Faithless

An actress (Lena Endre) and a filmmaker (Krister Henriksson) have an affair that brings misery to all concerned, while the now-elderly filmmaker (Erland Josephson) looks back ruefully from lonely old age. Written by the great Ingmar Bergman, the autobiographical script is directed by his former star-and-lover Liv Ullmann. (The whole thing begins to seem pretty incestuous after a while.) The script stagnates into a lugubrious navel-gazing drone and Ullmann’s direction is leaden, with one-note performances from Henriksson (harsh and snarling) and Endre (blubbering incessantly). The most indelible impression is made by Michelle Gylemo as Endre’s dewy-eyed preteen daughter, shamefully damaged by both parents; but then, her character is practically the only one who isn’t a selfish, despicable pig.