The Passion of Anna (1969)

One of Ingmar Bergman's underrated chamber dramas, The Passion of Anna is basically a four-hander featuring a quartet of Bergman stalwarts, most importantly Liv Ullmann. Bergman's script pits her Anna and Max von Sydow's Andreas against each other, as two characters trying to outlive the damage they've done to themselves in the past. Anna is crippled from an accident which killed her husband and son, and Andreas is an ex-con; both retreat from the world by seeking refuge on an island. Guilt and regret gnaw at them, and they begin to see in the bourgeois lives of their mutual friends, Ellis and Evan (Bibi Andersson and Erland Josephson), something they might enjoy together. But Anna and Andreas' coming together proves only momentarily comforting and ultimately destructive, as Andreas knows more about Anna's past than she realizes. When the two quarrel and he uses that knowledge against her, the effect is devastating on them. Bergman's inclusion of a subplot, in which a loner on the island is falsely accused of vandalism and commits suicide under pressure from the community, reinforces the theme of isolation. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide