Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

karmaswimswami "The Passion of Anna" is an early color effort by Bergman with him and his customary troupe of actors at their creative best. This film has Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow in absolute top form, early in their arcs of greatness, at once with vast creative powers but also here in full command of them. Meta-film digressions, as asides with the actors, allow Bergman to wield his tropes in new ways. Nykvist and Bergman at times feel bombast with the new power imparted by color stock, as with Ullmann's sidebar in a blazing orange hat. Nykvist's generally arch visual style is foregone here for a more common touch Ozu medium-shot approach. While most will recognize Bergman themes, motifs and styles, Bergman mostly does not plagiarize Bergman here; he does self-quote in a sequence that features a statue that appeared in "Persona." This fine film will bring aesthetic frissons to most viewers, and deserves re-watching. The warm color palette adumbrates great things to come in "Cries and Whispers."

Armand human isles. the old theme of Bergman movies. faces as shadows of silence. nothing new, at first sigh. portrait of lead characters by the actors. maybe, slices from Tchekov. but it is a difference. the final. the collision between solitudes. the need of the other to be yourself. all as circles of splendid acting. all as a form of revelation. not a story, only stories as crumbs of a dinner. fragility of solid things. and the reality as wall who protects yourself.a beautiful 0 bitter Bergman. not an impressive title but this is its fundamental virtue. because, out of extraordinary themes, it is a small gem. who gives the sketches of ordinary questions.

success-9 This is probably my favorite Bergman film in color I can think of at the moment. Fanny and Alexander is the only other color film of his I've seen and I didn't see all of that one. In black and white cinematography, the goal is to emphasize motion, as well as the expressive emotional use of light and dark. Thus for example in Hour of the Wolf a couple of years prior to this film, you have a striking long shot of Sydow and Ullmann, two diminutive figures on the horizon, silhouetted and walking dejectedly across the rocky landscape of their desolate island.The passion may be one of Bergman's first color films. I know the previous two films in his Island Trilogy (Persona and Hour of the Wolf are in B&W.) But anyway, its interesting to see what he tries to accomplish with color. The cinematography here is gorgeous and makes the somber proceedings interesting visually. This is definitely the best and furthermore the least pretentious of the Island Trilogy, save the conceit of having the actual actors break in to comment on the film at points.The film very much celebrates the simple pleasures of life, juxtaposed as they are against depression, boredom, etc. Its very appealing to me for some reason, that Sydow, on this desolate island, finds an urbane and wealthy couple who befriend him and invite him over to their comfortable home for dinner. (The gorgeous Bibi Andersson especially "befriends" him, and her husband doesn't seem too concerned.) Spoiler Alert: Although these really are not spoilers and the film never blatantly asserts the following to be true, clearly you are supposed to suspect strongly that they could be true. But for whatever reason they have seemed to elude all the other reviewers here. OK here they are: Liv Ullmann is the one killing all the animals. Clearly. Or maybe not. Also - Sydow seems to have killed his previous wife. But anyway once you see the film implying these things (primarily in the closing act in the heated argument between Sydow and Ullman and what follows) the film demands repeated viewing to sift out the clues earlier in the film. And I have watched this film repeatedly and will do so again.

fedor8 A writer lives on a remote island and occasionally shouts in the woods when he gets drunk. Oh, and he likes to talk to the camera, but as himself – Max von Sydow. He is friendly with an architect – with whose wife he, naturally, has sex. And let's not forget Ullmann, the widow. He likes her, too, and they hook up – much to his regret. She turns out to be even more mentally unstable than himself. In-between all the dull, pretentious dialog we have a couple of animals getting tortured and slaughtered.Seriously now, if you like Bergman's static, depressive, and overly self-indulgent movies, watch this one, too, and have a ball. And afterward, you can take that whole bottle of sleeping pills you hide from your spouse/parents/whomever, or you can just lock the door of your bathroom and have a nice lie down in the bath-tub while you slit your wrists. I hear hanging is pretty good, too! I have seen 7 or 8 Bergman films so far, and I have yet to come across one that can even fulfill the criteria needed for being average. They are mediocre, at best. I know, I know… Those of you who love Bergman probably think that I don't possess the necessary intellect to comprehend his films. I mean, they are all, after all, simply BRILLIANT. So DEEP. So very DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND… Believe me, there is nothing difficult in these films, and I am referring in particular to his relationship films of the "Passion of Anne" kind (or "Cries & Whispers" and "Autumn Sonata", for example). They are rather simple, in fact. Sure, they may be tough to understand by your average Steven Segall fan, but the fact that Bergman's films aren't idiotic doesn't mean they're good. They do not entertain. Heavy drama? Fine. But let's have grander themes than just relationships between a couple of depressed, troubled Swedes. All that these bergmannesque Scandinavian characters need is a nice trip to Hawaii - you know, somewhere warm and sunny – and they wouldn't be on the verge of suicide so much. I NEED SOMETHING GRANDER THAN WHO IS DEPPRESSED AND WHY AND WHAT THE REAL ROOTS ARE TO THEIR ANXIETY, SELF-LOATHING, and other wonderful traits. You want deep? Check out "Possible Worlds", "2001", "Picnic At Hanging Rock", "Solaris" (the 1973 film, not the shoddy Soderbergh version), or "Stalker". Don't bore me with "why does so and so not love his missus any more and why her childhood has scarred her and hence still influences the course of their marriage" type of trite stuff. YAWN. Bergman dramas are like daily TV soapers but with better acting and dialog.Sweden's best exports remain ABBA,their tennis players, and "Muppet Show's" Swedish Chef. I don't think that Bergman's contribution amounts to much – unless you'd take seriously what a plethora of pretentious film critics say about him.Did I mention that Swedish is a beautiful, melodious language that is like a mermaid's song to my ears?If you are unhappy with with this movie, which you must be, just google "Vjetropev Bergman Spoofs" and this will lead you to my video clips with the vastly improved version of the film. Have fun.