Marianne: Lena Endre	Bergman: Erland Josephson
David: Krister Henriksson	Markus: Thomas Hanzon
Isabelle: Michelle Gylemo	Margareta: Juni Dahr
Director: Liv Ullmann	Ingmar Bergman: Scriptwriter

30 Second Bottom Line: "Two men and a woman desire to play an adult game---let us love a little dangerously, let us be happy together, let us forget what is good and what is evil"…a quote from director Liv Ullmann that captures the essence of this film. Each person is unfaithful to the other and everything collapses. There are always consequences to one's actions.

Story Line: Marianne & Markus (Lena Endre and Thomas Hanzon) are happily married with a darling eight-year-old daughter named Isabelle (Michelle Gylemo). Markus is an orchestra conductor, who travels the world and Marianne is a well-known actress. Their best friend is David (Krister Henriksson), a director.

David spends the night at their home when Markus is away and he tells Marianne that he wants to sleep with her. He has a reputation for playing loose with relationships. Marianne politely refuses, yet allows him to stay in her bed, as they hold hands like they are best friends who are the age of her daughter. The seed of an affair has been planted and soon Marianne encourages David to join her on a business trip in Paris. Markus is aware of this and encourages them to spend time together while in France.

Isabelle (Michelle Gylemo) has a close relationship with her mother, but is emotionally attached to David almost as much as she is to her father. Markus discovers that Marianne is not only having an affair, but one with intense passion over an extended period (no one night stand or one week vacation fling here); he wants a divorce and sole custody of Isabelle. Everyone's emotions shatter.

Tell Me More About It: Faithless was highly praised at the Cannes and New York Film Festivals last year. There was a controversy (as in prolonged booing) about the best actress award at Cannes between Lena Endre in Faithless and Bjork as the winner for Dancer in the Dark. My first reaction was that the Bjork role and story was probably easier to absorb. However, I now would say the support for Endre was strong because of the subtlety with which she went from the "perfect" marriage to hell on earth, while thinking that things were never really that bad.

Ingmar Bergman developed this story based in part on his own personal experience. He'd been thinking about it as the basis for a film for years and it came to life when he saw the right combination of character and temperament in Lena Endre. We see the story in his imagination as he has meetings with Marianne at his home while he listens to her story.

There is a part of us that always wants something that we don't have…the grass is greener somewhere else syndrome. We think we know the cost of forbidden fruit but usually we do not. One of the fascinating things shown in Faithless is that the same act of sin can have minor or major adverse consequences depending solely on how long the sin is committed. In this case, had Marianne and David "let the passion burn out," things might have been fine.

An affair, and a conspiracy of silence by those involved, might be tolerated for a short time. However, when it's all out in the open, the shame, jealously, guilt, and lack of trustworthiness create an unacceptable situation. The even balance that existed before discovery has been destroyed, often with no way back to reconciliation.

One of the 10 commandments is "thou shall not commit adultery." Whether by religious conviction or pure pangs of conscience, this acknowledged episode in Ingmar Bergman's life has stayed with him, as it haunts the character Bergman in the film. If you have committed this sin and saw your marriage survive, you will appreciate how close you came to disaster. If the marriage was dissolved, you're still lucky because you're still here… literally and figuratively. Some who stray see their lives not just turn upside down, but left in ruin. When you do right, things may not be perfect, but do wrong, and you can count on hurting those you love, even someone you may love more than yourself, maybe a child.

The ultimate act of responsibility in love, even unconditional love, may be to care what happens emotionally to those we're tied to by commitment or birth.

Lena Endre: Expectations	Erland Josephson: The Sacrifice
Krister Henriksson: True Moments	Thomas Hanzon: Private Confessions
Liv Ullmann: Private Confessions	Ingmar Bergman: Private Confessions