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Michelle Williams and Oscar Isaac to start in HBO remake of Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage"

Jeremy

Jeremy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,639
deadline.com

Michelle Williams & Oscar Isaac To Star In HBO Limited Series ‘Scenes From A Marriage’ From Hagai Levi & Media Res

HBO has given a green light to Scenes From a Marriage limited series, starring and executive produced by Oscar Isaac and Michelle Williams.
deadline.com deadline.com

HBO has given a green light to Scenes From a Marriage, a limited series adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's classic miniseries, starring and executive produced by Oscar Isaac and Michelle Williams. It comes from Our Boys and The Affair co-creator Hagai Levi, Michael Ellenberg's Media Res and Endeavor Content.


Written and directed by Levi, the series adaptation re-examines the show's iconic depiction of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple, played by Isaac and Williams.
...

Ingmar Bergman wrote and directed the original 1973 Swedish miniseries Scenes From A Marriage, which starred Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. Bergman's teleplay, the story of a disintegration of a marriage, drew on his own experiences, including his relationship with Ullmann.



This will lack the autobiographical power of the original, but the original is one of television's great works of art, no doubt.
 
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Jeremy

Jeremy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,639
The original also inspired this amazing open letter:

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Cosmic Bus

Cosmic Bus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,013
NY
While I can't think of many actresses besides Williams who would be suitably great for this, it's suuuch an unnecessary project. I actually had a dream (nightmare?) a few nights ago that Netflix was going to remake Autumn Sonata 😅
 
RocketKiss

RocketKiss

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
4,691
These kinds of movies (is sad marriagecore a genre?) give Williams a steady paycheck. Good for her.
 
Isak_Borg

Isak_Borg

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
578
No, not like this!

This is a horrible idea and not sure why they feel the need to explore this now.
 
hjort

hjort

Member
Nov 9, 2017
4,096
Well this is certainly something that creative people definitely should spend their finite time on this planet doing.
 
Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,184
UK
If anyone I expected to want to adapt this, I would have thought it was Noah Baumbach. But then I guess A Marriage Story was that, probably heavily influenced by Scenes From A Marriage.
 
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OP
Jeremy

Jeremy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,639
Messofanego said:
If anyone I expected to want to adapt this, I would have thought it was Noah Baumbach. But then I guess A Marriage Story was that, probably heavily influenced by Scenes From A Marriage.
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It definitely was... there's even a scene where there's a magazine profile of Driver's character framed on a wall with the title "Scene from a Marriage" or something... and Baumbach's film was similarly autobiographical.
 
ViewtifulJC

ViewtifulJC

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,020
the original is so revered, so influential, that at this point a remake seems like setting ya self up for failure. And Isaac and Williams are both fantastic actors, so you could've done like...a new thing entirely.
 
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
Hagai Levi is great.

Oscar and Michelle are great.

But this seems like hubris
 
RSTEIN

RSTEIN

Member
Nov 13, 2017
1,870
Episode 1 was amazing. I was really thrown off by the 'behind the scenes' opening though.
 
Anton Sugar

Anton Sugar

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,946
RSTEIN said:
Episode 1 was amazing. I was really thrown off by the 'behind the scenes' opening though.
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That's a direct nod to Bergman. I think Hour of the Wolf even had interviews with the actors talking about their characters, within the film.

I really enjoyed the first episode. Hard not to think of Bergman's experience and reputation for closeups with the way that this is shot--very patient and beautiful show so far.
 
RSTEIN

RSTEIN

Member
Nov 13, 2017
1,870
Anton Sugar said:
That's a direct nod to Bergman. I think Hour of the Wolf even had interviews with the actors talking about their characters, within the film.

I really enjoyed the first episode. Hard not to think of Bergman's experience and reputation for closeups with the way that this is shot--very patient and beautiful show so far.
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I see. Not familiar with Bergman. My wife and I thought it was like an Office style mockumentary at first, lol.
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,718
I thought both episodes were great. I love the framing device of the "real" footage showing that everything is inherently artifice, and I enjoy how it's remixing bits and pieces from the original miniseries. Of course, goes without saying that Isaac and Chastain are killing it thus far.
 
loco

loco

Member
Jan 6, 2021
5,525
Had a hard time getting through episode 1. Too chatty and they seem like incredibly boring people. Does episode 2 get better? Maybe its because i grew up in a latino household and these people are extremely hard to identify with
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
Whatched the first two episodes today, I like it! Been trying to find the original series for streaming, but best I came up with was the film edit for the US market.

Normally I would be bummed out with Williams dropping out, as she's one of the greatest American actors working today. But so is Chastain and also a personal favorite of mine.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
Third episode was incredible, maybe best TV for the entire year. The series just keeps getting better. Why is Era sleeping on it, this is still on it's first page! Or is there an OT I've missed?
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,718
Not really the type of thing that is going to get a lot of traction here. This is a niche little show that's more acting class / clinic than anything else. It's a remake of a 50-year-old Swedish miniseries. If you want traffic, ya gotta have much more mass appeal.
 
Deer

Deer

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,560
Sweden
For me my disinterest is two-fold. I'm Swedish and have seen the original, and it's pretty modern tbh. Hard to be too interested, it really seems to be the same thing. Maybe it's not?

Too many streaming services, basically only watch swedish public service and youtube nowadays because I don't have the energy to keep switching services etc.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
Deer said:
For me my disinterest is two-fold. I'm Swedish and have seen the original, and it's pretty modern tbh. Hard to be too interested, it really seems to be the same thing. Maybe it's not?
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Well it is, just with modifications. There are gender reversals and changes to power dynamics, second episode is cut altogether, the sets are richer and more detailed it lacks the theater stage look (bigger budget) and other small changes like the number of kids (the kid is more important to the family dynamic in this version), the jobs of the characters etc. But the basic plot and the themes remain from the original.
 
Deer

Deer

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,560
Sweden
Budi said:
Well it is, just with modifications. There are gender reversals and changes to power dynamics, second episode is cut altogether, the sets are richer and more detailed it lacks the theater stage look (bigger budget) and other small changes like the number of kids (the kid is more important to the family dynamic in this version), the jobs of the characters etc. But the basic plot and the themes remain from the original.
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Hmm, well I'm glad they aren't keeping everything the same at least, some of those changes sound interesting! I mean I'm not opposed at all to a reworking some of Bergman's old stuff, and lots of people seem to think it's well done.

I just wanted to chime in with a reason for why many people are sleeping on it.
 
Tremorah

Tremorah

Member
Dec 3, 2018
4,953
Episode 4 was incredible, i keep thinking how this would work if they didnt genderflip the roles but im really glad they did, just so well acted and written
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,718
I'm glad I didn't use my enjoyment of the original as an excuse to skip this. It has been fantastic; its existence completely worthwhile.
 
Futureman

Futureman

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,404
My wife's parents were going on and on about
abortion
part of the storyline. Not sure if that's really a spoiler? But didn't see anyone mention it in here so I'm wondering if it's not really even the central focus.
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,718
I'm not sure I'd call it a central focus, but it definitely plays a part.
 
Blade24070

Blade24070

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,003
Episode 4 was the best so far. I can see both Chastain and Isaac sweeping the acting awards next season because of this episode.
 
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