Faithless

REVIEW
An older gentleman, well-groomed and articulate, sits at his desk in his stately coastal home talking to a beautiful woman, who may or may not really exist. That's at least what he tells himself as she recounts the story of her adulterous affair which tore her family apart many years before. In bringing film legend Ingmar Bergman's thoughtful, absorbing screenplay to the screen, director Ullmann -- Bergman's greatest leading lady -- demonstrates a gift for dissecting the conflicting emotions and inner turmoil of her characters -- much in the same way her mentor (and one-time lover) examined angst and human fraility in his classics from the 1950s through the '80s. A self-aware and piercing look at guilt and betrayal, Faithless follows the birth and aftereffect of an extramarital affair between Marianne (a luminous Endre), a successful actress, and her husband's best friend David, a filmmaker. Ullmann elicits wonderful performances from her cast, allowing each performer to fully explore the shadings of their characters, all of whom experience the pain, passion and regret of a single act that leads to an inevitably harrowing conclusion. (Swedish with English subtitles)