How does this rank up with other bergman movies?

It's in the same level of most his old stuff. It's very disturbing.

"I don't like it when they are too depressing."

"My favorites probably being Cries and whispers, persona, through a glass darkly,"

If those three aren't too depressing for you, i think you can't watch every single movie not directed by Erich Von Stroheim without fear.

-What would you like to have been?
-Everything you hate

Saraband is slightly below the average Bergman IMO, but it's still an excellent movie.
It's quite depressing, some scenes are really harrowing, but it's still nowhere near Cries and Whispers in that respect, so you should be OK.

i couldn't rank his films persay, though if I had a gun to my head I'd say it's in my top 10 fav's (and I've seen 20 of his films)

Saraband reminds me somewhat of Autumn Sonata in its working of themes, so if you like that one, you may like Saraband. It is not in the same category as the genius works Through a Glass Darkly, The Silence, Persona or The Passion of Anna. One thing a little disappointing is the technical side. Sven Nykvist is not the cinematographer and some of the lighting is not up to Bergman standards. And I noticed several very rough transitions in the editing, something that I cannot recall occurring in other Bergman films.

In my opinion this film is closer to Bergman's older films that any other recent one. The fact that the film uses very simple scenery and only four principal actors whose interactions structure the entire film, makes it rather similar to "Through a glass darkely" in its form. Still, it is not as powerfull as that film, although some of the, in my opinion, too religious themes are not present in Saraband, which is good.

[deleted]

Being the last film by Ingmar and shot by him at the age of 85 it's "per se" admirable. If you add that "Saraband" it's indeed a very good film; one of the best from Bergman that I've seen, then that is a remarkable feat!

Most "Masters" of cinema had a "mediocre farewell". Like Chaplin with the infamous "A Countess from Hong Kong", Kurosawa with "Madadayo", Hitchcock with "Family Plot", Fellini with "La voce della luna". etc. Some others had just some mild success like Kubrick with "Eyes Wide Shut", but IMHO just Bergman and Buñuel finished their careers on a high note. Buñuel with "Cet obscur objet du désir" (one of his best movies) or Bergman with "Saraband".
Special mention deserves Kieslowski who finished his career with perhaps his best movie (Rouge) but all we know that Kieslowski died prematurely.

If you watch Saraband you will see one of Bergman finest efforts that only pales when compared to Bergman's greatest works: "Fanny och Alexander", "The Seventh Seal", "Persona", etc.

I’ve never found a film or book or work of art to be depressing, Bergman or otherwise.

As such: I don’t find his work depressing. His early stuff is good, especially his first films, like Torment, Port of Call, Crisis. Then he became a SERIOUS artist out to make SERIOUS statements. The statements about life can also be found in talking to the person on the corner, or at band night at your local bar, loss of faith, pain about the world,my marriage isn’t fun anymore, etc. Nothing that insightful in them.
And as he progressed, unlike those early films, his films lose any sort of societal context. He’s fully enraptured in the context of his own vision which is fine, but to me, this makes them less resonate works. But in doing so, he allows the viewer to project many things on his work, that simply are not there. Winter Light is one of his later works, where he peaked; he actually had some humor about him in that movie.