he does something, he tries desperately to find his way even if it means hurting people including himself along the way, I admire this heroic and unsemntimental side of him. Although I know that women are propably prone to interpret this as just an act of selfishness, as Sonia indicated. Something I don't necessarily agree with. Anyway, thank you for yet another great video. Keep up the good work.

[@AndriasHgenni]

Thank you so much for this vlog-series!

[@jlent]

I read somewhere that after the show was aired in Sweden the divorce rate there increased 30 percent, but I don't know for sure. But I gotta tell ya, even though you appear to be disagreeing you're both right, Sonia about the elasticity of relationships, David about the quagmire the relationship at the end is built over.
And isn't life like that? David finds it hits close to home. Exactly. That's why my first sentence. Couples talked about this series together and some didn't survive it.
And thank you for reviewing the series, not the feature film.
I love Bergman's films of the 70's. They may lack the technical rigor of the 60's and 50's films but they do hit closer to home psychologically.

[@jlent]

Speaking of hitting close to home, Many years ago I was talking to a friend and Bergman came up. She told me she never watched Bergman films anymore. When I asked her why she said, "I realized after seeing Bergman films all I wanted to do was kill myself. Why do I need that?"
I understood, but that's the power of filmmaking.

[@GrahamCLester]

I thought that the ending was the worst part. It seemed to me that Bergman intended us to interpret it as a happy ending. This seemed to be a sort of justification for Johan's deception because, over the long term, that was what had enabled the couple to break out of their conventionality and monotony and grow. Yet, we know that the happy ending it ephemeral because they are both now married to other people. It is merely a snatched moment. So, the ending seemed to be fake to me although I loved the movie overall. She just married the wrong person!

[@pow309]

OK, I'm an idiot. I have searched around for the video you referenced at the end, David, the one comparing the feature and the serial versions, and can't find it.

[@breakingdownfilms]

Don't worry, it's coming. There's a short note in the first video saying that the Mini-series vs. TV version is coming soon. We decided to roll out the Scenes From a Marriage videos over three weeks so our regular viewers weren't bombarded with nearly an hour of us talking. The video you're looking for will show up on your RUclips feed Monday morning.
- David