Transcript of 70mm’s Scenes from a Marriage (1973) Episode.
SLIM Hey, it’s your old pal Slim and this is 70mm, a podcast for film lovers just like you. Every Monday I chat about recently watched movies with my close friend and artist, Danny Haas.
DANNY [Danny wheeze/laughs]
SLIM And my close friend and movie insider, Protolexus.
PROTO There’s some serious face rubbing in this. Did you guys notice? Johan was really going for it with the face rubbing.
SLIM Every month we have a new theme that guides our featured presentation for that episode. And this time around, we’re starting 70s Month with a joint pick, Scenes From a Marriage from 1974. Was a three hour foreign film about a crumbling marriage too much even for us or did the complex nature of human relationships keep us glued to the screen? Find out, meow.
[70mm theme song ramps up, plays alone, fades out[
SLIM Let me read a review to fire up the episode here. Everyone brace themselves. “You would expect some kind of iconic creature character design to come from Disney but maybe those days are over. The Marvelification of Disney Animation.” That’s a negative review of the movie Stange World that Protolexus, Movie Insider left.
DANNY You know when I read the word “Marvelifcation” — is that how you said it?
SLIM Marvelification.
DANNY Marvelification Disney movies, I was shaken to my core. Because I haven’t seen this film yet. And I’m not really and I don’t really want to see it. But now I’m scared to see it. Because I don’t want this to happen. I don’t need the Marvelification of Disney movies.
SLIM You’re a Disney Animation booster. You’re on the streets speaking the praises.
DANNY Teamster. Mickey Mouse Club.
PROTO Bread and butter.
DANNY So Proto, tell us about this movie.
PROTO So Strange World — now I would say watch it, Danny, because you’ll probably like it and then you’ll probably have some snarky review like, “Imagine not liking this movie.” And all will be well with the world.
PROTO It’s fine, but I guess I guess my point is maybe the like the days of it being over where I just want like a Disney movie. I guess I just kind of expect more from an animated movie where, like they’re aiming to sell merchandise, so they would have some kind of memorable character
PROTO that would just be iconic in some way. And I guess you know, that’s hard to pull off. Maybe like that’s not what they’re going for. But also, I like watch this whole movie. I don’t know any of the characters names. Um, it just like nothing really stayed with me. It looked it looked good. Like the animation was good. But I didn’t really love the design of anything. Like I wasn’t really taken by anything. So it was kind of just very an OK, experience.
SLIM Right. Is Disney finished?
DANNY That’s the real question.
SLIM The question has to be asked of the Movie Insider. You probably are hearing things from your industry contacts on the Signal app, your encrypted text private chats.
PROTO Encrypted, encoded, decoded on my decoder. [Danny laughs] No, Disney is too big to fail. We know this is. Too big to fail. Companies this big never fail. It’s impossible.
SLIM It’s never happened.
PROTO Can’t happen.
SLIM It’s not gonna happen with Twitter. It didn’t happen with Facebook. Facebook is doing better than ever in VR. They’re prospering.
PROTO They’re creating a whole ‘nother world. That’s how well they are doing.
SLIM This episode, we are kicking off 70s month as I probably mentioned in the intro, so good intro. Right. Thank you. We’re going right to 1974 the great year 1974 scenes from a marriage. Ingmar Bergman. This is the I looked at my own letterbox. This is the first Ingmar movie I’ve ever watched. or seen any Ingmar no persona. I’d never saw persona seven seal seven siano proto, washed it. And then the seventh seal, you know, famously marched in The Last Action Hero, which we loved. Yeah. That was my only conduit to Egmore. Bourbon was Last Action Hero. So we’ll be getting into that later in the show. What else should we discuss? I mean, the Christmas movies are coming in hot and heavy on your letterbox logs that I saw. hot and heavy, Danny.
DANNY Yeah, I watched them. Let’s see. It’s a Wonderful Life. Because it’s the it’s it’s got to be the best Christmas movie ever made. So I truly love that film. It’s perfect. I’m glad that we watched it. I watched it for the first time with us on the show. And it’s just it’s a great and I was thinking better now. I’m honestly surprised that this as good of a story that it’s a wonderful life is that it hasn’t been remade. Like just just a new version of it. I know it’s maybe a little bit blasphemous but like you know, we joke but give Greta Gerwig the script and let’s get let’s get Andrew Garfield as George Bailey or something someone like that.I would really enjoy something like that. I’m just surprised that it hasn’t been done right.
SLIM What if they what if they swap the leads, maybe Andrew is the house husband and Swar-za Ronan is the lead going through her crisis.
DANNY Sure. I don’t know. Anyway, I’m just surprised it hasn’t been redone.
SLIM Right. Was real what what his job even be you think? Keep that same keep the same era. Oh, yeah. Use a bank in this day and age. When was the last time you stepped foot in a bank, Proto?
PROTO In a bank?
SLIM In a physical bank?
PROTO I did have I went out a vestibule. I had to take a check. I had to take a check to the bank, which I haven’t done in probably, I don’t know, years. But I had to go the other week. So
SLIM Danny, when was the last time you stepped foot in the bank?
