Scenes From A Marriage (1974): Review

Stub • 521 Words • Film, 2026 • 01/03/2026

⚠️ This post contains a rougher cut of my thoughts on the topic and may be updated in the future. Please forgive any mistakes or lack of polish!

Character Analysis

Katrina and Peter’s fight

• resentment needs a target and its toxic situation
• you get so comfortable being mean to someone they don’t deserve that though, but when you truly throw away your carefully the person you can really go for the jugular cause you know them
• if you are both easily ragebait-able, then there’s no one to cool the argument down and I’ll just go on forever
• The dialogue is surprisingly catty and I was reminded of The Roses (2025)

Marianne says that they speak the same language but i think he’s a bit dismissive and too self assured to really listen even if they do speak the same language

• is silence of not trying to communicate worse ? “the silence of Outer space“
• i don’t think they really understand each other as men and women are socialized differently

I don’t necessarily feel the weight of the years, but the relationship does feel very lived in

• Referencing past arguments and saying you always do stuff like this etc

Marianne defaults to her domestic role

• when being interviewed she only thinks about her role as a mother
• she tries to help him pack to leave with his mistress

Marianne is someone who verbalizes a lot more and externally processes things like logistics

• he does not want to hear about that at all (he would prefer she do it by herself and keep him out of it)

Marianne turns inward (why?) while he wants to completely disappear (two different ways of approaching a problem)

• the focus on logistics over emotion is so interesting on Marianne’s part

Their relationship origin has practicality but no romance so it seemed like it was doomed in some ways

• They grew into some romance but via loss and grief they somewhat learned to appreciate what they had
  • What they had was mostly just shared history and someone who does hold a part of you

Theme Analysis

a loveless marriage doesn’t sound bad is it only under monogamy that it’s bad? apparently it makes you feel lonelier but i don’t understand how that’s the case

• no excitement versus no love is different do you not have intimacy? what about positive regard? if you aren’t excited to share things with the other person then i get it

capitalism and sex in a marriage is a very fraught relationship because it does make you stressed and lose energy and can build resentment in the relationship

• kids and other domestic labor might be the bigger one tho

sex isn’t a super big deal but when it’s limited to one person that’s a lot of pressure

• it’s a pretty fundamental desire (not need though)
• subtle forms of rejection build up over time and make the issue way worse than it needs to be

Miscellaneous Thoughts

I do prefer Bergman’s black-and-white work

In some ways this feels like a video podcast because the shots are mostly on the two main characters and less about setting

Really good lead performances some aligns I almost feel improvised like the deliveries so well timed

• some of the emoting is a little bit over the top