Scenes from a Marriage (1973)

I remember the first time I saw Scenes from a Marriage, shortly after the DVD arrived. I watches the television series, segmented, with my then-girlfriend, and it was one of the finest Bergman experiences I've had. I definitely noticed parallels between my relationship and the one shared by Johan and Marianne. Because I'd only seen Bergman's most popular works, I saw him in the same light that pop culture has, as the gloomy swede, the patron saint of angst. What stuck with me most was how biting and harsh Scenes from a Marriage was. Yet, on this second viewing, after I'm a little older, I know a bit more about Bergman and about life, what strikes me is what shining beauty and peace it manages to show. Yes, these two people are harsh to one another, but that's perfectly natural in any relationship, especially a marriage.

What strikes me most about the film is that Johan and Marianne are people. They don't seem like characters in a story. Because of Bergman's writing, Sven Nykvist's camerawork, and especially because of Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson's wonderful acting, they transcend the screen and seem to be living beings. They have a past and a future. They have their own complex emotions, their own brains, their own imaginations. I don't think that I've ever felt this close to fictional characters.

Sven Nykvist and Bergman have always had a fantastic relationship: "we are both utterly captivated by the problems of light, the gentle, dangerous, dreamlike, living, dead, clear, misty, hot, violent, bare, sudden, dark, springlike, falling, straight, slanting, sensual, subdued, limited, poisonous, calming, pale light. Light." I don't think there can be a BEST film that Nykvist shot, because most of them are so stunningly beautiful, I wouldn't want to choose one over another. Nykvist's approach here isn't aesthetically beautiful, really, but it suits the work perfectly. These are some of the most amazing close-ups ever filmed. I've often heard that acting is done mostly with the eyes, but unfortunately, you can't really look into an actor's eyes during a film; most films don't you enough of a chance. But, looking into Liv Ullmann's eyes as her face fills my screen, I feel I'm looking right into the depths of her soul.

In fact, I'm reminded of Jenn, the first girl I ever really loved. I remember it felt so strange to kiss her, having somebody else's face that close to mine. I remember looking into her eyes, but hers wouldn't stop darting from left to right. She just laughed at me. I realize that it's simply because a person's eyes can only focus on one thing at a time, so she'd be looking from one of my eyes into the other. But, I'd never been that close to another face before, and it will always stick in my memory. This happens a few times in Scenes from a Marriage as well, Johan or Marianne look into one another's eyes while speaking, and their own eyes dart from left to right. It helps to fully immerse you into the scene, because you know that they're really looking at one another, playing off their emotions, and not simply looking off-camera pretending.

Before, I said that a feeling of optimism strikes me when I think of the film. In the last part, Johan slips away to meet his latest mistress, and of course, it's Marianne. It really feels great to see them together once again, and happy, at peace with one another. There are many ways to examine this outcome. We could say that the old adage has been proved, and absence really has made them fond of one another again. Maybe, we could say that only once Johan and Marianne have been freed from the restraints of married life, they are free to truly fall in love with one another. These are a couple of really good theories. But, personally, I just like to think that they're human, and in human life, sometimes things turn out this way.