The actors clearly respond, August conveying the turmoil of a woman trapped by circumstances and her own febrile emotions, Sydow a figure of towering moral authority and compassion.
Comment
02/09/06
Private Confessions (1996)
80
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:15
Fresh:12
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.9/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: The autobiographical story of Ingmar Bergman's parents: his passionate but isolated mother Anna, and his stern, moral father Henrik--a Lutheran minister, and their icy marriage. Presented out of... [More]
Starring: Pernilla August, Max von Sydow, Samuel Froler, Anita Bjork
Director: Liv Ullmann
Reviews for Private Confessions
1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top CriticUllman isn't particularly interested in the angst of human interaction or the difficulty of knowing truth; she seems fascinated by the pathos of feelings that are all the more intense for being of questionable integrity.
07/31/07
Each sequence is introduced by an intertitle suggesting it will contain an isolated conversation, an archly inaccurate notion that deepens the drama by appearing to deny its complexity.
07/31/07
The sight of von Sydow vomiting up a communion wafer is a pretty good indication that age hasn't mellowed the master one whit.
07/31/07
Ullmann handles the rich material with simplicity and feeling, using snatches of classical music only sparingly and concentrating on the faces of her exemplary cast.
07/31/07
Top CriticNo review available.
06/19/05
Coming from the master's hand, the result is unique, akin to a deep plunge into a northern lake -- there's a chilling clarity to the experience, a harsh beauty that's softened, yet never redeemed, by unexpected pockets of relative warmth.
03/19/02
It works, and works beautifully, principally because of an outstanding performance by Ms. August.
02/14/01
I doubt that Bergman's script would have made much of a film even if he had directed it himself, but it might have been less confused.
01/01/00
Bergman may have withdrawn from film direction, but his presence is deeply felt in Private Confessions.
01/01/00
Private Confessions achieves an enveloping intensity that goes well beyond its occasionally literal and earnest approach.
01/01/00
Top CriticIt's the next best thing to Bergman -- a thoughtful, if slightly long drama enlivened by warm performances and some thoughtful meditations on the subject of adultery.
01/01/00
The reward for a pace that's sometimes frustratingly slow is in seeing truths and levels of emotion that are rarely captured on screen.
01/01/00
A film like Private Confessions makes most films about romance look like films about plumbing.
01/01/00
Top CriticVon Sydow is magisterial. His gaunt face and rumbling voice have become, for me, impossible to distinguish from Bergman's own.
01/01/00
1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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