Trolösa

Sweden

Synopsis

The emotional and riveting drama about three adults caught in a love triangle and the resulting devastating consequences. Written by Ingmar Bergman, adapted and directed by Liv Ullmann, FAITHLESS is loosely based on a true episode in the life of the Swedish director.

A writer living on an island, struggles with a story based on his memory of a love story. His name is Bergman. A `voice' talks to him. He allows her to become a woman, an actress and calls her Marianne. Through her, the story unfolds.

Marianne is happily married to Markus, a successful conductor. They have a nine-year old daughter, Isabelle. Markus's best friend is David. Twice divorced, David is often at Marianne and Markus' apartment, and he is Isabelle's favourite storyteller.

One night, while Markus is away, David visits the flat as usual. But something changes and what was once a safe, platonic friendship between Marianne and David is suddenly altered. Marianne now sees him in a different light, and finds him both sexually and emotionally attractive.

This is a love affair waiting to happen. When Markus goes on an extensive tour and Isabelle stays with her grandmother, the two arrange to meet in Paris. Within weeks a passionate love develops.

When Marianne and David return to Sweden, although everyday life takes over, they become lovers again.
One night, tragedy knocks on the lovers' door: it's Markus. He knows about their affair. In fact he has known about them even before they went to Paris, but decided to play a `waiting game', hoping the passion would burn out. But the waiting - and the knowing of their unfaithfulness has become intolerable to him.

When Markus demands a divorce and custody of Isabelle, all the parties will play out a dangerous game with tragic consequences.

No one is innocent, people manipulate those they love, secrets are revealed and everyone it appears - is faithless.

Director's Statement

"The unfaithfulness portrayed by Ingmar Bergman in his new film script is not a conscious unfaithfulness - not an act of will. To live in a state of unfaithfulness at the turn of the millennium is simply a way of life that more and more people choose to live. The moral dictates disappear. Two men and a woman desire to `play' an `adult game': let us love a little dangerously, let us be happy together, let us forget what is good and what is evil.
Then, suddenly, everything collapses. Tragedy. All are unfaithful to one another. But, as I see it, the victim is the child; she who has been used in the adults' own game. We follow the three in their love-making dance - and witness the child that sits in the middle without understanding her own role. We also witness the old Bergman who, once upon a time, was the leading figure in the love-making' dance but is now in his study, feeling pangs of conscience for what he did to the woman he loved then.
Faithless is based an a real event in Ingmar Bergman's life. He tried to write about this for many years but was only able to do so when he found the seedbed for the script in the charac-ter and temperament of an actress. It was she who brought the situation to life for him, she embodied the role for him. This is what our film is about. Erland Josephson plays the older Bergman. Lena Endre plays an actress who visits him during the writing of the script. She also plays the woman he loved. Krister Henriksson plays the lover and Thomas Hanzon is her world-famous married husband. I, Liv Ullmann, am the director and - as I see it -the light in the story is that we can forget the hours that were full of suffering. What we must never forget is what this taught us."

Director's Biography

Born in Tokyo of Norwegian parents, Liv Ullmann went to drama school in London. She made her stage debut at Rogaland Theatre in Stavanger (Norway) and her first film role came in 1957.

Noticed on stage by Ingmar Bergman, she became one of his favourite actresses, and he gave her the lead role in some of his most distinguished films including Persona (1966), Cries And Whispers (1972), Scenes From a Marriage (1973) Face to Face (1975) and Autumn Sonata (1977). She received a `Guldbagge' (Swedish Oscar) for Best Actress for her performance in Bergman's film The Shame. She was nominated several times for Best Actress at the Oscars, and won the American Film Critics' Prize four years in a row. The role as Kristina in Jan Troell's The Emigrants and The New Land earned Liv Ullmann a Golden Globe and launched her international career.

In 1992 Liv Ullmann wrote and directed her first feature film, Sophie, which was awarded three main prizes at the Montreal Film Festival. In 1995, she adapted and directed Sigrid Undset's famous novel Kristin Lavransdotter. In 1996 Liv Ullmann began her collaboration with SVT Drama for whom she directed Private Confessions, based on an Ingmar Bergman script. Private Confessions was selected at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival in the section Un Certain Regard.

On stage, Liv Ullmann has played a number of major roles in Australia, Norway, Sweden, on London's West End, in Los Angeles and on Broadway in New York. Regarding her dramatic art, it has been said that she is a combination of `earthly beauty and unaffected acting style'. Nevertheless, in recent years she has moved away from stage and film roles to concentrate on scriptwriting and film directing.

Liv Ullmann has been a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for 20 years and has - over the same period -been chairman of the IRC (International Rescue Committee). In 1976 she debuted as an author with the autobiographical work `Changing', and then wrote Tidvatten' in 1984. Both books have been translated into several languages.

FILMOGRAPHY
As an actress:
1957 FJOLLS TIL FJELLS
1959 YOUNG ESCAPE
1960 TONNY
1961 SKARVEN
1962 PAN
1963 UNCLE VANYA
1966 PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman)
1967 THE COCKTAIL PARTY
1967 THE HOUR OF THE WOLF (Ingmar Bergman)
1968 THE SHAME (Ingmar Bergman)
1969 AN MAGRITT
1969 THE PASSION OF ANNA (Ingmar Bergman)
1970 DE LA PART DES COPAINS (Terence Young)
1970 VISITORS OF THE NIGHT
1971 THE EMIGRANTS (Jan Troell)
1971 THE NEW LAND (Jan Troell)
1972 LOST HORIZON
1971 FORTY CARATS
1971 CRIES AND WHISPERS (Ingmar Bergman)
1973 ZANDY'S BRIDE (Jan Troell)
1973 THE ABDICTION
1974 SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (Ingmar Bergman)
1974 POPE JOAN (Michael Anderson)
1975 FACE TO FACE (Ingmar Bergman)
1976 LEONORA
1977 A BRIDGE TOO FAR (Richard Attenborough)
1977 THE SERPENT'S EGG (Ingmar Bergman)
1978 AUTUMN SONATA (Ingmar Bergman)
1980 RICHARD'S THINGS
1983 THE WILD DUCK
1984 BAD BOY
1985 LET'S HOPE IT'S A GIRL (Mario Monicelli)
1985 DANGEROUS MOVES (Richard Dembo)
1986 GABY BRIMMER
1986 GOODBYE MOSCOW (Mauro Bolognini)
1987 TIME OF INDIFFERENCE
1988 LA AMIGA
1989 MINDWALK
1989 THE OX (Sven Nykvist)
1989 THE LONG SHADOW

As a director:
1981 PARTING, short
1993 SOPHIE
1995 KRISTIN LAVRANSDOTTER
1996 PRIVATE CONFESSIONS
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Liv Ulmann

Written by: Ingmar Bergman

Produced by: Kaj Larsen

Cinematography: Jörgen Persson

Production Design: Göran Wassberg

Costume Design: Inger E. Pehrsson

Cast: Lena Endre (Marianne), Erland Josephson (Bergman), Krister Henriksson (David), Thomas Hanzon (Markus)

Nominations and Awards

  • European Film 2000
  • European Actress 2000
  • Feature Film Selection 2000