Faithless

Given the history between director Liv Ullmann and screenwriter Ingmar Bergman, it's tempting to speculate on the autobiographical content of this intense study of infidelity and inspiration. Vaguely echoing Bergman's 1973 drama Scenes from a Marriage, it explores the impact of Lena Endre's affair with director Krister Henriksson on both her conductor husband, Thomas Hanzon, and their young daughter. Further blurring the line between fiction and reality, Bergman has Endre relate her story to Erland Josephson, a blocked scenarist whose relationship to the flashback events is never clarified. This is complex, mature and engrossing cinema from a master artist and his remarkable protégée.