Scener Ur Ett Aktenskap (aka Scenes From A Marriage) (1974)

During the tenth year of their marriage, a divorce attorney (Liv Ullmann) and a psychology reader (Erland Josephson) find their marriage at the crossroads. The marriage begins to disintegrate with the husband eventually leaving his wife for another woman. Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman (CRIES AND WHISPERS). Originally conceived as a five hour mini series for Swedish television in 1973, Bergman edited it down to three hours for a theatrical cut when released in the United States. I've seen the five hour cut and heresy I know but I think the three hour cut works just as well and frankly the thought of spending two more hours (the TV version can be seen in episodes) with the battling couple wasn't inviting. I found both protagonists unpleasant. Josephson's husband is an unfeeling brute (his beating of his wife was difficult to watch) and Ullmann's wife was a needy clinging vine suffocating her husband. By the film's end, she's liberated and he's weak and now married to others, they become adulterers resuming their "marriage". What holds the movie together for me is the acting which is superb. With Bibi Andersson (just one one scene but she kicks it out of the ballpark), Jan Malmsjo and Gunnel Lindblom.