Xuenou > Popular > Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Faithless’ Set for TV Adaptation From ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ Director Tomas Alfredson
Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Faithless’ Set for TV Adaptation From ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ Director Tomas Alfredson
Ingmar Bergman’s 'Faithless' is getting a TV adaptation from director Tomas Alfredson ('Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'), SVT and Miso Film.

Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Faithless’ Set for TV Adaptation From ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ Director Tomas Alfredson

Sara Johnsen and Tomas AlfredsonCourtesy of SVT/Göran Danasten

Ingmar Bergman’s Faithless is getting a TV adaptation from Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Snowman), Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT and Denmark-based production company Miso Film (Netflix’s The Rain), part of Bertelsmann-owned RTL Group’s Fremantle, unveiled on Monday.

They are set to co-produce the drama series, with Alfredson responsible for directing all six 45-minute episodes and Norway’s Sara Johnsen (July 22) writing the script.

The project will explore the relationship between passion and love through an erotic triangle. “David falls in love with his best friend Mark’s wife, the beautiful Marianne,” according to the plot summary. “David and Marianne’s love affair has painful consequences for two families. The characters are driven by lust, jealousy, betrayal and love.”

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“Sometime during the winter of 2001, I contacted Ingmar Bergman and asked if I could reinterpret his story. Initially he said it sounded like ‘a drunken idea’,” said Alfredson. “But the longer we talked about it, he thought it sounded both ‘terribly exciting’ and ‘really sh*tty’.” He continued: “Now it is finally time to make a television series of Ingmar Bergman’s shocking love triangle drama. I have a hard time seeing that I have ever faced a bigger task and promise that I will lift my hat for what has been and roll up my sleeves for what will be.”

Johnsen shared: “It is inspiring to develop, marvel at and expand Bergman’s text, which through complex characters is possessed by forces greater than themselves. Collaborating with Tomas Alfredson makes writing a party, and it feels like we’re making the best character-driven TV drama of all time.”

“To bring together two such strong creatives as Sara Johnsen and Tomas Alfredson with a unique and at the same time timeless text by Ingmar Bergman is extremely exciting,” said Anna Croneman, head of drama at SVT. “It is also an example of the ambitious projects like us at SVT Drama, and public service in general, will need to protect in the future.”

Peter Bose, CEO and producer at Miso Film, added: “I clearly remember Liv Ullmann’s adaption of Ingmar Bergman’s Faithless,” sharing that it “made a great impression when I saw the film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.” He added: “Faithless is an eternally valid story about love and jealousy, and not least the feelings that are aroused when you fall in love.”