Directed by Ingmar Bergman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)
Confusing story of a couple on their way home to Stockholm by train after vacationing in Germany. Through flashbacks, we find out that she was previously involved with a married man which led to an abortion and sterility. Meanwhile, the plight of his ex-lover is presented not through flashbacks but contemporaneous to their train ride. She is under the care of a lecherous psychiatrist and fights off the advances of a lesbian friend. Back on the train, the couple bicker endlessly, eventually contemplating suicide and murder. While there are glimpses of the Bergman we all know and love, for example a train stop in post-war Germany where mobs of homeless beg them for food through the window, the narrative structure is a chore to sift through and the story too frequently melodramatic.
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