Newspaper Article

Movie Review; Gloom Hangs Over Impressive 'Confessions'

Thomas, Kevin

2000

Overview

Legendary director Ingmar Bergman and actress-turned-director Liv Ullmann have had some remarkable collaborations in the past-- \"Persona,\" \"Cries and Whispers,\" \"An Autumn Sonata,\" etc. Now Ullmann has directed \"Private Confessions\" from Bergman's script drawn from events in the lives of his own parents, whose unhappy marriage he also dissected in his script for \"The Best Intentions\" (1989), directed by Bille August. The film opens in 1925, when August's Anna, after some hesitance, confesses to her beloved Uncle Jacob (Max Von Sydow), a man of the cloth, that she has been unfaithful to Henrik ([Samuel] Froler), a zealous theologian whose superior is none other than her uncle. She tells him that she has plunged into a passionate affair with a young theology student, Tomas Egerman (Thomas Hanzon). Jacob is wise, compassionate and nonjudgmental but advises that the only valid course for his niece to take is to tell her husband the truth.

• Publisher: Los Angeles Times Communications LLC
• Subject: August, Pernilla / Motion pictures / Private Confessions / Ullmann, Liv