If anyone familiar with the works of Bergman were to see this without advance knowledge, it would not take long to peg it as classic Bergman, even if Liv Ullman were not playing a main part.As the film opens Marianne (Ullman) is looking over many photos spread out on her desk. This prompts her to take a trip to see Johan, an ex-husband whom she has not seen in decades. Describing the complex relationships that exist between Marianne, Johan, Johan's son Henrik, and Henrik's daughter Karin could take several pages. Suffice it to say that, in the classic Bergman style, there is enough bitterness, anger, angst, destructive ego, sublimated love, and brutal verbal sparring to satisfy anyone who appreciates Bergman .Since most of this movie is dialog with close-ups of faces, it would fail without the superior talent of the actors involved. I was particularly taken with Julia Dufvenius as Karin. Where does Bergman find these beautiful and talented women?What is the value of sitting through such an emotional experience? For one thing it is to appreciate actors at the top of their form. And witnessing the men's inner selves exposed to the extent that we can see how they have come to live such unhappy lives, and how they can poison the lives of others, is instructive. The women fare better than the men.It is fitting that Bergman should end his film career with such an emotionally complex and accomplished movie as this.

Saraband (2003) **** (out of 4) Ingmar Bergman's sequel/follow-up to Scenes from a Marriage has Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) reuniting after years of not seeing one another. Johan's main problem in his current life is his loser son (Borje Ahlstedt) and the pain of his granddaughter (Julia Dufvenius). It's rather amazing and incredibly sad that Bergman, at his old age, still has so much depression and sadness in his life and all of that comes pouring out of this film, which is rather hard to watch due to how depressing it actually is. There's an incredibly amount of sadness running throughout the film and the four actors deliver (what a shock) terrific performances especially the young Dufvenius who steals the show. It's also rather amazing that Ullmann and Josephson could pick these characters back up so well after thirty-two years but they pull it off and their first scene together is pure magic.

From the very first frame, it's obvious Ingmar Bergman hasn't lost his touch. We're safe to settle back and give ourselves into the hands of somebody who knows how to entertain us. Liv Ulmann sets the standard for the ensemble, acting her ass off, as do the rest of the players, with only Julia Dufvenius perhaps chewing the scenery a little too much. Real cello players seldom have the time to study dance, which Dufvenius visibly has, and you could see her dreading having to fake playing the cello. But that's quibbling. She's a firecracker, and a match for anybody in this frighteningly good cast. Even Gunnel Fred, who appears fleetingly, does a little bit of business that is spot on.Everybody in this movie excels, and yet the movie itself isn't enjoyable. The gamut of emotions is brilliantly realized, and yet that gamut runs from A to B. It is a piece by a master - a whole pack of masters, in fact - and yet it's not a masterpiece.Worth seeing? Of course. But unless you have a formidable talent for depression, you may not enjoy it.

It seems to me that with Julia Dufvenius, Bergman has found a worthy successor to his great acting beauties of the past.Unfortunately we will see little of her in the US since almost no Swedish films make their way here.I watched this film almost by accident, and was happily surprised to see it ranks with some of his finest character efforts. The "Making of..." section on the DVD was quite fascinating, since almost the entire picture was filmed on a stage set, except for one brief woodland scene.Top marks.