Underplayed Gems

The Rite (1969)

The Rite poster
Original title
Riten
Directed by
Ingmar Bergman
Genre
drama film
Country
Sweden
Runtime
1h 12m
Rating
6.9 of 10 from 94 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Three performers are interrogated by a judge about their allegedly obscene play. The interviews become a psychological battle as the actors confront their own traumas and test the judge's authority.

cerebralclaustrophobictensetheatricalpsychologically intenseslow-burnbleakstylized

What happens

The Rite (Swedish: Riten) is a 1969 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It premiered on Swedish television on 25 March 1969. Actors Thea (Ingrid Thulin), Sebastian (Anders Ek) and Hans (Gunnar Björnstrand) are sequestered in the offices of Judge Abrahamson (Erik Hell), who questions them about the play they have been performing, which has been accused of being obscene. As the judge interviews them separately and together, the three performers work through their considerable psycho-sexual baggage with each other, while collectively laying siege to the sensibilities of their authoritarian interrogator. The film had a joint Nordic premiere on television on 25 March 1969. It was rerun on SVT2 August 1, 1973. The premiere began with a short conversation between Ingmar Bergman and TV theatre director Lars Löfgren. Bergman urged the viewers to turn off the TV and go to the movies instead. Both Swedish and Norwegian critics were mostly positive, but somewhat confused. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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