Faithless (2001)

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

...it's long, and during the entire time they never really sell the idea why she would turn her life so upside down, pretty much just to screw this unappealing guy (who at the end shows his true character).. ...the David they cast does not measure up to the force that is his lover.. why would she see so many things in him that we just do not....and looking at her facial expression not fitting with the film's pedigree, you get the feeling she may be an airhead.... and the husband's plight being entirely script driven does nothing for the work except to add to the overall confusion....there's lots to like, with almost as much to disparage... don't believe lots will choose to sit through the entire over sized reel once again..

"Faithless (Trolösa)" starts out claiming that it's about the corrosive effects of divorce, but it seemed to be equally about the writer's creative process, how the characters' emanate with little control and take over the artist's life. With a provenance that feels uncomfortably autobiographical, as it's written by Ingmar Bergman, who lives alone on an island like the man who calls forth characters in the movie, and directed by Liv Ullman, Bergman's one-time muse, lover and mother of their child (and the child here becomes a painful pawn).The lead triangle is all in the arts, as actress, director, conductor. Many of Bergman's later works have originated on Swedish TV and I wonder if this did too, as it's mostly tight close-ups or claustrophobic two-person interplays.Lena Endre's face is so captivating that I kept forgetting to read the subtitles, so I missed some dialog here and there.The audience was a bit exasperated at the end, in trying to figure out what was imaginary and what was real and what happened to whom at the end, but I think that's what happens to writers as they leave their work.(originally written 2/11/2001)

I'm one of the lucky few who have seen this magnificent movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you should rush to the local video rental store and watch it as soon as possible. It's so sober, so beautiful, so special, so ... There just aren't enough words to describe this movie and the effect it had on me. I'm not easily touched by a movie, but this one blew me right out of my socks.The movie shows us a lonely man, living in a house on a beach where absolutely no person seems to come. It's Bergman himself, writing a new script for a movie. When doing so, an imaginary woman accompanies him, telling him everything about her life. She tells him all details of her life as a married woman, betraying her husband with his best friend and the consequences of her actions. All this seems so sterile from time to time, yet you'll be touched by it in the most profound way, especially when you see how her 9-year old daughter is aware of everything that is happening around her and how it influences her life...Ingmar Bergman's script is so sober, yet so surprising. You think you know where the movie is going, but only at the end of the movie you'll understand the full picture. It's so cold and warm at the same time, it's a little story, telling a huge tale. It' just unbelievably good. I give it a 10/10, only because 11, 12 or even more is impossible. I never thought a movie could be that good!

Ensconced in the study of his house on a secluded island off the coast of Sweden, an aging director reminisces and reflects on aspects of his life apparently still in need of resolution, in `Faithless,' written by Ingmar Bergman and directed by Liv Ullmann. Bergman is the name of the director, played by Erland Josephson, who engages in a fantasy conversation with a woman named Marianne (Lena Endre), who confesses to him her affair, after eleven years of marriage, with a man named David (Krister Henriksson), the best friend of her husband, Markus (Thomas Hanzon). Through their conversations, as well as scenes depicting particular episodes from her life-- beginning with the initial encounter with David-- we learn the intimate details of Marianne's life, as well as Markus' and their young daughter's, Isabelle (Michelle Gylemo) and, of course, David's. It's an intense, engrossing character study that examines the weaknesses and foibles of human nature to which we are all susceptible. It's a story that is, by turns, grim and thoughtful, at times poignant, while at other moments distressing, as it reflects the myriad emotional levels to which the human condition is prone at any given time. As the story progresses, it becomes impossible to distance yourself from the characters involved in the drama, for there is so much about them with which anyone in the audience will be readily able to identify; not necessarily with the infidelities, but grounded in the choices we all must make throughout our lives and the consequences thereof, and upon which a film like this precipitates rumination. As with all of the films Bergman has written and/or directed during his career, it is a pensive, thought-provoking incursion into reality. As she proved with her directorial debut of the 1997 film `Private Confessions,' also scripted by Bergman, Liv Ullmann is more than up to the formidable task of bringing Bergman's story to the screen. Her style of directing is similar to Bergman's, as could be expected-- their close working and personal relationship has spanned more than thirty years-- but her approach is perhaps a bit softer than his, and uniquely her own. In the final analysis, any similarities are primarily due to the story, which lends itself to the style Bergman perfected and upon which Ullmann certainly draws. It's not so much a matter of imitation as it is of following an intrinsic pattern conducive to the storytelling, and Ullmann has an innate sensitivity to the material that translates into the presentation of the drama and elicits the necessary sympathy and compassion from the audience that enhances the impact of it. Like Bergman, she uses the camera to help capture the sense of the drama visually, which at times creates an almost ethereal, poetic atmosphere that contrasts so well with the more stoic aspects of the story. Ullmann has an excellent sense of rhythm, and the pace of the film allows the viewer time to assimilate the many nuances of emotion expressed through the characters. Lena Endre gives a remarkable performance as Marianne, infusing a passion into the character that makes it ring so true to life, and it's one of the strengths of the film. She bares Marianne's soul, leaving no question as to the inner turmoil with which she must cope, and it reflects in Bergman's character as well; through her struggles we also feel the remorse of Bergman's character, and upon reflection it makes you realize how effective Josephson is in the role of Bergman. For it is in his subtle reactions to the phantom Marianne, and in his silent ruminations, that we learn so much about all that has transpired in their lives. Henriksson gives a notable performance as well, deftly exposing the complexities of the character that lie beneath the somewhat reserved exterior of the man, while Hanzon is effective as Markus, as is Gylemo as the young Isabelle. With `Faithless,' Ullmann firmly establishes her mark as an artist of extraordinary vision and sense of reality. Her collaboration with Ingmar Bergman is a cinematic triumph, and we can only hope that there will be more to follow, for with every film they make, another chapter is written in the Book of Life. I rate this one 10/10.