Two of Ingemar Bergmans' most famous works were originally released as TV miniseries: Fanny and Alexander, and Scenes From a Marriage. Finally, after many years, the 6 episode long mini-series version of Scenes has been released in America.
I never saw the original 4 hour movie version of Scenes, but something tells me I wouldn't have liked it. The movie is very talky and most of the scenes are just long conversations between two people. My butt hurts just thinking about having to sit in the theater that long.
As a mini-series, though, it is possible to break the film up into 6 easily digestable parts, as was intended. It wasn't great in terms of cinematography, or exciting plot points, but I don't think it was intended to be.
It was obviously something meant to be watched slowly, so that the characters could get a chance to grow and develop realistically. While it was still a little slow going at times, it is worth checking out if you like probing psychological character studies.
The leading actors Liv Ullman and Arland Josephson give what must be one of the most realistic portraits of a marriage that exists on film. Mostly this is because the actors get 5 hours to depict their two characters. This kind of intense focus almost never happens in cinema, and for this reason alone it is worth watching. Give yourself a week to see it, you will be highly rewarded with one of cinema's most intense character studies.
I never saw the original 4 hour movie version of Scenes, but something tells me I wouldn't have liked it. The movie is very talky and most of the scenes are just long conversations between two people. My butt hurts just thinking about having to sit in the theater that long.
As a mini-series, though, it is possible to break the film up into 6 easily digestable parts, as was intended. It wasn't great in terms of cinematography, or exciting plot points, but I don't think it was intended to be.
It was obviously something meant to be watched slowly, so that the characters could get a chance to grow and develop realistically. While it was still a little slow going at times, it is worth checking out if you like probing psychological character studies.
The leading actors Liv Ullman and Arland Josephson give what must be one of the most realistic portraits of a marriage that exists on film. Mostly this is because the actors get 5 hours to depict their two characters. This kind of intense focus almost never happens in cinema, and for this reason alone it is worth watching. Give yourself a week to see it, you will be highly rewarded with one of cinema's most intense character studies.