Directed by Liv Ullmann
Writing credits Ingmar Bergman

Lena Endre .... Marianne
Erland Josephson .... Bergman
Krister Henriksson .... David
Thomas Hanzon .... Markus
Michelle Gylemo .... Isabelle
Juni Dahr .... Margareta
Philip Zand?n .... Martin Goldman
Th?r?se Brunnander .... Petra Holst
Marie Richardson .... Anna Berg
Stina Ekblad .... Eva
Johan Rabaeus .... Johan
Jan-Olof Strandberg .... Axel
Bj?rn Granath .... Gustav
Gertrud Stenung .... Martha

Rated R for sexual content, some nudity and language.

Quicktime Trailer hi-res 18 MB (480x360)
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SYNOPSIS:
In FAITHLESS, written by Ingmar Bergman and directed by Liv Ullman, a happy family is torn apart by an illicit affair. Markus is an orchestra conductor whose concerts require him to travel a lot. Marianne, whose career as an actress keeps her grounded in Sweden, is thus left alone for days at a time, and so she begins a love affair with a colleague. When Markus learns about Marianne's affair, he is furious, and their resulting breakup causes the emotionally wrenching destruction of all that they built together.

"Faithless" was my favorite film at this year?s Cannes Film Festival ? it was the best acted, best written, and best directed film there. It?s a movie that I have seen three times and been moved by each time.
— Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

A Treasure! Stately, relentless, beautiful, it is a big grown?up movie made for adults.
— Steve Wasserman, Los Angeles Times, Book Editor

My name is Marianne.

...is stronger than family?

When one moment ...

...for something that may never be.

Consequences. Painful consequences. Terrible consequences. Faithless is a painful and intense look at the consequences following an adulterous affair. But Faithless is more than just a cautionary tale warning us away from adultery.

The story is told through imagination and flashback. Marianne, or perhaps a memory of Marianne does most of the telling. It is told to Bergman. (Is this Ingmar Bergman, the writer? or is this an intimate party of the affair now an old man? or is this a psychoanalyst? or is this perhaps God purging the sinful?)

In today's world, affairs and adultery are far too common -- and fill the news when they involve celebrities or politicians. We may want to read all the details of why two stars? marriage is breaking up or what happened in the oval office, but in all our fascination for the dirt, we may need to remember the human costs.

This is also a movie about sin and death (not new ground for films written by Bergman). As the story is being told, there are times when it seems that Bergman (the character) is God watching in horror and sorrow the sins that play out before him (and us.) There is no judgment pronounced on the sins, but we can easily see the hell that people live through and put others through as the result of their sins. Even many years after the affair, the hell continues to torment.

The pacing of the movie is very slow, often told a phrase at a time. (At least it makes reading the subtitles easy.) At over two hours, it does get to be a little long. But the character development is wonderful and deep. We have no doubt that Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman have shown us real people -- people like us -- people who fail -- and people who hurt.

TEMPTATION

?Tis one thing to be tempted, Another thing to fall.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564?1616)

Eve, with all the fruits of Eden blest, Save only one, rather than leave that one unknown, Lost all the rest.
THOMAS MOORE (1779?1852)

Her rash hand in evil hour
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat:
Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat,
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe
That all was lost.
JOHN MILTON (1608?1674)

Temptation is God?s magnifying glass; it shows us how much work he has left to do in our lives.
ERWIN W. LUTZER (1941? )

The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust.
THE HOLY BIBLE -James 1:14 Message Translation

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.
THE HOLY BIBLE -1 Cor. 10:13 Message Translation

ISABELLE
Subject: Isabelle Faithless
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001
From: S

Does anyone know that happened to Isabelle?
Thanks, S.

WHY DID BERGMAN REBEL?
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001
From: Victor Bloom MD

It is interesting that Bergman himself was that sinner, and that his father was a bishop, a very religious man. Why did Bergman rebel against the teachings of his childhood? Was it because his father was too strict and punitive?
Victor Bloom MD