DANNY I don’t even know where our bank is.
SLIM I haven’t been in a physical bank in more than a decade. And I refuse to go into a bank. I hope I never have to go into a bank. [Danny laughs] You can’t drag me into a bank. You know that you get those times. You respect everyone that works in a bank. We got those people sitting behind those computers. What are those computers even doing half today? They’re sitting at these desks that are shared spaces, they see you walk in, you’re a mark.
PROTO They’re playing solitaire, I know that for a fact.
DANNY Facebook Meta.
SLIM They’re in the metaverse, we said it before, it’s prospering, this new world. Any other Christmas movies you want to highlight Danny?
DANNY I really I mean, I watched a ton Elephone Malone Grinch, Rudolph, Lampoons.
DANNY I did watch Top Gun: Maverick for the sixth time this year. Another banger.
SLIM Was this on the Paramount?
DANNY I did. I streamed it on Paramount+, looked great.
SLIM Oh, gosh.
DANNY Killer.
SLIM Tom. Did you watch the nine minute making of stunt that he put out for Dead Reckoning?
DANNY Ohhhh, yes. I got that in front of Avatar.
SLIM Oh, I didn’t know that.
DANNY I got it in IMAX baby. But yes, very excited about Dead Reckoning.
PROTO I think they went a little overboard with the amount of jumps that he did. They said he did 10,000 jumps or something insane.
SLIM Well training, he like 1000 jumps.
DANNY So many jumps.
PROTO Is that really necessary?
SLIM He’s got to train.
DANNY He’s got to jump.
PROTO Is that an electric train? An electric plane. The amount of gas they burn for him to do those jumps.
SLIM It’s a fraction of the gas that they burn in Epcot every week.
PROTO For a — eh, nevermind. [Danny laughs]
SLIM Pulling the cord on that one!
PROTO I do have an announcement. I wanted to make this. This is a personal announcement for 2023. I wanted to introduce the beginning of this year, Protolexus 2.0. Really,
DANNY I’m listening.
PROTO This is happening. You know, we started Protolexus 0, then we were Protolexus 1, 1.2, 1.2.1… This year, 2023, things are really changing for me, I think. And it’s gonna be Protolexus 2.0 — a whole new Protolexus. I want to have a more positive outlook on things. You know, I want to look more on the bright side of things as a Movie Insider. You know, I think we should be shedding light on the future of movies and not casting shadows as much. And so that’s the future. Protolexus 2.0 coming in January 2023. You’ll hear more news about this on our Instagram.
DANNY Half star ratings?
PROTO Let’s not get crazy. [Danny & Slim laugh]
SLIM Wow, you heard it here first stay tuned. I mean 70s month already having earth shattering ramifications on the show, right? What else will happen? What else? Let’s say hello to some new patrons that joined this week Connor Nathan? Zhan M air Aaron and Nasr all join this past week at access to the VHS village discord discounts on Danny’s beautiful prints by the way. The art for this episode you kidding me? Thank you top tier. Also the second we’re recording different both episodes tonight. We’re also recording John Dieleman and I saw the art for that. Wow. Thank you. So anywho they got access to nearly 40 episodes in the 70 millimeter vault which you can also access on Spotify and Apple if you so choose. Proto, any other movies you want to highlight, jump out at you. My Girl 2. Did you watch My Girl 2?
PROTO I did. Jenna loves My Girl. The of course famous movie from many years ago. Starring Macaulay Culkin and what’s her name.
DANNY Excuse me.
PROTO It’s Elizabeth and chillum ski. She returns in my girl too, as well with Dan Ackroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t in a ton of this movie, but she has a basketball underneath her shirt for the scenes that she is in because she was very pregnant. Yeah. Yeah, they had it on HBO. Max, I think it was on Disney plus we watched it. I actually wait, was this the one where I had to? I had to step away. Yeah, so actually had to this is uh, this has been a complicated week for me all right. You’ve been doing a lot of traveling Yeah, we’re away for a couple days so they Jenna put this on with the kids they were watching this and I started you know, just found myself scrolling on my phone somehow with my girl to on who would have thought and she said, you know, maybe if you have to finish a movie, you should go do that. So I was like, alright, so I went finished scenes of a marriage and came back and that was I don’t know I don’t know why I’m on why I’m going through all this but that was my experience. My girl to
SLIM Does anyone die in My Girl 2?
PROTO Not that I know of. But learns a lot about herself and her family and her history. If ou’re if you’re interested in the history of Anna chumps Lee’s character in My Girl, check out My Girl 2.
SLIM Wow, what a pitch for My Girl 2.
DANNY Does someone die in the first one?
SLIM You’ve never seen My Girl?
PROTO Danny, please.
SLIM Enough. Everyone, be calm. Everyone remain calm. Nobody make a comment. We will give away a year Letterboxd Pro though. In that moment of silence. Every week we give out a free year of letterbox pro if I remember disclaimer, I’m a letterbox employee. We got a tweet this week. Asking a question not to be basic but I think knives out and glass on you and episodes are necessary soon. eyes emoji that comes from Lindsey so you just want to free your litter box pro congrats Danny when will we do knives out and glass on you and episodes?
