Certainly Bergman is what he is: the great man, with almost countless films to his credit.

| Aug 24, 2017

It is existential gruel, ten portions of misery handed down from the master. Compelling and intense, it is also pitiless.

| Aug 7, 2012

Saraband is a commandingly restrained final composition and -- as the theme of classical musicianship suggests -- very much an affair of close attention to the nuances of performance.

Full Review | Jun 18, 2012

Bergman has a sharp talent for observing human conflicts without claiming to fully understand them.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 5, 2008

So many great directors seem to go out with a whimper. Ingmar Bergman has gone out with a bang.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 28, 2008

With Saraband, the great writer-director has stepped back into the ring for one last epic wrestle with his demons. There is, as always, no easy outcome. But no one ever fought for higher emotional and spiritual stakes.

| Nov 1, 2007

We find [Bergman]at 87, sifting through his pictures, wondering at the choices he's made.

| Mar 1, 2007

A parlour-room theatre of emotional cruelty, with all exits barred by the past.

| Jun 24, 2006

It goes without saying that Saraband doesn't make for light hearted viewing. But this is a powerful, emotional family drama that can happily rank with some of Bergman's best work.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 3, 2006

No one else could have made it, and you should see it.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 12, 2006

Insightful as ever but a little dated in the set-up and treatment of the shooting.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2006

Powerful and more than a little depressing, but it's also essential filmmaking for anyone who cares about one of the giants of cinema.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 1, 2006

Any Bergman is better than most of the art-house dramas that have been shipped to the States from Europe in recent times.

| Original Score: B | Jan 28, 2006

While bringing an abundance of inspiration to this world, Bergman unapologetically refused to ignore the pain and darkness that infects mankind. There will never be another filmmaker like him.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 2, 2005

confessional outbursts are captured in lengthy takes, usually in mercilessly tight close-ups.... It's as if Bergman is taking X-rays of their souls.

| Nov 8, 2005

Even if it is, as he claims, his last film, Saraband will be a testament to Bergman's skill as a filmmaker, still a creative force to be reckoned with after 60-plus years in the business.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2005

The performances -- welling, unified and multidimensional -- are beyond praise, as are Bergman's visual images.

| Sep 9, 2005

Like the best of Ingmar Bergman's films, Saraband has a hypnotic quality that draws in audiences who are patient.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 26, 2005

A haunting series of heartbreaking duets between people for whom love is distant and death is uncomfortably close.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 26, 2005

Most films are so insipid that there's something perversely refreshing about a movie in which a monstrous father compliments his son for his 'healthy dose of hatred...'

Full Review | Original Score: '3/4' | Aug 25, 2005