I wanted to hate Faithless.  I wanted to hate it so much that I’d leave after 15 minutes and save the two-plus hours for something that sounded more enjoyable than a slow-moving Swedish film about marital infidelity.  You know, like picking out drapes, or giving my cat a bath, or volunteering to be a mall Santa.

But Faithless turned out to be anything but a bore.  The film, which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress at the European Film Awards, did more than hold my interest – it shook me to my very core with a riveting and, at times, horrifying portrayal of the effect infidelity can have on a close-knit group of people.

The film begins with an old man (Erland Josephson) sitting down at desk in a room that overlooks the sea.  He opens his notebook to begin writing a story and, literally, creates a main character out of thin air.  Her name is Marianne (Lena Endre), and she’s a happily married actress with a beautiful nine-year-old daughter.  The old man asks Marianne questions about her life and, as she answers, he jots down her responses as his story begins to take shape.

Despite having a great career, a loving husband and child, and a beautiful home, Marianne plans an affair with David (Krister Henriksson), her director and close friend of the family.  Their fling, set to take place over a three-week period in Paris, is supposed to be temporary, with neither party having to worry about sneaking around or, theoretically, jealousy.  Things don’t go as planned, of course, and their affair follows them home to Sweden, where Marianne’s husband Markus (Thomas Hanzon) finds out, kicking off a series of ugly events and a bitter custody battle over little Isabelle (Michelle Gylemo).

As Marianne slowly reveals the story to the old man, he looks stunned and appalled by the actions of his own creation.  But, like a shrink, he continues to ask her questions in an attempt to get Marianne to finish her tragic tale.  And her emotional account is far from predictable, too, often causing the old man to seem on the brink of tears.

It should come as no surprise that Faithless was written by nine-time Academy Award nominee Ingmar Bergman, who is certainly no stranger to films showcasing the tragic failure of a marriage.  Bergman’s long-time collaborator Liv Ullmann (a double Oscar nominee for acting) directed the mesmerizing film, which is full of wonderful performances from the five main characters.  Erland Josephson, one of the original players from Bergman’s acting company, plays the old man – a role obviously meant to be Bergman.  Ironically, Josephson has played several Bergman-esque characters over the years.

2:35 –

for adult language, nudity and strong sexual content