DANNY I would love who’d done it month that would be a blast. We could do clue or have a lot of fun those are all just we’ll do clue dives
SLIM out. And that’s the end of the month. It will do the night eyes out.
DANNY I can’t think of other who’ve done it but I love knives out I haven’t seen glass on your net yet. And so that’d be fun month I honestly think could be a lot of fun.
SLIM All right, what’s that movie with Christopher Reeve that you asked me to watch?
DANNY Oh with the sweaters they were those death traps
PROTO death on the Nile
SLIM we’re cooking with something here I think we’re cooking with something I did watch Glass Onion. I liked it it’s good. I know you’re done. I liked it. Not as good as the first but I feel like it’s pretty hard to match that the sensation right the sensation we all felt watching the original knives out I also watched It’s A Wonderful Life amazing rewatch
DANNY Did you watch black and white version?
SLIM Course we watched never
DANNY I’ve never watched her version.
SLIM I would never do that.
DANNY It looks fine. Yeah. It looks it’s like you’re in high school when you get like in like in our photography class in high school. We would take like black and white photos and color on top of them with colored pencil and like old like Kim Anderson style photography. That’s what it kind of felt like a couple of times.
SLIM Hmm, not sure if that’s sounds fun to ask. That’s not gonna make me watch it in color next time but we need to get into our mood. I think scenes for a marriage, three and a half hour film, we could have a three and a half hour discussion about this movie. I don’t know if we will scenes from marriagIngmar Bergman, the legend, of which I’ve only seen one film, so take that as what you will part of what’s this movie about?
PROTO At the beginning, Johan and Marianne are a happily married couple. They understand each other’s needs and desires are honest about how they feel. Then suddenly, their idealic relationship is shattered when Johan claims to have fallen in love with someone else, and cuts himself off from Mary end, and their children. As the years roll on, and divorce looms ever closer, they make attempts to reconcile unsuccessfully, but seem incapable of letting go of each other completely. Finally, their marriage of 20 years — and I forgot to finish the synopsis. [Danny & Slim augh
SLIM Just weeks away from Proto 2.0
PROTO Everyone hold on.
SLIM I mean, that doesn’t work. It doesn’t work out for them. That’s the end of that strategy is really does it from my point of view? Oh, you know, right. 1974. It’s based on, not based on it’s from a TV miniseries that six hours long. That was six episodes 15 minutes long, and turned into a theatrical version. So that’s the version we watched that’s on HBO Max, and criterion, I believe the TV version is also available. It’s our criterion as well. It’s on criterion six hours worth of folks when I give that a shot. So theatricals at 4.3 on letterbox, and I knew of this movie, just in like passing like, Oh, this is one of those movies, you know, artsy fartsy? Probably is what I would have called it years ago. Danny, have you heard of this? We’ll get we’re about to get into? We’ll find out in a few minutes. What about you then have you known about this movie and the prestige around it?
DANNY Not the prestige around it, but I did know about it when I started really getting in the Mars work maybe like a year or two ago when I watched persona for the first time. And then we watch Seventh Seal. And then my favorite of his is Autumn Sonata. Oh. So I knew scenes of marriage existed as something I wanted to watch eventually. Maybe I at the time, I saw the runtimes for either the theatrical or the mini series. So I just figured no, thank you. So yeah, that’s that’s all I really knew about it.
SLIM Live is in that one, too? I think live might be in. Oh, Lynn is in a lot of his movies. Yeah. Holy cow. Part of what about you?
PROTO I definitely remember seeing the poster for this movie. I think it’s kind of iconic of them sitting on the bed. I actually did start watching the new scenes from our marriage. I think that was on HBO starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chasteen. But I only watched I think like two or three episodes, it was just at the time, it just felt like far too depressing. But it is interesting how similar they are in terms of the character there seems to from what I remember, there was some some changes. I kind of I would kind of like to see how it’s different. Now I kind of want to watch it just to to know, right? I don’t know if I will.
SLIM There was talk in the pre show. So for those that don’t listen, or are members of our Discord. Danny does a little pre show for about 30 minutes. It’s not recorded with folks in live chat. There was a discussion about Oscar Isaac’s hog appears in a mini series. I think I can say hog, I’m sure can say hog debt. Dale in this. Dale is agreeing I can say
PROTO he’s just giving thumbs up on hog. Yeah, he loves it.
SLIM Jessica Chasteen isn’t I love Jessica Chastain. So maybe I’ll give it a shot. All right. So in this segment, we jot three notes down each Oh, so we’ll go roundtable until we exhaust most of them. And then we’ll give her letterbox rating and honorable mentions. Let’s start with pronoun. What do you have first?
