Face to Face (Ansikte mot ansikte)

Thursday July 17, 2003 – 7:30 pm

Sweden, 1976. Director: Ingmar Bergman
CAST: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Aino Taube-Henrikson

Dr. Jenny Isaksson (Liv Ullmann) is a successful psychiatrist who returns for a visit to her childhood home (where her grandparents now live) while her husband and daughter are away together on vacation. Hoping for a brief respite and a chance to rest, she instead finds herself transported back to her childhood, and unhappy memories, nightmares and hallucinations threaten to overwhelm her. An adulterous encounter with another man, Thomas (Erland Josephson) destabilizes Jenny even more, and ultimately she breaks down completely. After a botched suicide attempt, she is hospitalized, and must find the strength within to come back from the brink of despair. A gritty and powerful examination of an inexorable descent into madness, Face to Face is the intimate study of one woman’s harrowing personal struggle, rendered onscreen via Bergman’s characteristic close-ups and cinematographer Sven Nykvist’s highly expressive photography. Ullman’s strong performance is riveting and engrossing throughout, garnering her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress andprompting some to refer to her as the greatest film actress of the day. B&W, in Swedish with English subtitles, 35mm, 120 mins.

The program will include:
A post-screening discussion with:
Mark Harris, a former programming director of the Pacific Cinematheque and a frequent contributor to “The Georgia Straight” and other periodicals. Mark has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and a Master’s degree in Film Studies, and at present teaches in both the Film and Creative Writing departments at UBC.

Evening moderated by:
Dr. Harry Karlinsky Director of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

Frames of Mind Series programmed by Ms. Caroline Coutts