The Passion of Anna is a fine Bergman film. It portrays the relationships of those whose paths intersect by happenstance in the context of life on an island. The cast is an collection of Bergman's best recurring male and female actors, and it's wonderful to watch these actors reprise new roles contra one another.
My major complaint involves the blatant fourth wall breaking. Interjecting interviews with the actors about their characters is an extremely effective way of reminding the viewer that he or she is watching a movie, but it breaks the narrative magic in an irreparable way, particularly when Bergman does it multiple times staggered throughout the film. And, when this technique is used to introduce narrative elements that wouldn't be evident until later (if at all), it raises serious questions about the authenticity of the story. If you know character A did X, a material event, but that fact appears nowhere in story Q (compare: historical notes of an author to a story), then how do you judge story Q on its own merits?
The acting is top grade and the cinematography is excellent, perhaps the best I've seen of the Bergman color films. But, the plot is confusing, at best, for the first third. Even if the movie hits the viewer with some truly emotionally impactful scenes in the final sections, I don't feel they make up for amount of inconsistent film spent getting there.
My major complaint involves the blatant fourth wall breaking. Interjecting interviews with the actors about their characters is an extremely effective way of reminding the viewer that he or she is watching a movie, but it breaks the narrative magic in an irreparable way, particularly when Bergman does it multiple times staggered throughout the film. And, when this technique is used to introduce narrative elements that wouldn't be evident until later (if at all), it raises serious questions about the authenticity of the story. If you know character A did X, a material event, but that fact appears nowhere in story Q (compare: historical notes of an author to a story), then how do you judge story Q on its own merits?
The acting is top grade and the cinematography is excellent, perhaps the best I've seen of the Bergman color films. But, the plot is confusing, at best, for the first third. Even if the movie hits the viewer with some truly emotionally impactful scenes in the final sections, I don't feel they make up for amount of inconsistent film spent getting there.