PROTO This so there’s some there’s things in this marriage where you see a few different relationships and our marriages that are in different levels of of turmoil. But I was just really struck by the idea of having of how Marion’s character really gets blindsided by Johann when when she when he tells her that he fell in love with someone else. And that was like really, that was like a pretty scary thing as seeing just how it unfolds because there’s a lot that you can do. In relationship to I think protect against, you know, preserving it and and guarding against it. But this idea that someone a stranger could come along in into your spouse’s life, and they could like fall in love with somebody in a way that they’ve never been before. And then just think, like, I’m done. This is actually like true love, that I’ve never experienced before. I’m sorry, but I have to leave you. That. To me, that was like probably the scariest rolis thing of this movie, because you can’t I just don’t think I don’t know if there’s anything you can do to kind of like defend or protect against that.
SLIM That entire conversation was nuts. Especially I mean, the long shot of her like listening to him. Explain how he’s in love with this other woman. And then on top of that, talking about how lovely her his her breasts are, they both show the photo this is her. Yes, lovely bras. Yeah, she does have lovely breasts. I don’t know if I’ve ever said that out loud. Let alone both husband and wife agreeing about a mistress. But yeah, that scene is nuts. There was a little bit the one thing I caught up like right away in that front that lead into that conversation is when they’re doing that like interview for the paper. When they’re sitting on the chair having the discussion. The one thing I caught was she didn’t laugh at the joke where he said he was like a good lover or his joke about being a lover. I can remember he said he’s a bad one or a good one. And she like looks at him and doesn’t laugh. And I was like, oh boy, it’s your finished? Moment. Like her reaction. No emotion was the most telling thing in that bullets. You also get that scene with them and their friends at dinner.
DANNY Oh my God,
SLIM what an awkward scene as well. Dan, would you think about that, that meeting where he finally revealed it?
DANNY It’s weird, because it’s almost expected at this point in the film that someone is going to either leave the other for someone else. I mean, I think I assumed that it was going to be Johan, however you say his name. But it was weird to watch her reaction to him. Because I would expect I think what I expect would be yelling, hitting anger, like more anger. But to watch her. I don’t know. It was almost like a weird, calm demeanor. But also if I mean, it’s either that or like she’s in full shock. And not really knowing how to respond in the moment. And I don’t know it was it honestly, it’s probably the best scene in the entire thing is that kind of moment of reaction from them or her to him. And it’s just I was weird. It was not what I expected a reaction of, you know, someone telling their spouse they had Oh, no, they’re having an affair. And I’m leaving tomorrow for Paris with them.
SLIM You can see her almost run the gamut of the varying, like shock or grief. Like where she’s almost like accepting and maybe I can kind of make this work. I can I can win you back. Like there you can see her hit like five different levels of finding out that someone is leaving you in that span of like that entire scene, which I thought was fascinating.
PROTO Yeah, her pleading for him not to leave.
DANNY And him just like, his calmness to was weird, like just changing. And then asking about the dry cleaning for his CEU and then just getting a book off the shelf just to casually lay in bed to read after I’ve just told my wife, I’m leaving her. It was such an odd way. I don’t know, it was just not at all what I expected.
PROTO Yeah, I kind of wondered if it was like a cultural thing, because it did seem so odd. And maybe that’s just from what we’ve seen in media before about like something like this, where it’s like, it ends with a fight a screaming like, marriage story more, like where they’re just yelling at each other. And one of them slams the door and leaves. Whereas this there was I mean, there was like, there’s really depth to the complexity of the relationship, even their understanding of one another. Were almost they got mad at each other but was almost like they would never, never fully say like I’m done with you. Like there was something that was like keeping them together and like keeping them calm and having an understanding about each other almost to a fault. Where it’s like, Alright, you’re doing this like hard thing to me, but I still care about you and want the best for you.
SLIM There was even I mean, there was a few lines that he had. There’s nothing to keep me here. I’ve never loved my children. That was the one thing that I found so strange. Like the total separation of him and the kids I mean, really the whole movie there’s they don’t show the kids, right, but even his like disinterest in his own children at this point, which I guess is not I guess, but I guess that is true in some of these situations where someone leaves and they just totally separate themselves from the kids entirely. And they never see their father again. Right. And those are those stories you hear about kids in the deadbeat dads. He says something also that is just brutal. Or maybe it was later in the movies like I’ve wanted to leave you for years or something like that. Oh, yeah, I’ve wanted to be rid of you for years are like Jesus, what are you? Seriously? Yeah. So my first point is like the journey of the marriage itself and their relationship, like I was absolutely floored with their journey over 10 years. Because the movie takes place. You know, it shows various scenes to take place over the course of a decade. And, you know, at various points, they meet up again, to like, hang out, they’re still married. So they almost have like an affair in their own marriage, you could say, because he’s still with the other woman. I can’t remember her name. Paula, Paula. And they meet occasionally to talk about, like, how that’s going, how are you doing? And she has this like, crazy line about how she finally started seeing a psychiatrist and then ended up having sex with the psychiatrist. And like, can we put that guy in prison psychiatrist is doing this Oh, my God. Again, Sweden, something in the air in Sweden. Next meet up, are we gonna swim, but the part of their relationship that stayed intact, I was like, bewildered and fascinated, like the idea of a journey of two people who go through many things in a marriage, and then still find each other over the years, like I was, I wouldn’t I want to say smitten with that. But I was so intrigued by that, because that, you know, we’ve been all been married for a long time. And we’ve hit peaks and valleys. But this is like a peak in a valley that it was almost like beyond, like, almost my comprehension, because they, they have that scene later, where they go to his office, and she brings the divorce papers. And they, I think they have sex, and then he gets violent. Like, he gets drunk and starts hitting her, Oh, my God, and then which was brutal, but I loved the way that it was shot, like he couldn’t see her at all, you almost saw him like doing the movements. And then he signs the divorce papers. And then I thought that was gonna be the end of the movie. But then after that, a year later, whatever how much time has passed? They’re meeting up again. Yeah, they like can’t separate the bond that they have. And they’re so happy to see each other, they spent, they go back to the cottage, after all those years. And that journey between two people who have love for each other, I was just so fascinated by that. I’d never seen it before in a movie.
