The Passion of Anna

R

1969

1h 41m

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Unsettled by his recent divorce, Andreas Winkelman (Max von Sydow) lives on a remote Swedish island. When he meets the unhappy married couple Elis and Eva Vergerus (Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson), Andreas begins a brief affair with Eva, which leads to a romantic involvement with their friend Anna Fromm (Liv Ullmann), who is grieving the loss of her family. As these relationships unfold, someone on the island is killing animals, lending the drama a mysterious backdrop.

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Penelope Gilliatt

New Yorker

Ingmar Bergman’s The Passion of Anna, which is a masterpiece, is one of the most specifically modern films I have ever seen, yet there is barely a modern object in sight.

Jan 23, 2024

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

The Passion of Anna is a complex and beautiful work, one which bears the pondering and probing that so few films merit. It is an encounter, above all, with a sophisticated and subtle mind concerned with mature human relationships.

Oct 1, 2019

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Michael Sragow

New Yorker

The performances and the staging have a risky, improvisatory edge; Bergman even cuts away to interviews with his four lead actors.

Mar 5, 2018

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

Has so many different ideas to try out that it's not surprising that they don't end up working together all the time.

Rated: 3.5/5

Nov 15, 2020

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Flawed, but still brilliant, The Passion is an essential.

Rated: 4.5/5

Sep 5, 2007

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Sven Nykvist's color cinematography makes Ullmann's blue eyes a thing to behold.

Aug 11, 2007

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Dave S

Late in Ingmar Bergman's The Passion of Anna, a character declares "I live without self-respect. I know it sounds pretentious since almost all people are forced to live without self-worth. Humiliated to the core, stifled and spat upon. They just live", pretty much summing up the vibe of the film. Set on a remote Swedish island, four individuals try to come to terms with their own significant demons, including a man (Max von Sydow) who seeks solitude after a divorce and a woman (Liv Ullmann) responsible for the death of her husband and son in a car accident. As with most Bergman films, the writing is intelligent, the cinematography from Bergman regular Sven Nykvist is brilliant, and Bergman's regular stable of characters are spot on. To its detriment, there are four shots that come out of nowhere of actors being interviewed about their characters, disrupting the narrative flow, but this is a minor complaint about an otherwise excellent film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/11/23

Full Review

Eric E

Not one of his most profound works, but still... It's a low-key affair for the most part. That said I still find myself wondering, "How does a mind come up with this stuff?" Like many of his movies it feels like a stage play that moves from one conversational scene to another. But somehow there is a deep film in there. I see movies by other directors that are similar to Bergman's works, but nothing is Bergman like Bergman. Also, this was is more for people familiar with his work rather than the uninitiated.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/23/23

Full Review

william d

Many of Bergman's movies involve close-ups of actors in conversation without much of anything on, In some movies, such as Scenes From A Marriage, it works. In others, like this one, it doesn't.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

william k

A typically bleak Bergman drama explores once again the impossibility of true relationships and offers superb performances and excellent cinematography, but this time around the story seems construed and is quite heavy-going in execution.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

ari v

Maybe I just didn't key into something, but felt mainly like an underinspired addendum to the wonderful "Shame" that preceded it.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

s r

Another Bergman film showing the complications of relationships. Some powerful monologues, when it happens.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Ingmar Bergman

Director

Liv Ullmann

Anna Fromm

Bibi Andersson

Eva Vergerus

Max von Sydow

Andreas Winkelman

Erland Josephson

Elis Vergerus

Erik Hell

Johan Andersson

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Synopsis

Unsettled by his recent divorce, Andreas Winkelman (Max von Sydow) lives on a remote Swedish island. When he meets the unhappy married couple Elis and Eva Vergerus (Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson), Andreas begins a brief affair with Eva, which leads to a romantic involvement with their friend Anna Fromm (Liv Ullmann), who is grieving the loss of her family. As these relationships unfold, someone on the island is killing animals, lending the drama a mysterious backdrop.

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Screenwriter: Ingmar Bergman
Production Co: Cinematograph AB, Svensk Filmindustri (SF) AB
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Swedish
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 41m

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