1969 - THE PASSION OF ANNA, aka "A Passion"

I suppose there is a "been there seen it" aspect to this film,  However Ingmar Bergman was one of the greatest writer/directors in the history of cinema, so what we have here is an excellent film about alienation and loneliness made by a master.

 

On the island of Faro, Max Von Sydow plays a man living alone after the failure of his marriage.  He becomes acquainted with another couple played by Bergman stock company regulars 'Bibi Andersson and Erland Josephson.  They in turn introduce him to a friend of theirs whose husband and son died in a traffic accident.  She is played by Bergman muse Liv Ullmann.  The acting is at a very high caliber with that cast.

Throughout the film the actors step out of character and discuss their characters in a Brechtian distancing technique that sounds pretentious but actually works rather well as a dramatic device.

 

If you are familiar with Bergman  you can see a lot of his themes played out in this film.  Loneliness, emotional stress, the failure to connect with other people etc.  I don't want to make this sound like an "eat your vegetables" film.  One of Bergman's great skills was to take serious themes and present them in an interesting and engaging way.

Written by Bergman as usual, the running time is 101 minutes.