In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
Acting
Ullmann's face contains entire wars.
Cinematography
Color finally, cruelly, in Bergman's hands.
Direction
The chopper scene: unbearable tension, zero relief.
Director
Ingmar Bergman
Liv Ullmann
Eva Rosenberg
Max von Sydow
Jan Rosenberg
Sigge Fürst
Filip
Gunnar Björnstrand
Mr. Jacobi
Birgitta Valberg
Mrs. Jacobi
Hans Alfredson
Lobelius
Ingvar Kjellson
Oswald
Frank Sundström
Interrogator
Vilgot Sjöman
TV Interviewer
Bengt Eklund
Guard on Jacobi's Expedition
Gösta Prüzelius
Pastor in the Interrogation Room
Willy Peters
Senior Officer
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs
Woman in the Refugee Boat
Agda Helin
Shopkeeper's Wife
Ellika Mann
Female Prison Guard in the Interrogation Room
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bergman filmed during the Vietnam War, explicitly connecting European guilt to contemporary atrocity.
The island location (Fårö) became Bergman's home; he was literally filming his own escape fantasy.
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