The Best Intentions movie synopsis. The story of Ingmar Bergman’s parents. In 1909, poor, idealistic theology student Henrik Bergman falls in love with Anna Åkerbloom, the intelligent, educated daughter of a rich family in Uppsala. After their wedding Henrik becomes a priest in the north of Sweden. After a few years Anna can’t stand living in the rural county with the uncouth people. She returns to Uppsala, Henrik stays in the north.
The Best Intentions (Swedish: Den goda viljan) is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman. It is semi-autobiographical, telling the story of the complex relationship between Bergman’s parents, Erik Bergman and Karin Åkerblom, who are renamed Henrik and Anna in the film but retain their true surnames. The film documents the courtship and the difficult early years of their marriage, until the point when Anna becomes pregnant with their second son, who corresponds to Ingmar himself. Samuel Fröler and Pernilla August played Henrik and Anna, respectively.
Ingmar Bergman wrote the screenplay based on scattered notes and conversations with his parents in their later years. At the time, it was one of the most expensive Swedish films ever made. It can be viewed as a continuation of Bergman’s 1982 film Fanny and Alexander. After Bergman had ostensibly retired from directing following Fanny and Alexander, he chose August as his director on the strength of the latter’s 1988 Pelle the Conqueror, on condition that Pernilla August be cast as Anna. The film is a condensed version of a four-part Swedish television miniseries that aired in December 1991. It won the Palme d’Or at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.
The Best Intentions (1992)
Directed by: Bille August
Starring: Pernilla August, Max von Sydow, Ghita Nørby, Björn Kjellman, Björn Granath, Gunilla Nyroos, Eva Gröndahl, Mona Malm, Margaretha Krook, Irma Christenson, Lena Endre, Anita Björk
Screenplay by: Ingmar Bergman
Production Design by: Anna Asp
Cinematography by: Jörgen Persson
Film Editing by: Janus Billeskov Jansen
Costume Design by: Ann Mari Anttila
Set Decoration by: Anna-Lena Hansen
Music by: Björn Linnman, Stefan Nilsson
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release Date: October 2, 1992 (Sweden)
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