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Face to Face FACE TO FACE
(1976)


Try to catch the original four-part TV series rather than this truncation for cinema release (especially the hideously dubbed English version); it emerges as Bergman's most potent psychodrama from the cycle that began with Cries and Whispers and ended with Autumn Sonata. The story concerns the gradual and agonising breakdown of a successful psychiatrist (Ullmann, married to another shrink played by Lindberg), who returns to her family home and becomes overwhelmed by memories of the past. The acting is intense, as you would expect from Ullmann and Josephson, working under a director who was coming to terms with his own breakdown in this film; and the nightmare imagery (washed-out backgrounds clashing vividly with stark colours) delivers a strong jolt to the subconscious. Laugh if you like, but check your dreams over the next few weeks after seeing it and you'll find fragments of this film corroding your conscience. (Martyn Auty, Time Out)



Original title: Ansikte mot ansikte ["Face to face"]
Production: Cinematograph AB
Distribution: Cinematograph AB
Premiere: 28 April to 19 May 1976 (Swedish television: Sveriges radio/televisionen 2); 5 April 1976 (theatrical release)
Running time: 200 minutes (Swedish television); 135 minutes (theatrical version)
Colour: Eastmancolor
Language: Swedish
Filmed: at SFI Studios, Filmhuset, Stockholm; from April to 30 June 1975.

CAST
Dr. Jenny Isaksson: Liv Ullmann
Dr. Tomas Jacobi: Erland Josephson
Grandmother: Aino Taube
Grandfather: Gunnar Bj�rnstrand
Elisabeth Wankel: Sif Ruud
Erik: Sven Lindberg
Woman: Tore Segelcke
Maria: Kari Sylwan
Helmuth Wankel: Ulf Johanson
Mikael Stromberg: G�sta Ekman

CREDITS
Producer: Lars-Owe Carlberg
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Screenplay: Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography: Sven Nykvist
Art Direction: Anne Hageg�rd, Peter Krop�nin
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Editor: Siv Lundgren



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