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Saraband
Directed by	Ingmar Bergman
Written by	Ingmar Bergman
Starring	Liv Ullmann Erland Josephson Börje Ahlstedt Julia Dufvenius Gunnel Fred
Release date(s)	December 1, 2003 (Sweden)
Running time	120 min
Language	Swedish
IMDb profile

For the Baroque dance and its corresponding musical form, see Sarabande.

Saraband (2003) is a Swedish telemovie by film director Ingmar Bergman. In July 2005 Saraband was released theatrically in the United States with subtitles in English.

Contents 1 Storyline 1.1 First Scene 2 Earns Support from Fans 3 Cast 4 External links

In Saraband, Marianne travels into the country, back to the home of her ex-husband, Johan, who is undergoing a family crisis with his financially irresponsible son and emotionally draining granddaughter. Though his granddaughter is in her early twenties, she provides the son with an excuse for asking his father for money so that she, under his sponsorship and watchful eye, can buy an old Stradivarius cello from Germany and study at a European music conservatoire.

The movie opens with the camera on Marianne (played by actress Liv Ullmann) standing by a table covered with photographs. It is a well lit room, and she addresses the viewer as though invited to come in. She picks one picture up after another; they are organised in no particular order, being just heaped all over the table. Some make her smile, or merely elicit a a comment or a sigh. But then she picks up a photograph of her husband, prompting her to reminisce about how they had been happy more or less, and how they'd broken up. She goes on to recall how his second marriage with another woman failed, while she was already married with a second husband herself, and then when her second husband died (by flying a plane off somewhere and disappearing), she reflects that it would be nice to see her first husband again.

Some of Bergman's fans have hailed the film as one of his best, not from a multiplicity of camera angles, bizarre props and wardrobes, because it has none of that, but perhaps from the storyline being so mundane and commonplace that the instances of dry humor almost pass the viewer by, unnoticed.

In January 2006, the American newspaper USA Today suggested that Börje Ahlstedt should be nominated for an Oscar as Best supporting actor for his role in Saraband, with the comment "He shows you what it's like to be an aging version of a man who was already broken in his 20s."[1]

• Liv Ullmann (Marianne)
• Erland Josephson (Johan)
• Börje Ahlstedt (Henrik)
• Julia Dufvenius (Karin)
• Gunnel Fred (Martha)

• Saraband at the Internet Movie Database
• LauraHird.com review of film

Films by Ingmar Bergman

1940s: Crisis • A Ship to India • 1950s: Summer with Monika • A Lesson in Love • Smiles of a Summer Night • The Seventh Seal • Wild Strawberries • The Magician • 1960s: The Virgin Spring • Through a Glass Darkly • Winter Light • The Silence • All These Women • Persona • Hour of the Wolf • Shame • The Rite • The Passion of Anna • 1970s: The Touch • Cries and Whispers • Scenes from a Marriage • The Magic Flute • Face to Face • The Serpent's Egg • Autumn Sonata • 1980s: From the Life of the Marionettes • Fanny and Alexander • Karin's Face • After the Rehearsal • 1990s: In the Presence of a Clown • 2000s: Saraband