A Passion (En passion, 1969)
Ingmar Bergman
Sweden
101 mins, color, Swedish (English subtitles)
Completely mistitled in the US as "The Passion of Anna," A PASSION is a typical Bergman film. Set at a dreary island populated with (mostly unseen) villagers, one of whom is Andreas (Max von Sydow), who lives a solitary life in an attempt to recover from his broken marriage. One day, Anna (Liv Ullmann) walks in and asks to use the phone. Andreas indiscreetly overhears her conversation, and when she leaves in a hurry, forgetting her bag, he reads a letter, in which Anna's husband breaks up with her. Upon returning the bag, Andreas befriends the couple with whom Anna is staying. Eva (Bibi Andresson) and Elis (Erland Josephson) are amid a psychological nightmare of their own. After a brief affair with Eva, Andreas shacks up with Anna, in a passionless and loveless coexistence, while the village community is rocked by the bloody sadism of an unknown person, who mutilates and kills animals.
Everyone in this film lives a lie. Elis, who's chosen not to care about anyone but himself, and who passes his days in useless collecting of photographs with people. Eva, whose torture is her realization that she has allowed herself to become a nobody, completely dependent on the attention of others. She seeks a reassurance in various lovers, but that only aggravates her unhappiness. Anna, who pretends to live in the truth, but who has not only distorted her married past, but who also may have killed her husband and child in a deliberate car accident. And finally, there's Andreas, who has no passion, except pity for a little puppy, and some pity for Eva. Even his friendship is strained and somewhat barren. Even after giving up on the attempt to make the relationship with Anna work, he cannot decide which way to go.
This final scene, by the way, happens to be a stroke of cinematic genius. As Andreas indecisively paces back and forth in the mud, the camera zooms in while pulling back,* increasing the grain, emphasizing the dreariness of the landscape, until it eventually literally swallows up Andreas, and his body disappears in the muddy mass. White out. Also, do not miss Bibi Andresson's marvellous performance. I did not particularly care about the somewhat demented Anna, but the weakness of Eva was absolutely moving, even if it was mostly inflicted by her own sense of inadequacy. It is true, most people have no self-respect. None in the film do either.
* I am told (7/20/05) that this is not what Bergman did but that he blew up the image causing the grain.
April 14, 2001. BLS