The Passion of Anna

En passion

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Country: Sweden

1969 | 101 min. | Swedish
Subtitles: German, English
FSK 12

Cast_ Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Erland Josephson, Erik Hell Screenplay_ Ingmar Bergman Camera_ Sven Nykvist Producer_ Lars-Owe Carlberg Rights_ Studiocanal GmbH

Swedish filmmaking legend Ingmar Bergman conducts an impressive exploration of humanity’s capacity for suffering and its desire for belonging.

By the end of the 1960s, Ingmar Bergman could already look back on a series of masterpieces. As a filmmaker, his approach to love and faith is peerless. With ›The Passion of Anna‹ in 1969, Bergman stopped to look back and take stock for the first time, telling the story of Andreas (Max von Sydow), who begins an affair with his mysterious neighbor Anna (Liv Ullmann) after his marriage falls apart. She has recently lost her husband and son. Animals in the woods around them are dying under unclear circumstances and the television keeps broadcasting images of the Vietnam War. Nuances of a thriller thus creep into a melodrama that tells of fear and loneliness.

Director

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) was one of the most important and influential filmmakers of the 20th century. His many defining works include ›Summer with Monika‹ (1953), ›The Seventh Seal‹ (1957), ›Wild Strawberries‹ (1957), ›The Silence‹ (1963), ›Persona‹ (1966), and ›Fanny and Alexander‹ (1982).

Screenings