PROTO Yeah, it feels more of like the relationship you would say you have with your family, like your parents, or sibling or a child, where it’s like, well, no matter what this person does, to me or anyone else, like I still love them and they’re my still my family. So I kind of stuck with them. That’s what it kind of felt like but it’s like with a spouse who at one point you didn’t even know wasn’t in you know, in your life, and who’s hurt you significantly. But then you’re choosing to stay intertwined. Yeah, there’s like such a level of like depth and complexity to what their their relationship is, and, and how they could even define it. And I love that word. They kind of say that at the end. I think I think it’s Maryann who says, like, time has given us a third partner experience, where almost like their their relationship is like three people and like there’s this thing of like the experience that they have together that you can’t really quantify, that has like, shaped how they see each other and that they’re kind of almost like past the point of not being hurt, but by like not allowing it to like separate them because all the things that go through in this movie. I mean, there’s quite a few times where they can call it quits
SLIM on each other. Yeah. The other the other part where she even like, whether at the cottage at the end, she’s even like remarking how much he’s grown or changed because at the end, he he essentially realizes like, I never should have done this, you know, but he has like some poignant comments that he reveals to her. And she talks about how much they’ve grown. And, like one thought that I had was, in general watching this movie, like, what is my marriage going to be like, in 10 years? 20 years? How different are we going to be? And I wondered if they would have changed at all if they stayed married? Like if they would have stayed together? Like if maybe he went into Paris and came back a month later. What what what kind of people would they be? That’s just kind of like the deep existential questions. I was thinking about watching. Danny, what’s your first point?
DANNY My first point is what I love about Ingmar And it’s definitely highlighted the most in this film is how well he crafts his movies with very few people. Autumn Sonata is the same way. So as persona you just have two, maybe three casts, but it’s so heavily focused on the two of them with an incredible dialogue and story and it’s shot really well. It’s, it’s really impressive to, to, at this point in my cinema watching career to have now seen three of his films, or four excuse me, and to be like, this is a staple of how good Ingmar is and in this type of style, like we can watch a Spielberg or Hitchcock or and say this was Hitchcockian or something someone’s doing this but when I watched like this, it really solidified on how good Ingmar is at these really close personal relationships store stories telling them well if not for three hours or however six hours many series but like, it’s, it’s just really as impressive and it’s it almost seems really hard to do what he does. And then is in his filmography, like this, instead of having a ton of characters, a lot of things to distract you with. You have two very specific people in this movie, that you’re focused on the entire time. And following a very depressing and hard to watch story. And it’s just done so well. I’m just I’m I’m impressed by his filmography.
SLIM And there’s so much text in this so much text. There’s no There’s no being on your phone during this movie. Well, it’s not. I mean, you can but I don’t, you’ll miss probably, you know, 300
DANNY you know, lines. I know how to speak Swedish.
SLIM Are you fluent in Swedish after watching? US it on the show? All the one I will
PROTO thank you. I love how, at least it seemed this way that the trendline translations from mother and father is Mama and Papa. Papa blowing out each other?
SLIM Yeah, I am moving up some Ingmar movies on my watch list. For sure. I would love for you to watch Autumn Sonata, I added it to my upcoming watch list. You know that persona is amazing, too. But, yeah, Persona looks more like more experimental. Is that true? Or my I mean,
DANNY yeah, definitely. Yeah, I
PROTO was kind of shocked by how how, ahead of its time it felt when I watched persona a few years ago.
SLIM Probably number two.
