A recently divorced man meets an emotionally devastated widow and they begin a love affair.A recently divorced man meets an emotionally devastated widow and they begin a love affair.A recently divorced man meets an emotionally devastated widow and they begin a love affair.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 7 nominations
- Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Dream
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Dream
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Dream
- (uncredited)
- Verner's Wife
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Dream
- (uncredited)
- Katarina
- (uncredited)
- Johan's Sister
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Dream
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film, commonly known as "En passion" (or "The Passion" aka "The Passion of Anna"), has an actual on-screen title of "L 182".
- Quotes
Anna Fromm: Andreas, we should travel somewhere. We should get away from here. I know it would be good for us both.
Andreas Winkelman: When you speak of traveling, I really want to say yes.
Anna Fromm: What are you thinking?
Andreas Winkelman: That we can speak to Elis. He can lend us money. But at the same time a wall appears. I can't speak. I can't show that I'm happy. I can see your face, I know you're you, but I can't reach you. Do you understand what I mean?
Anna Fromm: I understand what you mean. I understand very well, Andreas.
Andreas Winkelman: I'm on the outside of this wall. I put myself on the outside. I fled and now I'm so far away.
Anna Fromm: I understand, Andreas. I understand how strange it seems.
Andreas Winkelman: Yes, it's strange. I want to be warm, tender and alive. I want to break free. You understand, don't you?
Anna Fromm: It's like a dream. You want to move, you know what to do, but you can't. Legs are impossible and arms heavy as lead. You want to speak, but you can't.
Andreas Winkelman: I'm terrified of being humiliated. It's constant misery. I've accepted the humiliation and let them become part of me. Do you understand what I mean?
Anna Fromm: I understand what you mean. I understand you.
Andreas Winkelman: It's terrible not being fortunate. Everybody thinks they have the right to decide over you. Their benevolent contempt. A momentary desire to trample something living.
Anna Fromm: I understand, Andreas. You don't need...
Andreas Winkelman: I'm dead, Anna. No, no, I'm not dead. No, that's wrong. Too melodramatic. I'm not dead at all. But I live without self-respect. I know it sounds silly - pretentious - since almost all people are forced to live without self-worth. Humiliated to the core, stifled and spat upon. They just live. They know nothing more. They know no alternative. Even if they did, they would never reach for it. You understand? Can you be sick from humiliation? Is it a disease we're all infected by and we have to live with? We talk so much about freedom, Anna. Isn't freedom a terrible poison for the humiliated... or is the word "freedom" only a drug the humiliated use in order to endure. I can't live with this. I've given up. Sometimes it's almost unbearable. The days drag by. I feel like I'm choking on the food I swallow, the crap I get rid of, the words I say. The light - the daylight which comes every morning and yells at me to get up. Or the sleep which always brings dreams, chasing me back and forth. Or just the darkness rattling with ghosts and memories. Has it occurred to you, Anna, that the worse off people are, the less they complain? Eventually they're silent... even though they're living creatures with nerves, eyes and hands. Massive armies of both victims and executioners. The light which rises and sinks heavily. The cold approaches. Darkness. The heat. The smell. And everyone is silent. We can never leave this place. I don't believe in escape. It's too late. Everything's too late.
- Alternate versionsThe UK version is cut by 25 seconds to remove the sight of a dog hanging by its neck, in accordance with the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Liv Ullmann scener fra et liv (1997)
- SoundtracksAlways Romantic
Performed by Allan Gray
He uses improvisation with his actors in some scenes, experiments with what's in the story and what's outside of the story (it's self-conscious but good self-conscious, similar in tune with Persona's self-consciousness of a film being made outside of what's in the story), and deals away with his classic themes of despair, self-drought, and inner-maelstroms. And, indeed, the theme of deconstruction of the soul is in focus. For a couple of moments some of the self-consciousness could come off as distracting, or at most dangerous boring, but there are counter-weights to balance out whatever troubles Bergman must've had that he's pouring out onto the celluloid.
While I thought the Passion of Anna wasn't one of Bergman's very best works, it has a story and characters (and with a cast that doesn't do wrong within any given scene) that remain as potent as in his masterpieces. The sub-plot involving the slaying of the animals on the island maybe could've been developed more, but that too brings a thought-provoking backbone to the central characters. At the core, Bergman's presenting the audiences with people who are in a hell-ish situation, with fires and blood being spread along the fields, and that these people feel more or less stuck here.
The relationship between Andreas (Von Sydow) and Anna (Ullman) is the strongest asset to the film, and for their performances it's nearly worth it enough to rush out to buy the DVD. But beneath that, this is a Bergman film that could grow on a particular viewer over time. Maybe upon a first viewing, at least for what I came away with, the style may be trying to one-up over the substance, and that could be what hinders this from being a magnificent work of art on the level of Persona or The Seventh Seal. However, it's also holds subtleties to the craft, to the compositions by Sven Nykvist, and in the emotions conveyed by the principles of the cast.
Pretty haunting, evocative, though not entirely perfect, this is definitely an intriguing Bergman entry. Grade: (strong) A-
- Quinoa1984
- Apr 27, 2004
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Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $1,814