Have you ever met someone who for no reason started telling you about their family troubles, and as sympatheic as you were, you just didn't care? That's essentially what this movie is like. To say that this is lesser Igmar Bergman is an understatement.
The film is a essentailly a four-character piece. Eva (Liv Ullmann) and her minister husband, Viktor (Halvar Bjork) are caring for Eva's sister Helena (Lena Nyman) who is dying of a degenerative brain disease, when they are visited by Eva's and Helena's mother Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman), a famous pianist who they havn't seen for seven years. Although Eva and Charlotte try to be polite, the old conflicts they had come out very quickly, and they spend most of the day and night arguing.
I think Kristen accuratley pointed out the biggest problem with the movie- mean as it may sound, there is no reason to care about these people. The characters are boring. Also, I think that Bergman has gone to the same dyfunctional relationships well one to many times. This is essentially a short version of Scenes From a Marrige with mother and daughter instead of a husband and wife, with a touch of Cries and Whispers (the dying sister) thrown in. Another problem is the photography by Sven Nykvist, it's gorgeous and it shouldn't be. This movie should have looked for more gritty- the warm tones that Nykvist uses are too upbeat for such a downer of a story.
There are some good aspects, such as the acting. Ingrid Bergman, in her last theatrical feature, goes out on a high note, and Liv Ullman is excellent as usual. Is there any actress who seems to be as emotionally naked on screen as Ullman?
I was on the boarder line about this movie, it's much better than the other Bergman movie I gave two and half stars, to, The Serpent's Egg. But I can't really reccomend the movie as an experince a veiwer will get much out of. Scenes from a Marridge seemed to say a lot about humans and how they relate to each other. Using that standard, this film fails to say anything I don't already know about parents and children, or say it in a new way. Instead I would like to direct you another Igmar Bergman film made in 1978 about mothers and daughters-Interiors-only it's in English and directed by Woody Allen
Autumn Sonata (1978)