Scenes from a Marriage (TV Mini Series)

Mitt i natten i ett mörkt hus någonstans i världen (1973)

Erland Josephson: Johan

Photos 

Quotes 

• Johan : I want something to long for.

  Marianne : I don't feel the same way.

  Johan : I realize that.

• Johan : I can't abide this cold light directed on my every endeavor. How I battle with futility. I console myself with the thought that life is what you make of it. But it's of no comfort. I want something to long for.

  Marianne : I don't feel the same way.

  Johan : I realize that.

• Marianne : Sometimes it grieves me that I've never loved anyone. I don't think I've ever been loved either. That distresses me.

  Johan : Now you're being dramatic.

  Marianne : Am I?

  Johan : I know what I feel. I love you in my selfish way. And I think you love me in your fussy, pestering way. We love each other in an earthly and imperfect way. But you're so demanding.

  Marianne : I am.

  Johan : But here I am, in the middle of the night, without much fanfare, in a dark house somewhere in the world, sitting with my arms around you. And your arms are around me.

• Johan : It's strange talking about everything that never came to pass.

• Johan : I'm not the most compassionate of men.

  Marianne : No, you're not.

  Johan : I don't seem to have the imagination for it.

  Marianne : No, you're rather unimaginative.

  Johan : I don't know what my love looks like, and I can't describe it. Most of the time I can't feel it.

  Marianne : And you really think I love you too?

  Johan : Yes, I do. But if we harp on it, our love will evaporate.

• Marianne : My dear, beloved Johan. You've grown so small.

  Johan : You think I've shrunk too?

  Marianne : You're better this way. Soft and gentle. You used to look so tense and guarded.

  Johan : You don't say.

• Marianne : Have we missed something important?

  Johan : All of us?

  Marianne : No, you and I.

  Johan : What would that be?

  Marianne : At times I can read your mind, and I feel such tenderness that I forget myself. Without having to efface myself. It's a new sensation. Do you understand?

  Johan : I understand.

• Johan : And if we'd told the truth?

  Marianne : If I had told the truth back in the spring of 1955, it would have smashed our marriage to smithereens. I would have broken from my parents, sold our daughters and killed you. Although, in fact, I loved you.

• Johan : It's just a taste of the marvelous things life has to offer. Think of the awareness we've gained. It's magnificent. Almost fantastic. We've discovered ourselves. It's unbelievable. One faces up to his insignificance, the other, to her greatness. Here we are, bad-mouthing our spouses. They're almost right here in this room with us. It's mental group sex to the max! It's like a textbook on life. It's fabulously clever, but I can't stand it.

  Marianne : I know what you mean, but I don't find it terrible.

• Johan : Do you think people who live together can ever be completely honest?

  Marianne : We couldn't.

  Johan : Is it even necessary?

  Marianne : Do you mean if we had always told the truth and never kept any secrets?

  Johan : Were we even aware that we kept secrets?

  Marianne : Of course we lied. I did, anyway.

• Marianne : You had such great expectations.

  Johan : No, you're wrong. Those were my family's expectations. I really wanted to live up to them though. So I tried to fulfill other people's expectations. When I was little, I had modest aspirations for the future.

  Marianne : What did you want to do?

  Johan : Haven't I told you?

  Marianne : You might have, but I've forgotten.

  Johan : It happens.

• Marianne : Are people mean to you?

  Johan : I don't know. I've stopped being on the defensive. Someone said I'd gone slack and gave in too easily. It's not true. But I've accepted my true dimensions with a certain sense of humility. It makes me kind... and a bit mournful.

• Johan : We hadn't seen each other for two whole years.

  Marianne : That's right. Two years.

  Johan : And now it's our first anniversary.

  Marianne : No.

  Johan : What do you mean?

  Marianne : It's not our first anniversary. It's our 20th. We got married 20 years ago.

  Johan : That's right. Twenty years.

  Marianne : An entire lifetime. We've spent a whole grown-up life together. Isn't that strange?

• Marianne : Johan?

  Johan : Yes, my dear.

  Marianne : Are we living in utter confusion?

  Johan : You and I?

  Marianne : No, all of us.

  Johan : What do you mean?

  Marianne : I'm talking about fear, uncertainty and ignorance. Do you think that secretly we're afraid we're slipping downhill and don't know what to do?

  Johan : Yes, I think so.

  Marianne : Is it too late?

  Johan : Yes. But we shouldn't say things like that. Only think them.

• Marianne : Do you love your wife?

  Johan : The question all women ask. I enjoy having breakfast with her.

  Marianne : And she likes taking care of you.

  Johan : She says she's fond of me and feels safe with me. I'm the one she wants, amazingly enough.

  Marianne : It sounds like you've been lucky.

  Johan : Would I be cheating on her with you if that were the case?

  Marianne : Maybe you love us both.