Enskilda samtal (Private Confessions) (Private Conversations) (1997)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 17
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 208
Movie Info
Originally made for television and directed by distinguished Swedish actress-turned-director Liv Ullman, this provocative drama is a sequel to director-turned-screenwriter Ingmar Bergman's autobiographical Bille August-directed drama Best Intentions (1992). Returning to their roles of Bergman's parents are actors Pernilla August and Samuel Froler; their discussions are divided into five sections that take place over several years beginning on a Sunday in July, 1925 when young Anna Bergman runs
Jan 25, 2000
Cast
-
Kristina Adolphson
Maria -
Pernilla August
Anna Bergman -
Samuel Fröler
HenrikBergman -
Max von Sydow
Jacob -
Hans Alfredson
Bishop -
Gunnel Fred
Marta -
Thomas Hanzon
Tomas Egerman
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All Critics (17) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (14) | Rotten (3)
Ullman isn't particularly interested in the angst of human interaction or the difficulty of knowing truth; she seems fascinated by the pathos of feelings that are all the more intense for being of questionable integrity.
Each sequence is introduced by an intertitle suggesting it will contain an isolated conversation, an archly inaccurate notion that deepens the drama by appearing to deny its complexity.
Ullmann handles the rich material with simplicity and feeling, using snatches of classical music only sparingly and concentrating on the faces of her exemplary cast.
The actors clearly respond, August conveying the turmoil of a woman trapped by circumstances and her own febrile emotions, Sydow a figure of towering moral authority and compassion.
Coming from the master's hand, the result is unique, akin to a deep plunge into a northern lake -- there's a chilling clarity to the experience, a harsh beauty that's softened, yet never redeemed, by unexpected pockets of relative warmth.
A film like Private Confessions makes most films about romance look like films about plumbing.
The sight of von Sydow vomiting up a communion wafer is a pretty good indication that age hasn't mellowed the master one whit.
It works, and works beautifully, principally because of an outstanding performance by Ms. August.
Von Sydow is magisterial. His gaunt face and rumbling voice have become, for me, impossible to distinguish from Bergman's own.
Bergman may have withdrawn from film direction, but his presence is deeply felt in Private Confessions.
It's the next best thing to Bergman -- a thoughtful, if slightly long drama enlivened by warm performances and some thoughtful meditations on the subject of adultery.
Audience Reviews for Enskilda samtal (Private Confessions) (Private Conversations)
Super Reviewer
But every episode is wholly rewarding, and the moments of sensual tenderness between characters are underlined by how the dialog drives things so fiercly: like the best characters written by Mr. Bergman, these people, especially Anna, Henrik and Tomas, want to find the right path but get corrupted, or just screwed up, by where their hearts lead them. It may also be one of the most mature works by this writer, as the story jumps from episode to episode in time (about five 'confessions'/conversations in all, spanning many years), as we see the bulk of the action take place when Anna had her affair, the fall-out with her husband... and then ten years later (as well as when Anna was 18) when she tells to her Uncle Jacob (Max von Sydow, who is great and who could expect otherwise, especially here as a forgiving but firm minister).
This jump isn't simply to be clever, far from it - we learn along with the characters, and time does change a lot of things. By the end, I looked back on the episodes on Private Confessions as meaning so much, for the drama they went through and that I saw, and even with an ending that appears to be 'happy', there is still a well of anguish that can always be tapped. When it comes to Bergman, by way of his great love and collaborator Liv Ullmann, romance is never, ever easy, especially when some sort of 'God' may be watching and judging.
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