scènes de la vie conjugale

Ingmar Bergman's 'Scenes from a Marriage' (Scener ur ett äktenskap) was originally a six-part series made for Swedish television, with Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson playing the leads. It was shot in Stockholm and on the island of Fårö between July 24th and October 3rd, 1972. The film version was premiered on September 21st in Cinema I in New York.

The story of the gradual breakup of a marriage, told in six episodes, spans a twenty-year period. Bergman gives an account of the main phases in a couple's life, observes the oddities of a shared existence and portrays a few scenes from the marriage. Johan and Marianne, who have been married for thirteen years, live happily with their two daughters. Johan is a professor of applied psychology, while Marianne is a divorce lawyer. The outwardly solid relationship starts to crumble when Johan falls in love with a young woman, Paula.