The Passion of Anna

The Passion of Anna ( – "A passion") is a 1969 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, who was awarded Best Director at the 1970 National Society of Film Critics Awards for the film. Plot The audience is introduced to Andreas Winkelman, a man living alone and emotionally desolate after the recent breakdown of his marriage. A neighbour, Anna, arrives and asks permission to use his phone. She walks with the aid of a cane. (It is later revealed that her husband and son died as a result of her driving off the road.) While Anna uses Andreas' phone, he eaves-drops on her conversation, after which she departs in tears. Anna has left her handbag behind and Andreas looks through it, finding and reading a letter from her husband that reveals that he is unhappy in their marriage and fearful for possible "psychological and physical violence". The narrative of the film is periodically interrupted by brief footage of each of the four main actors being interviewed (by an unseen Bergman) about their role-characters. Andreas takes the handbag to where Anna is living and is greeted at the door by the married couple, Eva and Elis, who are also in the midst of psychological turmoil. Elis is an internationally successful architect and amateur photographer who has an extensive archive of portraits categorised according to emotional states. Elis offers to take pictures of Andreas, to which he agrees.