PROTO So something I noticed, I wonder if you guys noticed this as well, like, I think they’re like, there’s, there’s like a, like an underlying theme of like, the idea of like, a marriage, and like it being a contract and, you know, like a legality to it. And there seem to be almost like this mirroring effect that happened in the beginning of the movie, versus what happened at the end, it was kind of it was basically the reverse where they, they started with, like, a conversation. And then I think it was like when he first was like trying to like initiate having sex with her. And then they got into a fight and didn’t have it. But then at the end, that’s like when they’re in the depths of their marriage. But then at the end, when they’re kind of like free, and they’re like that scene where they’re trying to sign the contract of divorce, it was almost like a complete flip, where, like, they had like, this freedom to kind of do whatever they want. And they felt like then they were like, infatuated with each other again, and they, like, they went to have like, they were like, yeah, they like loved each other. And like, they want to have sex right there on the floor. And it just like, it just felt like it was like this, this complete opposite and, and I was like, trying to, like draw the connection between like, you know, I guess just when, you know, your, your, what it means like when you’re in a marriage versus like, when you have the freedom of choice. I don’t know like that was just like the the thought I had watching those two scenes because they seemed very specific in the way that they mirrored each other.
SLIM Yeah, there’s a bunch of mirroring that I mean, the very last scene is almost like the very last scene it’s either at the scene in his office or right after that where he’s like begging her to come back. We’re begging her that for him to come back which was the complete opposite when when he finally left and she was like beside herself. So everything just came pretty much full circle for Johann you dope. The aspects of the relationship. I could probably just read a book on Ingmar I think this is based on his relationship with live right. Like they’re loosely based on their sleep relationship on his parents or his parents, his parents on Then yes has relationship Oh, my God. Okay, that’s all dovetail into my second point which was, I guess really the writing but also like the little scenes. There’s a line where one of them says affection shouldn’t be kept just for vacations, which I thought was one of the most mind blowing lines I’ve ever heard in my wife. Oh, my God, I’m like reevaluating everything. Washington Hi, I’m taking I’m honestly taking notes. When she’s reading her diary to him. Yes. Oh my god, it probably the most important moment in the history of their relationship up to that point. And then it quickly pans to him sleeping.
PROTO Who hasn’t had that happen?
SLIM I started, I started up, oh, my God. Let’s see, there’s some other there’s some other lines, you can think there’s a cat. I wish I’d written the line before that. But I think you and says you can say anything about anyone. And it fits in some respect. I want for me to I just in general, the juxtaposition of like, what I would call fantasy, and real life, like a real life, marriage and fantasy. Like, there’s so many men that have this idea that you can leave. And it’s like, the grass is greener on the other side. Like he thinks everything is gonna be like, I’m in love. I’m finally in love, the love that I wanted. And he thinks he can have that he’s gonna leave his kind of like boring life. And this shows kind of, in many aspects, like, this isn’t how the real world works, my friend, you can’t just leave and expect everything to be rosy. I also have various points, I wish they would have just both went to get counseling, like marriage counseling. I mean, at the end was one, both of you agree to go to counseling and separately as well. But at the same time, I’m, I’m like thinking to myself, that would have saved them 10 years, you know, but I always come back to the end of this movie, where? What is the desired end result? Like maybe are they happy? Where they ended up? Really? Where would they have been happier? Together? And fighting through this? So many, so many scenes like that just left me curious. And it’s really just like the complexity of the human relationship, like almost sort of snarky that this was like, my human condition. This, this movie, like was like, I got more emotional complexity out of this, then the two human condition movies that I saw, and mainly, it’s just my taste in film, I guess. But that’s my second point.
PROTO Yeah, there was a line. I don’t know who said it, one of them. But they said we have learned math, math, mathematical formulas by heart, but we haven’t been taught a thing about our souls. Like other two that like because they’re both very well learned. Yeah. But like, we all go to school and we learn things, but there’s no like, there’s no instructions on like, how to have a relationship at all, unless you know, it’s all extracurricular. And like, like you’re saying like the depth of the complexity of a relationship of I mean, we barely know ourselves of like, why we choose what we do. Like how are we going to understand someone else? Who we’re living with?
SLIM I mean, any he had what 1000 books behind him? Easily can have marriage one on one in any of those books, marriage Soup
DANNY for the Soul,
SLIM marriage for dummies. I guess most people don’t have that book in their library and it leads to issues. Danny What’s your second point?
DANNY My second point is I brought it up with Casey when we were done watching and she doesn’t agree with me. But I would have preferred watching the six hour mini series to this three hour theatrical because I feel like I would have liked time to break up the story because so much is happening that’s that’s heavy and and like I said before depressing like there’s so much going on so much dialogue and I needed breaks because this is just three hours straight of of this you know story going through 10 years of their marriage breaking up in fairs and stuff in abuse and so it’s like for me I don’t like the three hour version of this I kind of wish I had seen the six the six episode ministers I don’t think this works for me well as the theatrical
SLIM Oh, do we what do we know? Or maybe someone in chat know what the breaks are in the miniseries like our other characters coming and going to kind of like separately
DANNY but know what’s been taken out of for the for the three hours because it’s longer to watch it. six episodes yo Han
SLIM bakes a cake.
DANNY But yeah, I just I don’t for me, it doesn’t it doesn’t work because it’s exalt posting. Not boring, exhausting. There’s just so much to keep up with and being a foreign film as well.
