Episode Summary
This plot summary is for the 281-minute, TV miniseries version of the work (the feature film retains the episode names as chapter titles). Each episode concludes with long, quiet, comforting shots of Fårö landscapes, as a "relief" from the up-close, tense and claustrophobic episodes. Each episode is structured around one critical scene, described below, the rest of each episode dedicated to discussion and aftereffects. Some of the episodes occur months or years apart.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | "Innocence and Panic." |
| The story begins around 10th anniversary of Marianne's and Johan's marriage, when a reporter for a women's magazine interviews them. Peter and Katarina visit later for a dinner, and cruelly humiliate one another. | |
| 2 | "The Art of Sweeping Things Under the Rug." |
| Marianne tries to withdraw from a Sunday dinner with her parents but fails and realizes how difficult it is to let down other people's expectations. Johan flirts with another women at work. | |
| 3 | "Paula." |
| The couple retreat to their countryside house. Johan informs Marianne that he wants separation, and is leaving to Paris with his lover Paola for six months. | |
| 4 | "The Vale of Tears." |
| Johan is disillusioned with his current lover and revisits Marianne. They discuss their current life,then attempt to have sex in which Johan is not successful what cause his frustration and departure. | |
| 5 | "The Illiterates." |
| Marianne and Johan meet at his office to sign divorce papers, but Johan refuses. The two fight savagely. Johan declares that they are the emotional illiterates. | |
| 6 | "In the Middle of the Night in a Dark House Somewhere in the World." |
| Marianne and Johan have married other people, but are unhappy. They meet by accident in a theatre on the 20th anniversary of their wedding, and decide to spend time together in the countryside. They are still in love with each other. At the cabin, they talk establishing how much they have changed through their divorce experiences, Marianne is more self-conscious while Johan had accepted his real abilities. The two fall asleep in conversation. When Marianne wakes up panicking from a nightmare, Johan comforts her. |
Read more about this topic: Scenes From A Marriage
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