Igmar Bergman`s (PERSONA) 1968 masterpiece about the ravages war wreaks on the soul is simple and effective, its allegorical nature rendering it prescient even today. Eva (Liv Ullman, SARABAND) and Jan (Max von Sydow, SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS) are orchestra musicians living a near-idyllic life, tending their farm on an unspecified island and making plans for the future. The young married couple is soon disturbed by encroaching war--one of whose causes they, and we, are never apprised--and are forced to run for cover. Soon they find themselves accused of a crime they didn`t commit, and after a series of Kafka-esque encounters with authorities who refuse to believe their claims of being apolitical, a local official comes to their aid. His help is not without a price, however, and it is one that will shame the sensitive Jan, changing him irrevocably.
