50 Years Later, This 95%-Rated Classic Is Still the Most Relevant Movie About Marriage
A cult work that shows the relationship as realistically as possible.
Since his childhood, the director Ingmar Bergman was interested in the problems of family relationships – his parents fought often and quite cruelly.
Little Ingmar carefully studied the manipulations that adults often resort to when arguing, and carefully recreated much of what he saw in his movie.
Scenes from a Marriage is one of Ingmar Bergman's most important works, and even more than half a century later, it echoes many modern films about family troubles.
What Is Scenes From a Marriage About?
The perfect marriage of Marianne and Johan turns into a nightmare for both. Secrets and lies, infidelity and betrayal – the two have to go through a lot to finally get to the dreaded word "divorce."
The separation is painful for both of them, but Marianne and Johan suddenly realize that the end of their marriage does not mean the end of their love, that they can now give free rein to their true feelings, and that sometimes, in order to stay with someone, you first have to leave.
When It Was Released, Scenes From a Marriage Was a Sensation
When the film was released in 1973, it had the effect of an exploding bomb – Bergman's work showed many people that the repressed aggression that constantly accumulates in an unhappy marriage can be thrown out and thus liberated.
In Scenes from a Marriage, the director talked about the nuances of married life, raising the issues of physical violence and women's emancipation at a time when no one wanted to talk about it.
Scenes From a Marriage Is Still One of the Most Realistic Movies about Relationships
Among other European dramas of the 1970s, Bergman's film stood out for its subtle psychology. The director managed to capture the complex and fragile structure of marital relationships on screen.
He made every quarrel between his characters extremely lifelike, ensuring that none of them came across as a clear-cut villain. In Scenes from a Marriage, the both characters simultaneously love and hate, experience anger, resentment, regret, and tenderness.
Scenes From a Marriage Shows Divorce from an Unusual Angle
Johan and Marianne can leave each other an infinite number of times, have an affair on the side and promise never to see each other again, but their spiritual connection is too deep to simply break.
Therefore, for the director, divorce is not a tragedy, but a new stage in the relationship, the best way to fall in love with one's partner again.
4 Years Ago, Scenes From a Marriage Remake Was Released
In 2021, HBO released a remake starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, which shifted the dramatic focus, but was also well-received by critics and viewers.
In the remake, the director deliberately changed the gender balance in the story to show that doubts about marriage can affect a modern strong woman, not just a man.