SLIM Yeah, I’m curious to learn more about the mini the the OG mini series as well. But I mean, six hours, and someone pointing to
DANNY a YouTube, you can watch one at a time. You don’t have to just back back to back at 50 minute romps.
SLIM I mean, season 12 A Murder She Wrote. I might not have time for scenes for marriage, many
DANNY more seasons of murders. No
SLIM idea. I feel like I’m seeing actors that I recognize young ones. I’m familiar with timeframe. Jessica, please. Part one, are you going to watch the six hour version?
PROTO is probably not going to happen. You didn’t finish this analysis? He’s
SLIM not going to finish the six hour.
PROTO I’m kind of curious to. Yeah, like what’s in there? I wonder if there are other characters like as Paula in there, or is it just really? Right more than just them? Yeah, another three hours, which I don’t know if I can read for another three hours. It’s a lot. Yeah.
SLIM I thought Paula was not his like, lab assistant. Right. Or what is she that character that appeared in that one random scene? That is the only random scene in the movie? Oh, is
DANNY that Paula?
SLIM I have no idea that could does anyone know if that was Paula? No, it wasn’t. Well, there was a scene like I thought that that might have been I was this the love interest that he leaves for is this one that breaks up the marriage. But he had sent me that that scene wasn’t there because he points out that he let her read some of his writing. Read but he never let Maryann read it. Right. Proto funnel. Third point.
PROTO I final third point. I guess just that I mean, what a cretin that Johan is in this man. total scumbag. Really, by the end of this, like just just awful. I really disliked the character. But I think that’s, that’s having a character like that, in this is is more compelling and complex than just having like, kind of like two partners who are pretty even evenly matched, I think and like the harm that they they’ve done to each other because I feel like this is more maybe like more real to life. And it’s also it’s that much more compelling that she has she’s still in love with this guy. And once him in her life like that, see that that final scene where they go to the cottage house together, and she’s just like, swooning over him and I’m like, like, Marianne, he was like, drunk and beating you. And like a week ago or however long ago that was so that just like, I think that just like shows how but like, it just shows like how there’s just like a complexity to the to human relationship that’s hard for that there’s much more to it. And like that’s not an easy thing to convey. And like you guys have like we’ve been saying this whole episode just like the fact that Bergman could really do that in a movie like this. And the way that he has is is really really amazing. About his
SLIM a when he dropped trial. He cheeks the cheeks hanging out the Swedish a cheeks. Yeah, Bourbon does it again. My final point, we actually hit all of my big ones. I guess we could point out that scene at the front with the friends the dinner party. Oh my god.
PROTO Oh, I love that scene.
SLIM How about that? Was that couple crumbling? In front of them? Yes. And there was one cool moment where I saw like, Yo, Han like just make eyes to her like across the room like not good. How
PROTO do we get out of here?
SLIM That guy was sweating his ass off that one. My god he needed a tissue or something or handkerchief. Now, Danny, what’s your final point? I’ll come back around to me.
DANNY I think my final point would be I think live and Erland are incorrect. I think they’re incredible in this I think to what they had to do and pull off in in in this movie is is just they’re great actors. This was it just feels like a feat to have to perform these kind of stories. Like even watching protobuf, like a marriage story like Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson like that stuff just seems hard to do. And then watching them do it in this just feels like they did a great job at it. I mean, he pulls off being a scumbag really well and it shows and she she does a great job as well. I just think their performances are really good.
SLIM Yeah, I was about to bring it up. Robber brings it up to saraband from 2003 by Ingmar is the sequel to this phone call where they reprise their characters. They see the synopsis as they haven’t seen each other for 32 years.
DANNY Oh my gosh,
SLIM but they come back they revisit. I think that’s pretty fascinating set of 3.7 on letterbox, so your mileage may vary. Part of final thoughts breeding scenes for marriage.
PROTO Final thoughts. Oh, and Marianne is on the on the phone with the friends and then they tell her that they knew all along. That was brutal. There’s some serious face rubbing in this. Just notice though. tvzion level? Yeah, yeah. Maybe even more than Jimmy. Oh, Johan was really going for it with the face robbing.
SLIM Actually, even with the hands, right? Or are you talking about the hands? Because I think I saw some, like just groping of a face several times.
PROTOI found some of the some of the affection in this was a little a little weird. Like, almost like they felt uncomfortable as actors really getting into it. Like so. I don’t know if it was that or maybe it’s a Swedish thing. You can say. Um, you know, I really enjoyed this and I think it’s like that the script is incredible. I really did struggle though with it being a foreign and having to read because you are you were literally reading for three hours. And I was just I was tired. But I wish I could just I just wanted to blink. I thought this would be amazing to see in a theater. Like I’m playing out like as a play this is incredibly Yeah, like that would be so cool. Um, so yeah, I’m kind of on the edge between like three and four stars with this because I just like I think it’s I think it’s like a four star movie but like watching it felt like a three star experience of just having to read some I know that sounds probably so lame, but that’s kind of how I felt. Um, but I guess I’ll put it at four stars because I think it really is an incredible like written story.
