The Rite (1969)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Rite (1969) – I. Bergman

Bergman teleplay that sees three actors interviewed by a judge in an unnamed country after obscenity charges are brought against them.  After an initial session with all three (Ingrid Thulin, Anders Ek, and Gunnar Björnstrand), we then see the judge (Erik Hell) interrogate each actor separately; in between these scenes we see the actors in pairs discussing their relationships. Although Björnstrand and Thulin are married, she seems to sleep exclusively with Ek who is in turn married to someone else (but separated). The three are suggested to be internationally famous actors yet each has their own neuroses that facilitate the awkward situation.  It is never quite clear until the end exactly what the obscenity involves (and even then, it seems a bit obscure) nor do we fully understand the motives of the actors in that final scene.  Bergman seems to be suggesting (again) that actors are unfairly persecuted in society and should be free to pursue creative expression even if (or especially when) it is threatening to others’ values – but he also portrays those actors as deeply flawed.  Although brief and admittedly stagebound, the film somehow grips you with the puzzle it slowly pieces together (and never really solves).