After the Rehearsal

R

1984

1 hr. 12 min.

Drama

List

92%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A veteran theater director, Henrik (Erland Josephson), is staging a production of Strindberg's "Dream Play." Dozing after rehearsal, he's woken by Anna (Lena Olin), his lead actress, who seems out to seduce him. Anna's mother was Rakel (Ingrid Thulin), a deceased alcoholic actress and Henrik's former mistress. The presence of Anna makes Henrik think about his past with Rakel, as well as the mistakes he has made in his life, while he also imagines a possible future with Anna.

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Audience Member

"After the Rehearsal" is a strikingly original chamber piece that consistently impresses the viewer with its deftly poetic exploration of the blurred distinction between life and art. Bergman proves that even his minor work can embody a stunning level of creative ingenuity, in this case melding theater and reality in such original ways that even Fellini might feel envious. In typical Bergman fashion, we feel the dramatic nature of the material more than we understand it, never once leaving the confines of a stage that is sparing in terms of the mere three performers who inhabit it while simultaneously dense with the imagined cacophony of countless thespian phantoms of the past and future. Of particular note is the fascinating manner in which the lead character's point of reference spontaneously fractures, yielding first person narration which overlays his own spoken dialogue in the same moment. For either new Bergman initiates who want an aperitif before delving into his masterpieces or long time admirers seeking an appropriate point of departure, "After the Rehearsal" should suffice to satisfy the most ambitious of tastes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Efter Repetitionen is a haunting film ridden with guilt, Bergman's guilt; of many lives, including his own, sacrificed for the sake of his art. It's a worthy low key conclusion to the main film making period of one of cinema's greats, a mea culpa of sorts.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

guillaume h

Ive always been a big fan of Lena Olin and to finally see her in this makes me an even bigger fan. The particularity is that she is the daughter of Stig Olin who bergman directed i nmany movies so her caracter discussing with the theater director (ostensibly bergman and played by longtime colaborator erland josephson) in a set of circumstance that mirrors real life brings it an extra dept. It unfolds like a stage play, all shot on the stage, after the rehearsal and the back and forth is pityless, mesmerizing and escalates with a strange and magnificient performance yet again by Ingrid Thulin, in a story that seems like a musing of bergman over how he himself chose art over life and may have done some damages on the way. The final sequence where the 2 leads create for themselve an alternate reality, ultimately with the intent to get the actresses creative juice to flow maximally while keeping the director still away from potential drama in real life, wraps the whole story in a very fullfilling way. Unforgetable, and to be seen more than once.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

jack c

So personal it almost hurts (but hey, the man directed a movie called 'Persona'). But as I always say, a Bergman a day keeps death away. What a filmmaker, and an artist - this is one of his most naked works, and seeing it again I'm reminded how good Erland Josephson was. Lena Olin rises to the challenge too, long before she became a semi-known Hollywood talent.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

eric b

With "After the Rehearsal," Ingmar Bergman limits his tools to one minimal set and just three speaking parts. Erland Josephson stars as Bergman alter-ego Henrik, a veteran "difficult" director who's not shy about bullying actors to get what he wants. He's sitting onstage in an empty theater, lost in contemplation, when actress Anna (Lena Olin) enters. The two have an ambivalent relationship mixing attraction and resentment, and soon are drawn into a long discussion about their own bond as well as the general dynamic between a director and his cast. This obviously serves as a platform for Bergman venting many of his personal ideas and frustrations. But Henrik is also the ex-lover of Anna's late mother Rakel (Ingrid Thulin), a volatile actress who drank too much and erratically veered between arrogance and insecurity. As her foibles are debated, the film's middle detours into an extended flashback conversation between she and Henrik. To add a surreal touch, the set never changes and Anna reverts to a silent, pubescent girl. For the third section, Henrik and Anna wrap up their dialogue, climaxing in an electric exchange where they spontaneously imagine future events as if brainstorming a fresh play. "After the Rehearsal"'s stiff construction is bound to alienate many viewers but, with a 70-minute running time, it's not a rigorous test of one's patience. And Josephson and Thulin are magnificent, of course, just as they were in so many earlier Bergman projects.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A highly theatrical movie about acting, both on stage and in one's persona. But it's TOO theatrical: characters come to insightful revelations at the drop of a hat, and talk in a weighty, existentialist, abstract manner. Thulin's performance is a frustration: even though the viewer knows she's obviously supposed to be overly dramatic, it still irritates. It's all kinda boring, and I felt like I would have gotten more out of it if I was more interested in theater. But Josephson is terrific.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Ingmar Bergman

Director

Erland Josephson

Older Henrik Vogler

Ingrid Thulin

Rakel Egerman

Lena Olin

Older Anna Egerman

Nadja Palmstjerna-Weiss

Young Anna Egerman

Bertil Guve

Young Henrik Vogler

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

Rarely, in fact, has a film succeeded so well in projecting the kinds of interior states usually conceded to novels, but forfeited by films.

Apr 27, 2018

Full Review

Gary Arnold

Washington Post

"After the Rehearsal" evolves into such a fascinating, convincing reflection of backstage psychology and emotional combat that it should prove irresistible to anyone susceptible to the lore of the theater.

May 5, 2017

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

What we are left with at the end of After the Rehearsal, however, is the very strong sense of an artist who has sacrificed many lives for the sake of his art, and now wonders if perhaps one of those lives was his own.

Rated: 4/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

The definitive statement of Bergman the film director on Bergman the theater director.

Rated: 4.5/5

Jan 13, 2021

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Ingmar Bergman's personal meditation about life and art introduced to international cinema the talented and sexy Lena Olin.

Rated: B+

Jan 29, 2013

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The director's mea culpa for choosing his art over his family life.

Rated: B-

Sep 19, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

A veteran theater director, Henrik (Erland Josephson), is staging a production of Strindberg's "Dream Play." Dozing after rehearsal, he's woken by Anna (Lena Olin), his lead actress, who seems out to seduce him. Anna's mother was Rakel (Ingrid Thulin), a deceased alcoholic actress and Henrik's former mistress. The presence of Anna makes Henrik think about his past with Rakel, as well as the mistakes he has made in his life, while he also imagines a possible future with Anna.

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Production Co: Cinematograph AB, Personafilm
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Swedish
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 20, 2018

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