Lena Endre in "Faithless."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Lena Endre Director: Liv Ullmann Rated: R, with profanity, sex, nudity Length: 142 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(April 20 , 2001) -- Thanks to one of Ingmar Bergman's most talented stars, we're blessed with another movie from the Swedish master.

Actress-turned-director Liv Ullmann has brought Faithless to the screen, from a searing, self-analytical Bergman script.

The Oscar-winning Fanny and Alexander (1984) was Bergman's last feature as a director. Now 82, he has entrusted his more recent -- and personal -- screenplays to family and close associates to direct.

Faithless is the latest of these -- and has been brought to the screen with precision and artistry. It's the fourth film that Ullmann, 60, has directed.

In Faithless, we observe infidelity's painful impact on three adults and a child. The story is based on a part of Bergman's history of troubled relationships with many women.

Since Ullmann was one of those women, Faithless resonates with what must have been dangerous truths for the director and her writer.

To watch Faithless is to hear a confession.

The principal story -- shown in extended flashbacks -- is about a successful actress named Marianne Vogler (Lena Endre), who is happily married to Markus (Thomas Hanzon), an orchestra conductor. Isabelle is their young daughter.

Their best friend is David (Krister Henriksson), a rumpled filmmaker, undisciplined in his personal life. Marianne and David fall into an affair.

Ultimately it destroys her marriage and hurts everyone.

Looking back sadly on these events is an elderly filmmaker named "Bergman," played by Erland Josephson, a veteran of several Bergman films.

Helping the film's Bergman write his painful screenplay is a muse -- the spirit of Marianne, looking as she did at the time of the affair some 40 years earlier. Through her, Bergman gets a different perspective.

Indeed, Marianne is the film's central character. Through his script, the formerly self-centered Bergman seems to be saying his mea culpas.

Endre's performance encompasses every conceivable emotion. Josephson's portrayal, on the other hand, is restricted to subtle reactions and long stretches of silent observation. But he speaks volumes with a look.

As director, Ullmann displays a mastery of Bergman's techniques -- the muted lighting, the extreme close-ups of reactions by remarkably subtle actors, and the tension of silence, broken by emotional outbursts.

Like her mentor, Ullmann embraces intrigue, generated by the unexplained presence of apparitions and by the risk of unanswered questions.

This is an intimate 142-minute chamber film that generates drama with a raised eyebrow or a lowered glance. It may prove a challenge for moviegoers who are unfamiliar with Bergman's masterpieces or those who have been made impatient by the high-energy pop-culture explosions at today's multiplexes.

I hope there will always be room for mature films that examine human behavior with intelligence, artistry and honesty.

Few filmmakers have done that as masterfully as Ingmar Bergman. Thanks to faithful Liv Ullmann, he's doing it again.