Ingmar Bergman revisits two of his favorite themes with THE RITE: the artist's place in society and the often troubled relationships between men and women. The film takes place in present-day Sweden. The renowned theater troupe Les Riens (French for "the Nothings"), which consists of the... [More]

Ingmar Bergman revisits two of his favorite themes with THE RITE: the artist's place in society and the often troubled relationships between men and women. The film takes place in present-day Sweden. The renowned theater troupe Les Riens (French for "the Nothings"), which consists of the husband-and-wife team Hans and Thea Winkelmann (Gunnar Björnstrand and Ingrid Thulin) and Thea‘s lover, Sebastian (Anders Ek)--all three close friends--is prohibited from performing a short piece called "The Rite" and is brought before a local magistrate (Erik Hell) on charges of obscenity. The three performers are interrogated, provoked, humiliated, and tricked into disclosing their innermost secrets. Finally, the tables are turned when the group convinces the judge to let them give a private performance of the questionable piece, a mimed masque with bacchanalian overtones. Filmed with a cast of only four principal actors, this slightly surreal, somber, and sexually explicit film was originally conceived for Swedish TV (the first of several features Bergman wrote and directed with television in mind) but was subsequently released in theaters. [Less]