TITLE: "SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE": THEN AND NOW

 

     It's a good feeling for film lovers to experience Ingmar Bergman once again with a recent 2021  HBO TV series -  thus reminding viewers of his own 1973 "Scenes From a Marriage." Oddly enough, that initial work was also a TV series; other superficial similarities are also present in the two series. First, the basic plot line is the same, featuring a couple's separation, affairs, bonding, rebonding and divorce.  The main actors in both programs literally look alike as well: it is apparent that Liv Ullmann's ( Marianne ) demeanor and body type resemble  Jessica Chastain's ( Mira ) physical traits, including her skin and hair coloring/ style. Ditto for Erland Josephson's ( Johan ) similarity to Oscar Isaac ( Jonathan ), including his beard and glasses.

     That's where some narrative qualities have to end, since this critic did not see Bergman's original version. However,  selected clips reveal the Swedish director's signature composition, an intimate, studied arrangement of forms and shapes, especially defining the characters.  Visual imagery in Hagai Levi's current series conveys a parallel and sensual sense of design. To be sure, there are no cinema verite techniques per se in either of these endeavors,  although the dialogue and acting are highly realistic.

     That the composition in Levi's  series  becomes more erotic as the story progresses seems obvious, but one particular scene demonstrates a thematic marker aimed at challenging the  validity of love.  In fact, we begin to question the entire concept of love that the couple does or doesn't feel. Mira and Jonathan make love for the first time since their estrangement and everything about it  seemingly spells authenticity. Yet something is wrong. This critic sensed an awkward insincerity about it, a subtle lack of passion. ( Such an observation is admitted by Jonathan later in another episode.)

     Another narrative aspect ( or perhaps "framing" device ) that questions love's impossibility is the beginning of the first episode where the primary characters are getting ready to begin acting; this may represent another kind of fakeness.  It seems like a "film-within- a-film" where the protagonists are initially playing themselves in this brief scene. ( The series' last episode shows Chastain and Isaac shooting the last scene in bed and then getting out of bed, leaving the set and hugging each other when they say goodbye as themselves.

     Then, of course, we have the plot's "open-ending," an additional narrative device where the couple realize they will always love each other even though they are divorced. It begs the obvious question: will they ever remarry? An open-ending has become more familiar over the years, allowing the possibilities for sequels and also making post-movie discussions attractive. With or without the current opening - ending regarding "Scenes From a Marriage, " opinions about the male and female protagonists are bound to persist concerning  genre theories, sexism, and the transitory meaning of love. Plus a whole lot more points revealed by both series.

     As an example, which person do we automatically side with in the course of the film, Mira or Jonathan? At first, it might be the trapped wife whom we feel sorry for in her role as mother and bread winner. Then it dawns on us that it is really the husband who is the unselfish part of the pair, the person who grows the most, declaring he no longer has feelings for his partner.

     No matter what the issues may be or may become, it is apparent that the current series is a vehicle for lots of provocative discussion and debate. For some audience members, therefore, perhaps that is the real intention of Levi's series. However, this critic will still stick with the primary importance of Ingmar Bergman's films. Issues or no issues.