By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Liv Ullman
Starring: Erland Josephson | Krister Henriksson | Lena Endre | Thomas Hanzon
Original language title: Trolösa
Country: germany, italy, sweden
Year: 2001
Running time: 142
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0157122
Diane says: “FAITHLESS was written by Ingmar Bergman and directed by Liv Ullman. An aging director (we’ll call him ‘Bergman’) is writing the story of a disastrous affair. The woman involved, ‘Marianne,’ appears to him as a muse. It becomes clear that the director himself had a part in this tale or a similar one. Nice blurring of life and art; questions of ‘can you go back?’ and why do we make certain decisions?; better sex scenes than you usually see. The audience was deadly quiet throughout the 2 1/2 hours. I’ve read a very positive review and a scathing one; I really liked the movie.”
Emily says: “First of all– as is typical of Bergman and his questions about story-telling, the representation of life/truth in film, the impossibility of getting at the real self– the set-up of the story makes it impossible to draw any conclusions about what is real about the story and what is indeed ‘a story’. The ‘heir director’ (Bergman himself) is actually David, Marianne’s lover in the ‘story’ at a later date, reflecting back on this story at the end of his life (evidence: 1) the music box, 2) the self-forgiveness scene where his younger self sits across from him and confesses his cruelties and the older David touches his face, 3) he is a filmmaker, 4) Marianne often states in what could be interpreted as a play on words that she is ‘tired of telling YOUR story’ – as Bergman/David prods her to talk about her affair) . Marianne is a figment of his imagination, but could very well be Marianne’s daughter Isabelle (i.e., the story she is telling could well be from the perspective of Isabelle, as ‘Marianne’ says at the beginning when her imaginary character asks Bergman to describe her ‘are you describing Marianne?’ and he says ‘perhaps, but for now that is a fine name for the character and lets stick with it for the story’). Also, throughout the scenes with Bergman we see he is either writing or reading from something like a series of notebooks, and the character of Marianne suggests at the beginning of the film as they enter their ‘game’ of story telling and she begins her confessions, that maybe she should keep a diary of her infidelity and torment so that her daughter might find it later after she is dead and better understand her motivations and suffering (which, we find out at the end of the ‘story’ she is indeed – she ‘drowns’). That said, both Peter and I thought that considering David(Bergman) is retelling this story at the end of his life (he is a film maker and is presumably working on a ‘script’), his tale of Marianne is extremely poignant and sensitive (Marianne’s character is riveting and one forgets and must be in awe of the fact that this is an actress playing a part!). Though Peter and I disagreed about the extent to which David was an interesting or sympathetic character (I tended to think not, Peter liked him more), it was still a stretch to think, given his role in Marianne’s life, that he could/would be able to portray her so sensitively, making her the real moral paragon in the movie despite the focus on her infidelities( this also despite David’s later appearance to the older version of himself wherein he confesses that he was cruel and immature in comparison to Marianne and failed her at her moment of greatest need because of his selfish blindness) Both men by comparison in the ‘retelling’, seek to buttress their fragile egos through humiliating Marianne. She is the most honest of the characters, stumbling, however blindly, through the events of her life, but always trusting that those around her will have equally honest reactions to and sympathy for human frailty. So if this isn’t Marianne ‘really’ telling her story, but indeed David, using the imagination of the story teller to write his script, we have a strong tale damning male egotism – is this what comes of reflections later in life when close to death?
“So, we have the older version of David (Bergman), playing at story-telling with an imagined-present Marianne (or Isabelle?) – we are left wondering how could we ever get at the ‘real’ story of what went on? What is fantasy? (on the part of the older David remembering, if Marianne is really Isabelle reflecting back on her mother’s journals and what she remembers, or Marianne herself, an imagined but powerful presence who may indeed have penetrated the self-obsessed David?) What is filmic drama? (i.e. is the older David taking license to create a good ‘script’ – which would address the question of the extreme melodrama at the end– are parts of this story the filmic flourish of a ‘film-maker/story-teller’ in the business of dramatizing a script?) WHO is really telling the story? Can we ever know, or is the point that it is indeed impossible to know – that as Marianne suggests at the start, our attempt to turn the incidents of our lives into meaningful and interpretable drama is a hopeless cover up for the chaos of what motivates our actions and choices. This would be typical of Bergman ala Persona and his question about the nature of self, truth, representation…..”
Laura says: “This bleak and talky Swedish drama is like watching a train wreck. Lena Endre’s expressive face (beautifully lit by cinematographer Jorgen Persson, SMILA’S SENSE OF SNOW) keeps our attention whether she’s telling her story or amidst the action of flashback. Ullmann’s deliberate pacing allows a sickening, gut-wrenching sense of dread to build. Her staging of Bergman and Marianne suggest a mentor/student relationship which flows in both directions. Again she uses duality as she shows Marianne and her reflection in a mirror, suddenly separated by the ghostly appearance of Isabelle. Ullmann’s direction is strong although Bergman’s presence is always evident. Lena Endre’s performance is devastating.” 4.5 cats
For Laura’s complete review: “http://www.reelingreviews.com/faithless.htm”
Michael says: “FAITHLESS was written by Ingmar Bergman and directed by Liv Ullman, and tells the tale of infidelity, betrayal and heartbreak. This disturbing film left me somber and thoughtful, despite the overheated, uncomfortable Brattle Theater. After doing some thinking and discussion with Scot and Tim, I’ve decided that I really liked this film quite a bit. While leaning a bit heavily on the melodramatic side, FAITHLESS constructs a story of strong and messy emotions filled with passion, poor choices, and lies.
“The film’s structure is quite intriguing, featuring a director character named Bergman, who creates his principal character, Marianne, and asks her to tell her story. Marianne is married to Markus. David is their best friend. Isabelle, their daughter. Marianne is torn as she begins a torrid, sometimes squalid affair with David. Besides the melodrama, one of my initial problems when the film closed, was the transformation of Marianne from a strong, fully-realized woman, who may have made some bad decisions, but was in control of her own life and destiny, to basically a puppet torn between the decisions of the three men (Davis, Markus and Bergman) in her ‘life.’ I decided that since Marianne is essentially just a creation of the director, ‘Bergman’ that the story is not really a woman’s story (hers), but a man’s (Bergman’s… the creator of these characters) hence, as the story gets more and more disturbing, Marianne relinquishes more control and Bergman takes over. Heady stuff, but great for discussion”
Nathaniel says: “All the performances were quite strong. It goes without saying that Lena Endre was great but Thomas Hanzon, the actor who played her husband, was really something as well.” For his complete review see: “http://members.tripod.com/filmbitch/Reviews/junkies-faithless”
Robin says: “Liv Ullmann lends an assured hand to her direction, showing the inspiration acquired from her mentor, Bergman. She is influenced, strongly, by the elder director, but has developed her own intimate filmmaking stance. FAITHLESS actually feels more French than Swedish, the interlude in Paris notwithstanding. The close, almost stagy production plays it close to the chest as the intimacy approaches claustrophobic as Marianne’s once happy life goes down the tubes.” 3.5 cats
For Robin’s complete review: “http://www.reelingreviews.com/faithless.htm”