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The Best Intentions

Den goda viljan

1992

Bille August

Samuel Froler, Pernilla August, Max von Sydow, Ghita Nørby ...

7.5

3,113

Drama. Romance The story of Ingmar Bergman's parents. In 1909, poor theology student Henrik Bergman falls in love with Anna Åkerbloom, the daughter of a rich family in Uppsala. After their wedding Henrik becomes a priest in the north of Sweden. After a few years Anna can't stand living in the rural county with the uncouth people. She returns to Uppsala, Henrik stays in the north.

	Author	Review
United States	John Anderson Newsday	"A masterpiece"	POS
United States	Janet Maslin The New York Times	"Bergman's straightforward screenplay is a reminder of how much of what he has expressed as a director goes beyond words (...) Only occasionally are the deeper issues and raw emotions behind these quarrels allowed to emerge."	NEU
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"[Bille August] and cinematographer Jörgen Persson paint delicately inviting pictures; what they lack is Bergman's darker passion (...) [It is] must viewing only if you find diluted Bergman better than no Bergman at all."	NEU
United Kingdom	Time Out	"Bille August has space to develop relationships and explore the emotional nuances which lead to numerous confrontations (...) But with a running time of three hours, this weighty drama tests the most patient soul."	NEU
United States	Derek Elley Variety	"It's a powerful confirmation of the talents of Danish-born director Bille August (...) It is [Pernilla] August, however, who carries the pic’s heart and soul"	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"A loving, three-hour-long chamber drama (...) The two lead performers are superb"	POS
United States	Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times	"Bergman is all over [it] except where he is needed most of all (...) This is not to say that Bille August does a sloppy or inefficient job (...) [It] lacks something only Bergman could have given it: a deeper, more wrenching passion"	NEU

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