As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so deeply immersed in their own psychic pains that they can't offer her the support she needs. Maria is wracked with guilt at her husband's attempted suicide, caused by his discovery of her extramarital affair. The self-loathing, suicidal Karin seems to regard her sister with revulsion. Only Anna, the deeply religious maid who lost her young child, seems able to offer Agnes solace and empathy.
As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.
Dr. Jenny Isaksson is a psychiatrist whose temporary position at a mental hospital offers only modest responsibilities. With her husband out of the country for a seminar and her daughter at camp, Jenny moves in with her grandparents, expecting a relaxing few months. But it isn't long before unpleasant memories of her childhood, the sudden appearance of strange apparitions, and a near-rape push this otherwise stable woman to the very edge of sanity.
Johan and Marianne are married and seem to have it all. Their happiness, however, is a façade for a troubled relationship, which becomes even rockier when Johan admits that he's having an affair. Before long, the spouses separate and move towards finalizing their divorce, but they make attempts at reconciling. Even as they pursue other relationships, Johan and Marianne realize that they have a significant bond, but also many issues that hinder that connection.
Andreas, a man struggling with the recent demise of his marriage and his own emotional isolation, befriends a married couple also in the midst of psychological turmoil. In turn he meets Anna, who is grieving the recent deaths of her husband and son. She appears zealous in her faith and steadfast in her search for truth, but gradually her delusions surface. Andreas and Anna pursue a love affair, but he is unable to overcome his feelings of deep humiliation and remains disconnected. Meanwhile, the island community is victimized by an unknown person committing acts of animal cruelty.
In the midst of a civil war, former violinists Jan and Eva Rosenberg, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
A judge in an unnamed country interviews three actors, together and singly, provoking them while investigating a pornographic performance for which they may face a fine. Their relationships are complicated: Sebastian, volatile, a heavy drinker, in debt, guilty of killing his former partner, is having an affair with that man's widow. She is Thea, high strung, prone to fits, and seemingly fragile, currently married to Sebastian's new partner, Hans. Hans is the troupe leader, wealthy, self-contained, and growing tired. The judge plays on the trio's insecurities, but when they finally, in a private session with him, perform the masque called The Rite, they may have their revenge.
Conventions of civility among family members are severely strained by the very real breakup of the bonds between them. During a few days at a vacation home, Katha, a woman in late middle age, tries to cope with an influx of discontented, disconnected relatives. Her divorced daughter brings all sorts of people to the house, including a woman-friend accompanied by her psychotic son; the grandfather of the house is convinced he is dying and is satisfied by nothing; and some friends drop off their angry teenage son to stay with her, while they go on a long trip abroad. Her friend Emma doesn't help much with keeping a lid on things, as she is a social worker who is fascinated by the awfulness of these situations.
A film based on the pictures from Ingmar Bergman's personal photo album, especially the pictures of his mother Karin.
Rational, exacting, and self-controlled theater director, Henrik Vogler, often stays after rehearsal to think and plan. On this day, Anna comes back, ostensibly looking for a bracelet. She is the lead in his new production of Strindberg's A Dream Play. She talks of her hatred for her mother, now dead, an alcoholic actress, who was Vogler's star and lover.
The film shows four women moving in a crowded, closed room to the music of Monteverdi. They represent women living by passing on a role that is passed down to them for generations. Two of the dancers are damned souls that come to life, the third is death and the fourth a child born free, but forced into the other female roles.
The Making of Fanny and Alexander is a fascinating look at the creation of a masterpiece. Directed by Ingmar Bergman himself, this feature-length documentary chronicles the methods of one of cinema’s true luminaries as he labors to realize his crowning production.
A Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist. But he is an emotionally scarred man, a Jewish survivor from a concentration camp, consequently, their relationship will be painfully difficult.
Prop & Berta is the story of a friendship between a little stout man and a big and proud cow, who are able to talk to each other. Together they confront an ugly and evil witch who is determined to get rid of them because they have moved into a house on the edge of her wood. The witch hates neighbours and through magic and evil planning she turns Prop and Berta's friends, the Teeny burpers, into dangerous hoodlums who begin to terrorize the nearby town. Prop and Berta manage to overcome the witch and turn her into a good person, restoring peace in the little town and breaking the spell which binds their friends.
About choices in life and responsibilities. Sally has decided to have an abortion. It seriously affects her relationship with her partner Jonas, and their daughter Mia.
In 1969, with Sven Nykvist as cinematographer, Ingmar Berman made The Fårö Document, a film that ended with a rather pessimist view of the island’s future. One of the scenes in the film is of a school-bus and its young passengers. To these and to the realities ten years later Bergman returns in the long documentary Fårö Document 1979.
Bergman interviews the locals of Fårö in this fascinating documentary. An expression of personal and political solidarity with the fellow inhabitants of his adopted home, the island of Fårö in the Baltic Sea, this documentary investigates the sometimes deleterious effects of the modern world on traditional farming and fishing communities. The young, especially, voice doubts about remaining in such a remote, quiet place.
Set between 1930s and 50s, The Farewell the story of Valerie, who lives in a household totally repressed by her stern father. When Valerie has a brief affair with another woman, her father is extremely angry and tries to end the affair with physical force. However Valerie’s determination, independence and lesbian feelings cannot be crushed.
About August Strindberg's marriage to Siri von Essen. She was married when she met him, but abandoned her husband, became Strindberg's mistress and later his wife.
"True Women" - About the Bark family and their daughter Berta, who will fight against the house patriarchal order, includes the same problem as "A Doll's House". But Berta, unlike Nora, remains in the house and becomes a daily threat against those who seek to oppress her.
