Scenes from a Marriage

Few filmmakers can give us compelling, personal stories that also shed light on universal truths. Ingmar Bergman is such an auteur. His 250-minute, six-episode miniseries, "Scenes from a Marriage," is a showcase for his wonderful gifts.

"Scenes" tells the story of Johan and Marianne, a couple married for ten years with two children. On the surface, they seem very happy and content, but they are clearly suppressing their deepest feelings. Johan is all masculine bluster, always willing to discuss his many talents, while Marianne seems stifled by the obligations of marriage and parenthood. (Bergman highlights the unfair burden of the working mother, which was much less discussed in 1972 than it is now.)

Then suddenly, the dam breaks. Johan announces he is leaving for Paris with a graduate student. The marriage quickly disintegrates. At first, Marianne begs Johan to stay, but she slowly evolves into a new woman. No longer concerned with pleasing Johan, she is free to fashion her life as she sees fit. It's small wonder that the film inspired many Swedish women to file for divorce.

Johan, in contrast, still suffers from a sense of isolation and longing. These differing outlooks are common in the wake of divorce, although usually it's the spouse who initiated the process who feels liberated.

But Bergman is not content with such a pat ending. In the final episode, occurring about ten years after their split, both Johan and Marianne have new spouses--whom they are cheating on with one another. Without the burdens and expectations of marriage, the lovers have rediscovered the spark that brought them together. Most interestingly, Marianne expresses guilt over the break up of the family, and hints that she sometimes feels just as lonely as Johan. Ever the visionary, Bergman suggests that women may not be able to break free of their familial instincts--and that none of us can escape the void inside us.