Saraband (2003) - [DVD9] [2006]

You know you're back in Bergman country when a character begins speaking to the camera right from the start. In the prologue to Saraband, which was made for Swedish television, Marianne (Liv Ullmann) recounts the changes that have taken place since Scenes From a Marriage, the miniseries-turned-feature that introduced the central couple. Johan (Erland Josephson) has retired from academia, while she continues to practice family law. Since splitting up for good, they haven't seen each other in over 30 years. Marianne decides it's time to reconnect and makes plans to visit Johan at his remote cottage. While they catch up, she gets to know his estranged son, Henrik (Börje Ahlstedt), and beloved granddaughter, Karin (Julia Dufvenius), who are staying in the guest house. Both are still reeling from the death of Henrik's wife, Anna, two years ago. Although she never appears–she's represented by a portrait of Bergman's late wife, Ingrid, to whom the film is dedicated–Anna's ghost haunts them all (even Marianne, who never knew her). Divided into 10 parts plus the prologue and epilogue, Saraband looks more like a play than a film, which is not necessarily a drawback (it's in keeping with the "scenes" of the original series). The focus is on the characters and their words. They could be anywhere at any time; their problems are personal yet universal. For two hours, the outside world does not exist. In the complete universe Bergman has created for them, it doesn't need to. As much a love letter to his wife as to his muse, Ullmann–who has rarely been better–Bergman has stated that Saraband will be his final work. –Kathleen C. Fennessy



MOVIE:
DIRECTOR: Ingmar Bergman
COUNTRY: Sweden
YEAR: 2003

Cast
Erland Josephson
Liv Ullmann
Börje Ahlstedt
Julia Dufvenius
Gunnel Fred


Credits
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Screenplay: Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography: Stefan Eriksson, Jesper Holmström, Per-Olof Lantto, Sofi Stridh, Raymond Wemmenlöv
Costume design: Inger Pehrsson
Production Design: Göran Wassberg
Editing: Sylvia Ingemarsson


DVD:
DVD RELEASE: January 10, 2006
STUDIO: Sony Pictures
SYSTEM: NTSC
SCREEN: 1.78:1
COLOR
AUDIO: Swedish Dolby Digital Stereo
SUBTITLES: English, French, Portuguese
RUNTIME (MOVIE): 112 min

EXTRACTION:
ENGINE: DVD Fab + Ultra ISO
DVD: 1 Full Dual-Layer DVD
FILE EXTENSION: Image (.ISO)
FILE SIZE: 5.97 GBs

Disc Features

The Making of Saraband
Previews








INFO LINKS:

IMDB

AMAZON.COM