**CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS** Written by Ingmar Bergman and aptly directed by Liv Ullman, `Private Confessions' continues the chronicle of Bergman's parents which began with the 1992 film `The Best Intentions.' Now, twelve years into the marriage of Anna and Henrik (Pernilla August and Samuel Froler), the story unfolds through a series of five `conversations' which are actually pivotal intervals in Anna's life. The first is with her Uncle Jacob (Max von Sydow), a clergyman, and we learn of the anguish she has suffered due to her own unfaithfulness to the autocratic and demanding Henrik. Though she does not regret the affair, she realizes the precariousness of her position and the threat it poses to the well-being of her family, especially the children. Jacob tells her she must end the affair at once, and advises her to tell her husband everything. She knows how much this would hurt Henrik, and must decide whether or not to do as her Uncle insists. In the second conversation we learn the outcome of her decision. The third segment takes place two months prior to her confession. Anna arranges a rendezvous with Tomas (Thomas Hanzon), a young theology student, at the home of a friend. When it is finished, Tomas leaves her, appalled by his own inadequacies at allowing their affair to proceed at all. Anna truly loves him though, and knows that she will always be with him, at least in her own heart. The next conversation is ten years later. Jacob is dying and has asked for Anna to come to him. They have not actually spoken with one another since he advised her in the matter of her affair with Tomas. All this time he has wondered, burdened by the possible outcome of his advice, and doesn't want to go to his grave without knowing. He is relieved to learn she has not seen Tomas in ten years, and they take communion and pray together. Then, in the final segment, Anna is eighteen years old, a confirmation student of Jacobs, and we learn of her doubts concerning her faith. Jacob, her spiritual advisor, tells her she must decide for herself whether or not to take communion, and in the end we are left pondering Bergman's familiar themes of faith, suffering and the foibles of human nature he addresses so adroitly; the pain of discovering one's own loneliness; and the guilt we all seem destined to bear. Liv Ullman has done an outstanding job of rendering Bergman's material to the screen, and should be commended for eliciting exemplary performances from von Sydow, Hanzon and especially August, and for allowing them the time necessary with which to convey as much with an expression or a gesture as with words alone. These moments enable the actors to breathe life and meaning into their characters while giving credence to the morality to which those characters must adhere. `Private Confessions,' like all of Bergman's work, will make you pause and reflect on your own life and imperfections, while bringing you face to face with the reality of being mortal. I rate this one 8/10.
Review of Private Confessions
