Private Confessions

1996

2h 7m

Drama

List

82%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

83%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

Five conversations frame a flawed marriage in this film written by Ingmar Bergman about his parents. Guilt-ridden wife Anna (Pernilla August) divulges an extramarital affair to a priest, her uncle Jacob (Max von Sydow). He presses her to confess her sins to her husband, Henrik. As the film moves back and forth in time, the notion of truth is tested. Tomas, the lover, and Henrik will find that Anna's confessions do not absolve anyone, and have the power to inflict more pain.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: A-

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Ronnie Scheib

Chicago Reader

Ullman isn't particularly interested in the angst of human interaction or the difficulty of knowing truth; she seems fascinated by the pathos of feelings that are all the more intense for being of questionable integrity.

Jul 31, 2007

Full Review

Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Each sequence is introduced by an intertitle suggesting it will contain an isolated conversation, an archly inaccurate notion that deepens the drama by appearing to deny its complexity.

Jul 31, 2007

Full Review

Ken Fox

TV Guide

The sight of von Sydow vomiting up a communion wafer is a pretty good indication that age hasn't mellowed the master one whit.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 31, 2007

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jun 19, 2005

Full Review

Harvey S. Karten

Compuserve

It works, and works beautifully, principally because of an outstanding performance by Ms. August.

Feb 14, 2001

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jack c

Full of deep, painful but harrowingly rewarding emotions, and a knockout performance by Pernilla August (one of those performers that does so much when seeming to do so little), and reveals Liv Ullmann as a gifted director - maybe she was the only one to direct this, as Billie August did The Best Intentions (and I may possibly, just maybe, prefer this film to Best Intentions, which this is a sequel to), since for Bergman so much is already so personal (the characters are his parents, or versions of them anyway). But every episode is wholly rewarding, and the moments of sensual tenderness between characters are underlined by how the dialog drives things so fiercly: like the best characters written by Mr. Bergman, these people, especially Anna, Henrik and Tomas, want to find the right path but get corrupted, or just screwed up, by where their hearts lead them. It may also be one of the most mature works by this writer, as the story jumps from episode to episode in time (about five 'confessions'/conversations in all, spanning many years), as we see the bulk of the action take place when Anna had her affair, the fall-out with her husband... and then ten years later (as well as when Anna was 18) when she tells to her Uncle Jacob (Max von Sydow, who is great and who could expect otherwise, especially here as a forgiving but firm minister). This jump isn't simply to be clever, far from it - we learn along with the characters, and time does change a lot of things. By the end, I looked back on the episodes on Private Confessions as meaning so much, for the drama they went through and that I saw, and even with an ending that appears to be 'happy', there is still a well of anguish that can always be tapped. When it comes to Bergman, by way of his great love and collaborator Liv Ullmann, romance is never, ever easy, especially when some sort of 'God' may be watching and judging.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Although this is technically an Ullmann directed film, it has all the feel of Bergman that goes beyond what he provided in the written script. What we discover is how much of the real Bergman story is portayed in his films.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Outstanding performances (especially Pernilla August) and impeccably written script by Ingmar Bergman, make this my favorite of the trilogy. Ullman's direction is slightly more esoteric than The Best Intentions. Great choice of music too. Lastly, this is the final contribution of the late great Sven Nykvist. All around, first-rate filmmaking.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Liv Ullmann

Director

Pernilla August

Anna

Max von Sydow

Jacob

Samuel Fröler

Henrik

Thomas Hanzon

Tomas Egerman

Kristina Adolphson

Maria

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Synopsis

Five conversations frame a flawed marriage in this film written by Ingmar Bergman about his parents. Guilt-ridden wife Anna (Pernilla August) divulges an extramarital affair to a priest, her uncle Jacob (Max von Sydow). He presses her to confess her sins to her husband, Henrik. As the film moves back and forth in time, the notion of truth is tested. Tomas, the lover, and Henrik will find that Anna's confessions do not absolve anyone, and have the power to inflict more pain.

Director: Liv Ullmann
Screenwriter: Ingmar Bergman
Production Co: SVT Drama
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Swedish
Runtime: 2h 7m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, Surround