Scenes from a Marriage

''Scenes from a Marriage'' ( sv, Scener ur ett äktenskap) is a 1973 Swedish television miniseries written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Over the course of six hour-long episodes, it explores the disintegration of the marriage between Marianne ( Liv Ullmann), a divorce lawyer, and Johan (Erland Josephson), a psychology professor. The series spans a period of 10 years. Bergman's teleplay draws on his own experiences, including his relationship with Ullmann. It was shot on a small budget in Stockholm and Fårö in 1972.

After initially airing on Swedish TV in six parts, the miniseries was condensed into a theatrical version and received positive reviews in Sweden and internationally. ''Scenes from a Marriage'' was also the subject of controversy for its perceived influence on rising divorce rates in Europe. The film was ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and several other honours. The miniseries and film version influenced filmmakers such as Woody Allen and Richard Linklater. It was followed by a sequel, '' Saraband'', in 2003, and stage adaptations. It was also adapted into an HBO miniseries in 2021.

Episodes

The TV miniseries' six episodes ran between 11 April and 16 May 1973. At about 50 minutes per episode, the miniseries totals 282 minutes.

Scenes from each episode appear in the film version, which is 168 minutes long. The episode titles appear in the film version as chapter titles.

Cast

Production

Bergman wrote the teleplay for ''Scenes From a Marriage'' over three months. He drew on his personal experiences, including his relationship with Ullmann; his unhappy, eventually dissolved marriages to Käbi Laretei and Gun Hagberg; and the marriage of his parents, Karin and Erik Bergman. As a boy, he had witnessed his parents violently wrestling, with Karin slapping Erik and Erik pushing her against a wall. Ingmar also found his mother could be manipulative.

The budget for ''Scenes From a Marriage'' was approximately a third that of Bergman's previous film, '' Cries and Whispers''. Half was covered by Swedish Television and half by foreign companies. It was filmed in Stockholm and Fårö between July and October 1972. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist emphasized close-ups and employed small indoor film sets. Nykvist later regretted not using more tracking shots when he learned the miniseries would have a theatrical release. The filming schedule was one week per episode.

Ullmann compared performing in ''Scenes From a Marriage'' to appearing in a documentary, saying she "felt very connected to the role." She said she was becoming more involved in the feminist movement while making the miniseries. Due to Ullmann and Erland Josephson's comfort with their parts, the crew saved time by not having rehearsals.

Release

''Scenes From a Marriage'' was broadcast as a miniseries in Sweden by SVT2 beginning on 11 April 1973. Polls indicated most of the viewers were women. A 169-minute theatrical version was screened in Sweden on 28 October 1974.

In the United States, a 167-minute version of the miniseries was released in cinemas, with the 16 mm film modified to 35 mm. It opened in New York City on 21 September 1974. The full miniseries was later aired in the U.S. by PBS in March and April 1977, and numerous times in 1979. The Criterion Collection released the miniseries and theatrical version on a three-disc DVD in Region 1 in 2004, complete with interviews and an essay by Phillip Lopate.

Reception

Critical reception

In Sweden, ''Scenes from a Marriage'' received positive reviews for its dialogue and realism, with Mauritz Edstrom calling it "one of Bergman's finest human portrayals". Åke Janzon said that while the miniseries was not a masterpiece, it demonstrated psychological tension. Swedish director Maj Wechselmann criticized it on feminist grounds, saying it failed to criticize marriage roles. Bergman replied that the miniseries was meant to depict "Marianne's liberation" and female "suppressed aggressions". One controversy revolved around allegations that ''Scenes From a Marriage'' led to higher divorce rates in Sweden and around Europe by teaching couples to communicate their conflicts. Swedish divorce rates allegedly doubled one year after the miniseries was broadcast in 1973. In 2013 Rachel Halliburton disputed these allegations in '' Time Out'' magazine, remarking that sexual and women's liberation were gaining prominence at the time and that the miniseries "as such was as much a symptom of what was happening to modern marriage as a cause".

In the United States, Roger Ebert gave the theatrical version a full four stars, praising it as "one of the truest, most luminous love stories ever made"; he named it "the best film of 1973". Vincent Canby, chief critic for ''The New York Times'', called the theatrical version "a movie of such extraordinary intimacy that it has the effect of breaking into mysterious components many things we ordinarily accept without thought, familiar and banal objects, faces, attitudes, and emotions, especially love. ..Ullmann again establishes herself as one of the most fascinating actresses of our time." Canby also wrote that "Josephson gives an equally complex performance" but found the character less admirable. Don Druker of '' Chicago Reader'' criticized the editing for the theatre, saying that the film "shows its reassembled status rather badly," and that "moments of searing insight" were provided mainly by Ullmann.

The film was included in "''The New York Times'' Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" in 2002. In 2004, essayist Phillip Lopate wrote that ''Scenes from a Marriage'' showed Bergman moving on from exploration of the silence of God to the subject of men, women, love and intimacy. Lopate found the film version "more harrowing and theatrical," while the miniseries "has the tendency to intersect with and form a more quotidian relationship to viewers’ lives; its characters become members of the family, and their resilience over time, regardless of the incessant crises thrown them by the script, induces a more good-humored, forgiving atmosphere." In 2007, Kristi McKim of '' Senses of Cinema'' wrote that the film "stunningly exemplified" the "tension" in "the emotional causes and effects of feeling incompatible desires within the modern world." The film has a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews. The film was included on BBC
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