Reviews of HBO’s remake (2021) of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage have been lukewarm. While heaping praise on Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac—whose chemistry as a couple can make even divorce seem enviable—critics have questioned whether the five-part miniseries, created and directed by Hagai Levi, really adds anything to our understanding of marriage in modern life.

Although the title of Peter Morgan’s The Crown suggests a story about the monarchy and politics, the driving force of the Netflix original series is marriage. And, considering how the latest season ended with the breakdown of the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales, it is beneficial to explore the theme of marriage thus far in the series, in order to enter thoughtfully into the anticipated fifth season’s treatment of the subject this coming fall.

It is not easy to convey the notion of vocation in a secular world. Modern men and women tend to think of life as consisting in a series of choices, to be made by the individual in a linear fashion, according to what attracts or repulses them...

Two works written and directed by one of the most profound living film-makers were recently released within two years: The Tree of Life and To the Wonder...