A wife, a husband, and violently receding vows: these are the components of Ingmar Bergman’s sublime 1973 series Scenes From a Marriage, starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. In the series—recently remade for HBO by Hagai Levi—Bergman tracks well-off couple Marianne (Ullmann) and Johan (Josephson), stripping away their picture-perfect facade to reveal the ruins within as they fall out of love and into something more complicated.
It’s a gorgeous, painful, elegantly wrought series that, at the time of its release, became a phenomenon watched by millions of viewers. Scenes was massively influential, openly imitated by filmmakers like Woody Allen (Husbands and Wives), Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), and Andrey Zvyagintsev (Loveless), each to varying and individual effect. And while Bergman’s work—particularly films like The Seventh Seal and Persona—always looms in the fore of the cinematic consciousness, Scenes in particular has entered a renaissance phase in the last year, inspiring a boom of shows and films striving for the pandemic-friendly filming conditions that chamber dramas provide, as well as the rich, resonant simplicity and pathos of the original series.
The year began with one such project: Sam Levinson’s black and white drama Malcolm & Marie. Starring Zendaya and John David Washington, the Netflix film follows an unhappy couple as they come home after an awards show. The night devolves into a set of screaming matches as each takes turns verbally lacerating the other. Levinson has said Scenes was among his reference points when crafting the story, among other films that also belong to the subgenre of Great Actors Arguing in Beautiful Rooms; the high altitude feuds of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? were, naturally, also a key influence. But Malcolm & Marie, which was shot in just days in the early days of the pandemic, earned shaky reviews, failing to rise to the heights of Levinson’s touchstones. It’s less a problem of craft (the movie’s shot beautifully, in an exquisite location), and more of storytelling, with Levinson transmuting his preoccupation with film criticism, artistry, and ownership onto Washington’s character. (Zendaya has said she and Washington, both producers, gave feedback on the story, pushing back against criticism of Levinson.)
Then came another Netflix offering, this one more transparently pulling from Bergman’s oeuvre: the third season of Master of None. Created and entirely directed by Aziz Ansari, the third season took a narrative left turn, leaving the New York City dating woes of Dev (Ansari) behind and instead traveling upstate, to the beautiful home where Denise (Lena Waithe) lives in marital bliss with her wife, Alicia (Naomi Ackie). Narratively and aesthetically, the show blossoms into a modern retelling of Scenes, homing in on Denise and Alicia as they drift apart. Plotwise, the first episode uses a similar blueprint as the first episode of Scenes, showing Denise and Alicia being interviewed at their home (on a gorgeous green couch, no less) and later having dinner with Dev and his girlfriend, who bicker and argue, in stark contrast to the tranquil central couple. Aesthetically, Ansari decided to shoot the series on film for the first time, opting for warm 16mm, just like Scenes.
His decision to trace over the show’s plot is unsurprising; each season of Master of None is preoccupied with homage, nodding to the works of Woody Allen and Vittorio De Sica. And it’s clear that Waithe, who writes for the series, was pulling story inspiration from her own life and past relationships. It’s fitting, given that Scenes was, famously, inspired by Bergman’s own relationships, including his failed relationship with Ullmann. But the show is at its best when it pulls away from simulating Scenes and instead delves into Alicia’s journey, particularly her journey with IVF.
Master of None was merely a precursor to HBO’s Scenes From a Marriage remake, which aired its first episode Sunday night. Directed by Hagai Levi, the show is Scenes for the modern age, adapting the original’s themes and narrative arcs. It follows successful couple Mira and Jonathan (Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, fresh off their swoon-worthy Venice appearance) as their relationship dissolves. But while Master of None went for an aesthetic recreation, Scenes dodges that booby trap, opening with a chaotic behind-the-scenes tracking shot of Chastain walking to the set—an airy, minimalist home. The green couch is maintained, but that’s about it.
Narratively, the remake also injects modern flourishes into the original plot. This time around, Mira is the breadwinner and, instead of working in therapy, she works in tech, sneakily checking her phone during the opening interview scene with her husband. One essential deviation arrives later, during the abortion scene. In the original, Bergman skips over the business of Marianne’s abortion, cutting to her post-op. In the remake, Levi brings the viewer into the scenario, showing Mira as she meets with a doctor who explains very plainly and precisely what the process entails, capping the procedural rundown with a nonchalant kicker: “It’s like a stomach virus.”
Like Master of None’s candid portrayal of IVF, this scene gives the show a sense of urgency, answering the question of why the remake felt necessary at all. (Per Levi, it was originally conceived by Bergman’s son Daniel, who wanted it to be told from the point of view of the children—which ultimately didn’t come to pass.) It’s a high bar to clear, not only creatively, but also in terms of viewership and impact. Bergman’s Scenes was so popular and so absorbed into the public consciousness that it allegedly triggered an increase in family counseling appointments in Sweden—as well as, allegedly, a spike in divorce rates. (Bergman said the latter fact made him “incredibly happy,” because it meant people were encouraged to leave unions that made them miserable. The director himself married five times over the course of his life.)
Of course, unlike its modern imitators, Scenes also benefited from novelty, and not having to fight a glut of boundary-pushing TV shows. The director has admitted he was surprised by the success of Scenes, acknowledging that it might not have been such a resounding hit if it had been released, say, a decade later. “What was important and urgent might feel old and stale today,” he said in a 1986 interview.
Though none of the imitators are as luminous as the original, the coincidence of their respective arrivals in 2021 marks a fascinating new chapter in the ongoing obsession with Bergman—whose legacy, to be clear, is neither hurting for praise nor attention!—showing how resonant this particular series is all these years later. (Another offering, the forthcoming film Bergman Island, written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, will join the renaissance, though critics have noted it’s not explicitly about Bergman; rather, it’s a meta-tale about a filmmaking couple who retreat to the island of Fårö, where Bergman lived and shot several projects, including Scenes.)
The remakes and homages also answer a central question Bergman asked of his work back in 1954, in his essay “The Making of Film.” At that point in his career, he had established himself as a filmmaker, helming works like the well-regarded Summer With Monika. However, he was still a few years out from making the films that defined his career, including The Seventh Seal, Persona, and Fanny and Alexander.
“An incessant anxiety calls out to me: What have you done that will endure?” he wrote at the time, plaguing himself with an existential artistic worry. “Is there a single metre in any one of your films that will mean something for the future, one single line, one single situation that is completely and absolutely real?”
“And with the sincere person’s deep-rooted inclination to lie,” he continued, “I must answer; I do not know, but I think so.”
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How Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Scenes From a Marriage’ Became the Most Imitated Show of 2021 - Vanity Fair
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