Erland Josephson

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Jan Malmsjö

After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Lena Nyman

Johan and Marianne are married and seem to have it all. Their happiness, however, is a façade for a troubled relationship, which becomes even rockier when Johan admits that he's having an affair. Before long, the spouses separate and move towards finalizing their divorce, but they make attempts at reconciling. Even as they pursue other relationships, Johan and Marianne realize that they have a significant bond, but also many issues that hinder that connection.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson

As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Liv Ullmann, Ingrid Thulin, Kari Sylwan

Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov journeys through Italy with his interpreter Eugenia to research the life of an 18th-century Russian composer who once lived abroad. Isolated and consumed by an unrelenting longing for his homeland, Andrei becomes drawn to Domenico, a radical mystic obsessed with spiritual redemption. Through austere imagery and extended temporal rhythms, Tarkovsky examines exile, memory, and the profound melancholy of being unable to belong fully to either place or language.

Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky · With Oleg Yankovskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano

Alexander, a journalist, philosopher and retired actor, celebrates a birthday with friends and family when it is announced that nuclear war has begun.

Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky · With Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall

While vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh

A recently divorced man and an emotionally devastated widow begin a love affair.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson

An exiled filmmaker finally returns to his home country where former mysteries and afflictions of his early life come back to haunt him once more.

Dir. Theo Angelopoulos · With Harvey Keitel, Erland Josephson, Maia Morgenstern

A traveling magician and his troupe arrive in a Swedish town in the 1840s, where their act is scrutinized by local authorities and a skeptical medical official. Their stay leads to a series of confrontations that test the boundaries between performance, belief, and deception.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand

Johan and Marianne appear to have a stable marriage, but their relationship begins to unravel when Johan reveals an affair. Over the course of several years, the series follows their separation, divorce, and continued interactions as they form new relationships while remaining emotionally bound to one another. Told across six episodes, the narrative traces the changing terms of their intimacy, conflict, and dependency. (Note: This entry covers the 1973 six-part Swedish television miniseries. A condensed theatrical feature assembled from the same material was released separately in 1974.)

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson

Reuniting the characters of Johan and Marianne three decades after "Scenes from a Marriage," "Saraband" follows Marianne’s visit to her reclusive ex-husband, where she finds him locked in a destructive conflict with his troubled son Henrik and Henrik’s musically gifted daughter Karin. Told as an intimate chamber drama, the film explores love, resentment, forgiveness, and the inescapable pull of family bonds.

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Börje Ahlstedt

A psychiatrist temporarily separated from her family begins to experience severe psychological distress while working at a mental hospital and returning to her childhood home. As her professional responsibilities and personal relationships intersect, she undergoes a breakdown that forces her to confront long-suppressed memories and fears. (Note: This entry refers to the 1976 theatrical feature film (approximately 135 minutes), created by condensing and re-editing the four-part Swedish television miniseries originally produced the same year.)

Dir. Ingmar Bergman · With Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Aino Taube

Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet invasion occurs, all three flee to Switzerland. Sabina begins an affair, Tom continues womanizing, and Tereza, disgusted, returns to Czechoslovakia. Realizing his mistake, Tomas decides to chase after her.

Dir. Philip Kaufman · With Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin

An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'.

Dir. Peter Greenaway · With John Gielgud, Michael Clark, Michel Blanc