En présence d'un clown

Approaching towards the end of my Ingmar Bergman quest, he has rapidly turned into a director that I now love and admire. And I'd say the same for his films too, in fact although there is a small handful that I've yet to see there have only been two films of his I didn't care for, All These Women and The Serpent's Egg. While it is not one of Bergman's best(The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander, Cries and Whispers and Persona), sometimes I did find it a bit too heavy on the symbolism, it is still a very good film and evidence that Bergman still had it towards the end of his career. His direction here is incisive and intelligent as it always was, not once is there signs of a director out of his depth like All These Women for example. For a TV film it is certainly a very professional-looking one with evocative settings and handsome(if not as expansive as his cinematic films) photography. The dialogue provokes a lot of thought and the story is deliberately paced, very interesting and like with almost all Bergman films conveys a large range of emotions. The characters as ever are compellingly real, and the acting only adds to that effect. Borje Ahlstedt in the lead role is particularly outstanding. In conclusion, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox