Directed by:
Ingmar BergmanScreenplay:
Ingmar BergmanCinematography:
Sven NykvistCast:
Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Aino Taube, Gunnar Björnstrand, Kristina Adolphson, Marianne Aminoff, Gösta Ekman, Helene Friberg, Ulf Johanson, Sven Lindberg (more)Plots(1)
Jenny Isaksson (Liv Ullmann), a seemingly stable, contented psychiatrist in her prime, fills in for the senior physician in their clinic during the summer months. Since her husband and her daughter are away, she temporarily moves in with her grandparents (Aino Taube and Gunnar Björnstrand). There she has a kind of hallucination: she sees a very stern-looking old woman – a first indication of Jenny's approaching breakdown. At a party she gets to know the gynaecologist Professor Tomas Jacobi (Erland Josephson), and they become intimate friends, without becoming involved in a sexual relationship. He soon becomes Jenny's doctor and main support when the psychic pressure becomes too great for her and she attempts to commit suicide.
Jenny's nightmares and hallucinations lead her back into the world of her childhood, which was marked by strict upbringing, punishment and humiliation, a world full of anxiety that Bergman has often depicted. In a final struggle with her demons, Jenny assumes the split role of disciplinarian and child. When the dialogue between her two selves comes pouring out of her, it gives rise to a kind of catharsis that leads the way to her recovery.
ANSIKTE MOT ANSIKTE is a tour de force for actress Liv Ullmann, who is present in almost every scene of the film, which was originally shot as a four-part TV production. For her performance she was nominated for an Academy Award, among other distinctions; the film won a Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film in 1976.
(Berlinale)
Cast
Liv Ullmann
Japan
Best movies:
Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
The Ox (1991)
Autumn Sonata (1978)
Erland Josephson
Sweden
Best movies:
Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
The Ox (1991)
Aino Taube
Denmark
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)
Waiting Women (1952)
The Touch (1971)
Gunnar Björnstrand
Sweden
Best movies:
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Kristina Adolphson
Sweden
Best movies:
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Brink of Life (1958)
Face to Face (1976)
Marianne Aminoff
Sweden
Best movies:
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Autumn Sonata (1978)
Face to Face (1976)
Gösta Ekman
Sweden
Best movies:
Illusive Tracks (2003)
Face to Face (1976)
The Simple-Minded Murderer (1982)
Helene Friberg
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)
The Magic Flute (1975) (TV movie)
Ulf Johanson
Sweden
Best movies:
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Shame (1968)
Sven Lindberg
Sweden
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)
Dreams (1955)
The Adventures of Picasso (1978)
Jan-Erik Lindqvist
Sweden
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)
Here Is Your Life (1966)
Birger Malmsten
Sweden
Best movies:
The Silence (1963)
Face to Face (1976)
Summer Interlude (1951)
Sif Ruud
Sweden
Best movies:
You're Out of Your Mind, Mardie (1979)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Meg of June Hill (1980)
Göran Stangertz
Sweden
Best movies:
The Flight of the Eagle (1982)
Face to Face (1976)
Sommarens tolv månader (1988) (TV movie)
Mona Andersson
Sweden
Best movies:
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Face to Face (1976)
The Doll (1962)
Daniel Bergman
Sweden
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)
The Magic Flute (1975) (TV movie)
Stimulantia (1967)
Käbi Laretei
Estonia
Best movies:
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Face to Face (1976)
The Devil's Eye (1960)
Lena Olin
Sweden
Best movies:
One Life (2023)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
The Reader (2008)
Rebecca Pawlo
Sweden
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)
Tore Segelcke
Union between Sweden and Norway
Best movies:
Face to Face (1976)