i guess where this went wrong for me is that i'm familiar with some of the places this was filmed at. seeing the streets of the dutch village which already looks pretty modern in this movie being used to evoke some sort of gothic and haunting atmosphere simply doesn't work for me and some parts come across as unintentionally funny due to that.

if you're a fan of dracula/nosferatu adaptions and the specific kind of atmosphere of this movie, you probably won't see anything wrong with this. for me personally, it just doesn't bring anything new to the table. isabelle adjani though<3

one of my all time favourite posters and title. waiting for the day i'll finally like better movies than this so i can condemn this for being too hopeless. as an exploration of a deteriorating relationship and moral decline under seemingly desperate conditions, it is totally deserving of the same praise as bergman's most acclaimed movies to my mind. there's a strange mix of affection and cruelty in both the way the story unfolds and liv ullmann's and max von sydow's interactions that make it so immersive.

you don't just have to "appreciate" this for being ahead of its time or "respect" it for influencing countless other movies to come like .... yeah we got it but it's incredible on its own too there's no need to view it only in terms of historic importance

some movies just come across as so deeply personal and vulnerable on a level that few others reach that i can't help but admire them for that