SLIM All our new like foreign movie audience coming in. Hearing proto being so exhausted from having to read this subtitled movie they’re checking out their unfollowing right now. Let’s see their property that little cottage and that look. Oh, yeah. Love that thing. Her green Volvo though. Yeah,
DANNY give me that station. Yeah.
PROTO Oh my god, this suspension on that Volvo
SLIM the shot of her listening the the vale of tears scene where he barely even talks about the kids just so bewildering. The spouses, their spouses are abroad and they’re back again. My my one sense, enter and then what is marriage? I was just so such complex thoughts portrayed by this movie, which is fascinating. Just the past the passage of time with relationships, which is really what I hung up on.
PROTO I had a line like that in my notes to at one point where I just said, why do people even want to spend time with one person in particular? I felt like this movie was made me like question like, why wait, why are we doing this?
SLIM She remarks that she’s changed over the years. Yeah, I I enjoyed watching it. I don’t have a problem with the subtitles. It’s three and a half hours of legit reading. But I’m glad to have finally checked this off my list. I’m going to four and a half stars. Oh, more scenes. It’s a difficult watch. Yo Han is a douche. But seeing the progression of people changing over the years I was really just glued to the screen for the whole thing.
DANNY Yeah, I I struggled with it. It was it was long and exhausting. And I don’t enjoy depressing marriage stories. I think it’s it’s just hard to it’s hard to it’s just not an enjoyable time and to do it for three hours straight. Also didn’t enjoy as well as well. I mean, as much as I love Ingmar and I think he’s incredible and I there’s there’s a lot that I liked about it. I’m probably still sitting at three stars for this. Oh,
SLIM wow. Wow. I have not seen marriage to her. I had no desire to see when it came out. But does that go over the course of years or is it like one year or something?
DANNY I don’t enjoy it. I don’t I wouldn’t even I don’t really remember. But I remember just having the same kind of feeling as I felt in the events just just it’s heavy, like heavy heavy. I mean Adam and and Scarlett are amazing in it. But it’s just it’s, you gotta be in the right mood for a movie like that. Yeah, I
SLIM have no desire to watch that filth out here all right, so we’re kicking off seven days a month and last week I announced my pic and we’re technically we’re recording it tonight. John Dieleman is our next movie. We do have a letter I think to get to before we officially sign off let me see if I find that here. Comes from Andy you can shoot us a letter using the links on 70 Mm pod.com. Andrew says it’s time 70 Mm. I’m packing my bags and setting off in a pass the VHS village. If I take one more step I’ll be the furthest away from home I’ve ever been. So here’s my question. If I support through Patreon can I access the vault TM episodes on Apple podcasts where normally listen I noticed the ability to subscribe directly from the podcast app but it looks like that’s purely for the bonus episodes and not necessarily the VHS village if not that’s okay just curious. Thanks for bringing so much joy to us listeners become my favorite movie podcast perhaps my favorite podcast in general to why the fire rises. And I any left to sign off that is in Slovenian cheer in Slovenian so I won’t try to attempt to read it but it means to your health comes from Mandy. Thank you, Janice. Thank you, Renee. And you can listen in the Apple podcasts. If you’re a Patreon sub we give you a little secret URL you can plop right in the podcast app and you can enjoy your VHS village access via Patreon. So thank you Andrew. All right, so next week is Shawn Dieleman. Three and a half hours another foreign film what have we done to start off this month? 70 some odd people probably think oh yeah, we’re getting some action cop movies gritty New York about gritty marriage. Gritty widows. Live in life
DANNY we have to break in proto 2.0
SLIM Friday. I’m gonna check John. John Dieleman we’re we’re getting Pardo’s pick it up. How gritty Do you think it’s going to be how
DANNY grit grind there’s a lot of some grit and here’s some denim and grit
SLIM also next episode we will be going through our everyone sitting down. Oh McKenzie in our Discord put together this poll, top 100 films of all time, VHS village in honor of the sight and sound poll. So members of our Discord are sharing their letterbox list or their lists of the of in their opinion the 10 best films ever made. And McKenzie will present our own VHS vilage top 100. So next week, we will present some of our picks from our own personal lists. Proto do you think you’re going to shock anybody next episode when you reveal some of what you think are the best films ever made?
PROTO No, I think I’m pretty standard by the book. Some pics here. I mean, I got great movies on this list great great movies might not be the movies that everyone else has but I I think you can argue with some of these movies
SLIM Lawrence of Arabia is that all your list?
PROTO Saved for the Show
SLIM All right, so that is scenes from remarriage 70s month off and running slowly maybe in some people’s opinions pertinent closing thoughts this week
PROTO any closing thoughts for our scenes from a marriage DOCSIS 2.0 moment
SLIM he’s been traveling a lot folks he’s been traveling he’s been hitting the road literally just got a car.
PROTO Listen, it’s gonna things are changing in 2023 It’s gonna be a great year with your eyes.
SLIM Crossed the finish line for this year. We’ll see everybody next week for Jeanne Dielman.
[70mm theme ramps up, plays alone, fades out]
