En passion (1969)

 

 

A recently divorced man meets an emotionally devastated widow and they begin a love affair.

 

A typically bleak Bergman drama explores once again the impossibility of true relationships and offers superb performances and excellent cinematography, but this time around the story seems construed and is quite heavy-going in execution.

Maltin***1/2: "Stark drama, beautifully acted...Superior cinematography by Sven Nykvist." 

 

 

Skammen (1968)

In the midst of a civil war, former violinists, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island, and in spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

Highly intense study of what war does to human beings; the setting is incredibly bleak and apocalyptic, and the director doesn't spare the audience from some harrowing moments; the performances are excellent, of course.

Maltin****: "Powerful, brilliantly acted drama...One of Bergman's best."