Scenes from a Marriage (TV Mini Series)

Konsten att sopa under mattan (1973)

Erland Josephson: Johan

Photos 

Quotes 

• Johan : Marianne, could life be so treacherous that it could go wrong just like that? Almost imperceptibly?

  Marianne : Do you mean us?

  Johan : Is it a matter of making the wrong choice? Or do we jog along in the same rut without thinking until we end up on the garbage heap?

• Johan : Sometimes I wonder why we complicate this problem so awfully. Making love is pretty basic. It shouldn't be a huge, overshadowing issue. It's your mother's fault, if you ask me, though you don't like my saying so.

• Marianne : Don't I give you enough affection?

  Johan : Affection takes time.

  Marianne : Then you don't get enough.

  Johan : We don't get enough. Or give enough.

  Marianne : That's why I wanted us to go away this summer.

  Johan : Affection shouldn't be kept just for vacations.

• Johan : Our life is full of little evasions and restrictions.

• Johan : Things are certainly complicated today, aren't they?

  Marianne : I wish we could spend a whole week in bed just cuddling. And both of us could cry.

  Johan : That's not the life we chose to lead.

  Marianne : I wish I could be certain our mothers didn't do the choosing.

  Johan : You suffer from a maternal persecution complex.

  Marianne : Is this the life you wanted?

  Johan : Yes.

• Eva : [Discussing Johan's poetry]  I wouldn't bother.

  Johan : Are they that bad?

  Eva : No, it's not that they're bad. If only that were the case.

  Johan : They're mediocre, is that it? Insipid, proper and puerile? They're too personal, like indulging in spiritual masturbation?

  Eva : In our old crowd, many believed you were destined for greatness. We admired you. You were way ahead of us. We admired and even envied you.

  Johan : What's that got to do with my poetry?

  Eva : Nothing. It was just a thought.

• Marianne : It's possible to talk too much about these things, you know.

  Johan : Yes, it is.

  Marianne : I know you should discuss everything and not keep secrets. But in this case I think it's wrong.

  Johan : I think you're right.

  Marianne : Some matters should be protected from prying eyes.

  Johan : You think so?

  Marianne : I'm sure of it.

• Marianne : Sometimes I wish that I could go with the flow. Eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm tired, and have sex when I'm in love. Maybe even work a little, if I felt like it. Sometimes I long to simply float along, and maybe even sink.

  Johan : Who doesn't?

  Marianne : You. You don't.

  Johan : What would you know about that?

  Marianne : I know you pretty well by now.

• Eva : [Discussing Johan's poetry]  Has Marianne read them?

  Johan : No, you're the only one I've shown them to. Marianne's not interested in poetry.

  Eva : She ought to be interested in you.

  Johan : She is, but not in that respect.

  Eva : She's not? Really?

  Johan : What's so odd about that?

• Marianne : You like things to be tidy.

  Johan : So do you.

  Marianne : Do I?

  Johan : You're a perfectionist.

  Marianne : Really?

  Johan : You detest disorder in mind and body.

  Marianne : Really? I see.

  Johan : That's a fact.

  Marianne : I'm not so certain.

  Johan : Of what?

  Marianne : I'm not certain I know who I am.

• Marianne : We're honest with each other, aren't we?

  Johan : I think so.

  Marianne : It's not good to bottle things up. No matter how silly it is, it's better to get it off your chest.

  Johan : Of course it is.