Overrated

one of my absolute favorites!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Ingmar Bergman is the greatest Swedish director and a great influence in cinema. Along with The Seventh Seal, Fanny and Alexander, Wild Strawberries, Cries and Whispers and Persona, The Passion of Anna is one of his best. But sadly it is not as recognised as much as these and I think it should be. Visually, as always with Bergman it is remarkable. The colours are really warm in look. The cinematography and direction are superb, as are the haunting score and thought-provoking dialogue. The story I cannot praise enough, the relationship between Andreas and Anna is one of the most intense and convincing of any film from Bergman's resume, and while detached somewhat everything feels realistic and the intensity of the story and the relationship of the characters really drew me in. The characters are not likable in a way, but what they are is compellingly real, one of Bergman's greatest strengths in terms of characterisation was always his understanding of women and in my mind The Passion of Anna is one of the finest examples of that. The two lead performances are outstanding, Max Von Sydow's facial expressions and eye contact always tell a lot and Liv Ullman's acting shows many complex emotions and seamlessly, her beautiful eyes are also very expressive and telling. Overall, a brilliant film and deserves to be more regarded than it is. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Ingmar Bergman's 1969 film A Passion (En Passion, misnomered in America as The Passion Of Anna) is a great film, and out of the series of late 1960s films (also including Persona, Hour Of The Wolf, and Shame) dealing with relationships and the self, it may be the best. It stars many of the Bergman retinue of actors: Max Von Sydow as Andreas Winkelman, Liv Ullman as Anna Fromm, Bibi Andersson as Eva Vergerus, and Erland Josephson as Elis Vergerus.It follows Andreas, an ex-convict, as he recovers from his wife's abandonment, on a small farm on a Swedish island- ostensibly Bergman's own Farö, where it was filmed. One day, Anna, a crippled widow, comes to his home and Andreas listens in on the phone call she needs to make. She then accidentally (or not?) leaves her purse at his house, and he reads a letter of her rocky marriage, as he digs through her purse to find her address, and learns of her dead husband's fears for her sanity. When he returns the purse, that night, he meets the Vergeruses, the couple whom Anna lives with. He is later invited over to dinner, and the foursome discuss life and philosophy…..Throughout the film, a number of other subtexts emerge, such as Bergman again breaking the fictive spell of the film by having his four main actors portray themselves talking about their characters. Another side story involves the abuse, torture, and killing of local animals. A local hermit, with a history of mental instability, is suspected. Andreas knows the man, Johan Andersson (Erik Hell), and it's clear he is not the culprit, because he is an old lumbering man, and early in the film the audience glimpsed a young man speedily running away from a scene where he is hanging the puppy that Andreas saves. Nonetheless, as sheep, and other animals, are killed, a band of young vigilante islanders have apparently beaten and tortured the old man to confess. This act of cruelty drives him to suicide, and he leaves a note of thanks for Andreas, for all his kindnesses, that the police bring to him….This film's ending is famous, but has been misinterpreted in many ways. First, Bergman has admitted in print that he did not zoom in to get the graininess of the final images, but merely blew up the shot. As for what it means? Many take it simply as the psychological dissolution of Andreas Winkeleman, which is the final in a series of character dissolutions in this series of late 1960s films….But that's too melodramatic a claim.….The ending leaves a visceral impact, both for its visuals and its often overlooked critical revelation….The film succeeds magnificently, in an understated way that many of Bergman's more famous films do not. It's that good.

This movie captures the essence of the brooding Northern Germanic man. A sullen almost depressing piece, the truth displayed in this film is startling. This psychological drama probes four interesting characters.Max Von Sydow tries to hide from life by isolating himself on a remote island. His longing for social contact driven by his sexual needs propel him into an affair with his architect neighbour's wife and an eventual tragic relationship with a widow played by Liv Ullmann.A montage of interviews with the four main actors about the roles that they are playing are interspersed throughout the film giving an immediacy to the sense of mood and truth in this cinematic effort.Bibi Andersson is sensual in her role as is Liv Ullmann, who is at her loveliest. This movie speaks more truth about the desperation in peoples' lives than most.A brilliant effort worth seeing over and over.

Bergman is the master when it comes to dealing with the intricacies of love and relationships, this film is extraordinary in the way it slowly gives us an insight into these four lost souls as the struggle to make sense of life and try to find their way which isn't easy, the bleak landscape, the desolation, the sparse dialogue, Liv Ullemans face in close up all come together to produce an explosive emotional roller-coaster with an inevitable outcome, the violence of the characters emotions spill over into the environment in the form of an unexplained killer of dumb animals.Where are the contemporary films to match such genius, where are the voices to guide us through the fog?