HBO’S Scenes from a Marriage

BY: Malcolm Copper

Usually, remakes don’t get enough credit.

They’re watered down, they say.

They’re not as good as the original, they say.

These execs are only in it for the money, they say.

Yet, there’s always a built-in audience who will pay millions to gawk at whatever horror villain from the early ‘80s decides to reanimate again. Movie fans will flock to whatever Victorian drama reflects some esoteric language of modern culture that big studios want you to care about. And time after time, people will lick the proverbial boots of writers and directors cashing in on pure, unadulterated nostalgia. These remakes, or often reimaginings, rarely elicit the same reaction they did when the originals sparkled on the screen in 35mm. But they are successful in that they help us remember what is possible yet again, our human story perhaps, isn’t quite finished yet. There’s something to be said for memory — it forms us, and it creates, but it also gives significance to whatever happens in the present. And it is on remembering that the remake hangs its hat (or how it gives it a sort of renewed cultural significance).

So. What if we did this remake thing to a Grade A, certified “classic” piece of cinema?

Here comes the 2021 version of Ingmar Bergman’s classic film/(often referred to as) miniseries epic, Scenes from a Marriage.

Helmed by Hagai Levi, who will both write and direct, the highly-anticipated HBO remake will star young powerhouses Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as husband and wife. The series will follow the complex trials and tribulations of a couple’s contemporary marriage on a network known for pushing boundaries and raising discussions about conventional American constructs. Beginning in September 2021, the series will run as five hour-long episodes. Like the Bergman original, the miniseries will hopefully go through an episodic exploration of love and its ultimate structural essence.

Clad in a scruffy beard, Isaac plays the as-yet-unnamed husband, resembling a millennial Erland Josephson in the dark. Coming straight out of Rise of the Skywalker and Marvel’s Moon Knight, Isaac’s penchant for rogue-ish, slightly-rough-but-loveable leading men will do well in mirroring the outspoken Professor Johan in Bergman’s original. Jessica Chastain as the wife, has some tough shoes to fill — Liv Ullmann’s subtle but  emotionally diverse Marianne has often been lauded as one of the Swedish director’s finest. In addition, her performance leaned on the real-life marriage to the director, which is often said to have resembled the original trajectory. But Chastain, the Juilliard-trained veteran actress, has shown time and again that emotional maturity and complexity is her thing (check her out in Malick’s masterpiece Tree of Life, and apparently, she’s playing Tammy Faye Bakker soon — yes, please, Oscar).

 

 

 

So, do you still need some convincing?

When it comes to Ingmar Bergman: He’s one of the most respected and loved directors ever to live. Anything arising from his mind will be both thought-provoking and relatable (remember Bill and Ted playing Battleship with Death in purgatory). For Scenes from a Marriage, the legendary Sven Nykvist, long-time cinematographer for Bergman, emphasized master-shots and close-ups in lush color instead of the often fractured, angled, and colorless shots of Bergman’s most well-known films. This creates a sort of pastoral relatability, an almost mirror-like quality of the film in relation to its audience. In addition, the trailer for the new series casts itself as dark, lit subtly and quietly, the ultimate way to explore the problematic intimacy of contemporary relationships.

 

Kubrick loved him.

Lynch credits him for teaching filmmakers how to disturb people with their inner selves.

And Lars Von Trier says a Bergman film is like eating soup.

And we know how much Lars Von Trier likes to eat soup.

Scenes from a Marriage (2021), written and directed by Hagai Levi, and a talented list of producers, including Daniel Bergman, Ingmar’s son, will premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

It will then premiere on HBO and HBO MAX in September 2021.