The Best Intentions

A film set in Sweden at the beginning of the twentieth century. Henrik is a theology student. He comes from a poor family, his grandmother sends him money, and he is proud enough to refuse it. Anna is the daughter of a wealthy family. Her father is an engineer, the house is large, there are servants, and her life is orderly. They meet through a friend. Anna's mother objects. Karin does not like him; she sees him as brittle, angry, and likely to make her daughter unhappy. A separation is imposed. Letters are hidden and the relationship is broken off for a while. Then they marry. From there the film describes the first years of a marriage. A town in the north, a cold parsonage, a poor congregation, and a life Anna cannot get used to. A child enters as well. A boy is taken into the parsonage to be cared for, and that brings the real break between the couple. What the narrative is interested in is not love but incompatibility: two people love each other and it solves nothing; the film shows that again and again. Henrik's line is the hardest. The man means well but is severe, does not forgive, and carries his religion as rigidity. Karin is not drawn simply. She interferes, but whether she turns out to have been right is left open. The screenplay is by Ingmar Bergman and describes his own parents' meeting, marriage and first years; he is not in the director's chair. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes; Pernilla August won for best actress. Samuel Fröler, Pernilla August, Max von Sydow and Ghita Nørby are in the cast. Bille August directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes Scandinavian drama and long-form period narrative. Who it is not for: anyone without patience for length; the cinema version runs close to three hours and events move very slowly.